| Our lawn of St. Augustine grass is developing round brown spots. |
| Brown Patch is the most common of all lawn diseases, and St. Augustine grass is very succeptible. It's a fungal disease that sets in when temperatures are warm (in the 80's) and humidity is high. It also strikes harder if you've used too muchnitrogen fertilizer. If brown patch happens year after year, you may need to improve the soil drainage, by incorporating more organic matter and introducing earthworms to the soil, or installing drainage tiles. Fungicides are a short-term solution that act as a band-aid rather than a cure. If this is your first experience with it, then it's probably due to unusually high humidity or raifall in your area. Your county extension office (ph# 713/855-5600) should be able to provide you with a list of turfgrasses that are more resistant to brown patch, and may have other solutions I don't know of. I hope this helps! |
