The lawn that is involved is actually on a slope and there is practically no top-soil. I have never added anything organic to my yard on the slope. I might have perhaps 1" of topsoil and there is nothing but clay beneath that. The clay is many feet deep. There is really nothing above my slope that would feed this part of the yard with anything - organic or moisture. This area actually is about the driest part of all my lawn. The slime mold also grows mostly in full sun. It just seems that every criteria that fits slime mode appearance does not fit my conditions. Go figure.
The lawn expert at Mississippi State University (he has a PhD in lawn and turf management) says the only way to control this stuff (and he is pretty much positive it is slime mold) is to have a healthy lawn. He further said there is really nothing else that controls slime mold and there is nothing out there that will do much to kill it. How about that. With all our knowledge about high-tech stuff, we don't have a control for slime mold! I have always believed that lawns needed fertilizer in the spring, after greening-up and after mowing once or twice and then again in late summer, a "winterizing" fertilizer. The expert says Bermuda grass is an extremely heavy feeder and I should be fertilizing my (dormant) grass now with Scott's Turf Builder Plus Bonus S and then applying a high nitrogen fertilizer every month during the spring and summer. In all my years of lawn care, I have never heard or read this application schedule. Live and learn, huh?
