Have some things on my yard that I am not sure what it is. I have gone to two garden shops and got two mutually exclusive responses. After rains the last couple of weeks, I have a cottony cover on my grass (I thought originally it was stuff from the cottonwood or some weed sticking to the wet grass (see picture). However, soon I realized that the grass in the area was turning brown in roughly the outline of the cottony cover. One guy suggested fungicide and another just thought I should fertilize and it would come back. Any suggestion?
there's a few things that make clay tough to have in a lawn, but you can often work around them.
when you core that area put down some extra organic materials (compost is best) and rake it a bit to get it into the holes before the clay plugs break down and return there instead.
mow higher and don't remove the clippings.
don't mow the area when it is too wet as that compacts the soil (especially for clays).
encourage or add worm species that will improve drainage (but they do need the organic material from mowing left behind). if your area is not environmentally sensitive and you can bring in night crawlers they will improve your drainage but they need to be transplanted with a little work. they don't start new burrows easily so you have to dig up several areas and then put them under several inches of soil so they have a chance to start their burrows (when you see a night crawler away from its burrow after it rains that usually means it's in trouble). worms are bacterial factories and help break down dead organic materials (which helps reduce problems fungal diseases).
as for fungicides and such, often a pointless expense as the fungi spread easily on the wind and rains.
interesting. clay is very fertile and good for holding nutrients, after 29yrs of grass clippings that area should have built up somewhat to excellent soil. is there a slope there or some other way that the organic matter is moving away? or is it a low spot that collects extra water?
that is also likely the reason why the white stuff has shown up anyways. i would just put it all under "natural variation" and keep on mowing as needed.
now is a horrible time (mid summer) IMO. later in the summer/early fall will be better (but i don't know your location so i'm not really sure :) ). for crawlers you have to give them a start, you can't just dump 'em out and expect much. the other earth worms and red wriggler aka compost worms they are much smaller and don't need such an approach. what worms did you try?
i hate to say it, but you could use it if you really are that concerned. as in probably early will help more rather than later. but like i say i consider it a waste of time/money. then again i'm just one of those strange people who doesn't much mind fungi - they're a part of this life cycle so when they show up they're doing something important. we have a friend who actually goes out into her lawn and picks the mushrooms thinking that it will stop them. *SMH*
Best would be to try to identify it using the many lawn websites and googling for pics of the various lawn fungi and indentifying conditions. Then he can find the fungicide most suited, assuming it's worth treating. I've never had success trying to treat it. Seems by the time you notice it, try to figure out what it is, the damage is done. And many are not lethal to the lawn, just damage it. Some can and do kill. If there is an agricultural extension service in the area, they can be helpful. They tend to know what's a problem in the area at the current time.
the problem with almost any agricultural educational institution is that they are firmly in the "sell poisons and other sponsored stuff" camp.
few are serious about natural methods or simple and inexpensive things that have been proven over centuries. if it doesn't generate research $ from corporations or government funding they aren't much interested in it.
so yeah, go ahead and ask, but they're likely to repond similar to the OPs initial two suggested reponses (add fertilizer or use *cides).
No on either one, at least so far the sloped areas are free. It is flat ground and largely full sun. Also, the two places I have had the problems are separated (one side of the pool in the back and around near the driveway on the front with no communication between the two.
Central Indiana. I am not sure, I tried it a couple times about 10 years ago with the same results both times. I do get a bunch of worms in my pool over the winter, so they seem to roaming around.
Interestingly enough (at least so far) I tried a bit of Miracle Grow spray on I had handy as an expirement. It seems (again so far) that the brown spots are less brown and don't seem to be spreading. It has only been a day or two so we'll see how it progresses.
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