Fall and cooler temperatures can bring turf diseases (9-27-10)

Fall has arrived. Cooler weather, shorter days, cloudy overcast skies and occasional rain provide ideal conditions for fall turf diseases to proliferate.

Large patch, leaf blights, rusts and other cooler weather turf diseases can create serious damage to Southern lawns with little time to recover before they go dormant.

• It is important to follow good cultural practices during this time:
• It is now late enough in the year that the mowing height can be raised slightly for the winter.
• Avoid mowing when the lawn is water-soaked to prevent soil compaction and spread of diseases.
• While clippings from properly scheduled mowing should be left on the lawn to add nutrients and organic matter back into the soil, heavy clipping accumulations need to be collected and composted.
• As leaves fall and cover the lawn, it is wise to remove them or at least mulch them thoroughly so that they do not shade and hold moisture on the leaf blades.
• If you see evidence of turf thinning, or leaf blades dying due to turf pathogens, an application of an appropriate fungicide early will help prevent an unsightly lawn all winter and perhaps a much more expensive lawn renovation next spring.

Published September 27, 2010

Dr. Wayne Wells is an Extension Professor and Turfgrass Specialist. His mailing address is Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Mail Stop 9555, Mississippi State, MS 39762. wwells@ext.msstate.edu