Turf Loss This Spring
Many people in Texas have wondered why they are losing so much turf this spring and whether take-all root rot is responsible. Despite having a mild spring with plenty of rain, many home lawns did not recover as in the past year. The recent statewide turf damage is likely related to adverse weather conditions last year. Texas suffered from last summer’s recordhigh temperatures and drought.
Drought has a significant impact on turfgrass health, growth, and appearance. As the soil dries out, the grass becomes stressed and more susceptible to damage from pests, diseases, and traffic. color from green to grayishblue or brown, and leaf blades become wilted or curled. As the drought stress continues, the grass becomes thin and patchy and eventually moves to summer dormancy. Turfgrass starts to die as the water deficit condition extends for more than 1 month.
Late-season precipitation promoted large patch disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani, a common fall disease that infects and decimates turf until the plants go completely to winter dormancy. Finally, the winter delivered some harsh freezes, particularly in North Texas. Dead turfgrass is recognized in the spring, and sometimes it never recovers, even with additional supplementation of water and fertilizer in the spring. Promote dormant grass to grow but does not make dead plants revive.
Take-all root rot is a common fungal disease that affects warm-season turfgrass growing in Texas, including St. Augustinegrass, bermudagrass, and zoysiagrass. The disease is caused by the fungus Gaeumannomyces species, which survives in soil, roots, and stolons for extended periods and infects turfgrass during warm weather and wet soil conditions. The fungus can be found in unhealthy grasses in damaged turf. However, it is also easy to find the fungus in healthy-looking grasses near the same damaged turf area. This indicates that take-all root rot does not instantly kill the plant or is not the single source of turf loss. Instead, drought stress exacerbates the symptoms of the disease. When turfgrass is already infected with the fungus, drought stress can cause infected plants to progress with rapid decline, leading to death.
The bottom line is that dead individual plants are not coming back in the spring.
The best option is to plug in with the same turfgrass if there is healthy turfgrass in the same area, such as around a flowerbed or backyard. The largedamaged area will be left with the option to be resodded.
All these turf-repair practices require removing dead plant materials from the area and adding good soil and amendment first . Spring is the best time for fungicide application to remediate take-all root rot since the fungus is most active.
Fungicides need to be used with plenty of water (4 to 5 gallons of water per 1,000 square feet), or the grass needs to be thoroughly watered (¼ to ½ inch water) immediately after application.
The water will ensure that the product moves into the grass stolon and root zone rather than drying on the leaves. However, it is important to emphasize that fungicides alone are not a cure-all since their effectiveness can vary, and turf recovery requires proper cultural practices, such as mowing and irrigation.