Zoysia grass is a very durable and sustainable turf, but it has some downfalls, especially coming off our wet winter. Some areas in your yard may not be greening up as normal and may appear dead. This is being caused by Zoysia Brown Patch.
Zoysia Brown patch is the most damaging disease to Zoysia. Excessive moisture and high nitrogen fertility levels often lead to the outbreaks. The disease usually develops on lawns during periods of wet, overcast weather in late spring or fall.
Here are some tips on how to control problem:
- Moisture plays an important role in disease development. Good drainage is needed to remove excess water from low-lying areas.
- Use a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer that will last up to six months in the soil. This reduces the active nitrogen available to the plant and slowly feeds it consistently as it’s greening up. Unique’s Turf Grass Division has been using this type of fertilizer in our lawn applications this spring to help prevent this problem.
- Cutting your grass on a regular basis is also helpful in reducing thatch build-up, which acts like a moisture sponge and can help spread the disease. We also recommend cleaning your mower deck off after every use to prevent any kind of fungus growing under it that could be spread throughout the yard.
- Once you see a problem it is very important to get on a fungicide program to prevent the spread. This fungal disease lies dormant in the soil and sometimes never activates if proper environmental procedures are followed. But if this occurs, preventative measures to eliminate the fungus are important and reducing water is critical. Most established Zoysia turf grass only needs to be watered three times a week and prefers to dry out between watering.
So remember, more water and fertilizer does not help the problem.
For more information, here is a helpful link:
http://www.walterreeves.com/lawn-care/zoysiagrass-diseases/
