What is the cause of Brown Patch on a Lawn?

A fairly common question from homeowners is what causes brown patches in my lawn? Based on experience and research I offer the following:

A lawn that has brown patches and bare spots can be an annoyance, not only do they look bad they leave room for weeds to start, fortunately with little effort the trouble spots can be fixed and you can take steps to ensure they do not return. The first thing we need to do is determine why they are there then we can deal with the issue at hand.

In my experience the number one cause is too much fertilizer, regular store purchased fertilizer can and will burn your lawn, our company only uses Organic Fertilizer and as such it is next to impossible to burn your grass. What is happening is you have an excess of nitrogen which leaches out of the soil fairly quickly, to start water the spots thoroughly and after a month or so they should be gone.

Next is traffic., if your patches look more like paths then perhaps family, visitors or pets are making short cuts through your lawn. What is happening is the soil is compacting, you can fix the problem by aerating the soil, see our blog on Aeration. In the long run it’s best to lay out pathways where visitors and hopefully the pets will walk.

Too much water, sometimes we become a little over enthusiastic about watering the lawn, our kindles can actually kill the lawn as too much water will drown the roots. Also remember research has shown the best time to water the lawn is in the early morning. It could also be that you have poor drainage in the area, in any event once the area has dried, overseed.

There is a disease called “Brown Patch” which is caused by a fairly common fungus. This fungus has been known to be in the soil for years and cause no problems until your grass is stressed. If your patch forms a round ring that is surrounded by healthy green grass chances are you have a fungus. The only way I know of to ensure this is the issue is to have the soil tested, once it is diagnosed and confirmed we have two Organic products that will cure your problem.

Finally there are a number of insects that can start a brown patch, the best way I know of is to look at the issue first hand.