Lawn grass diseases are difficult to identify without the aid of pictures. That's just what this site from Cornell University provides. Use this resource to access pictures of common lawn grass diseases: brown patch, dollar spot, fairy rings, leaf spot, pythium, red thread, rust and snow mold.
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Lawn has large patches of grass that looks like grub worms only very severe. I have a very large front, back and side yard and it is all over. I was told it was heat stress, but it isn’t. Could be a fungi, or some kind of bug, but has gotten worse over the summer. Where affected it is very spotty and almost looks like it is diying. Help! I’m in TX. on the plains.
Take a sample of the affected turf/soil to your local county extension to get a positive ID on whatever ails your lawn (fungus, bug, whatever). Then follow their recommendations to correct the problem. It may mean spraying, for example, to kill whatever it is (but such a diagnosis can’t really be done well over the Web). When the culprit is killed, re-seed.
while outside I noticed that my lawn looked like someone had sprayed small patches of purple paint on my lawn. After closer inspection I noted that it appeared to be tiny clusters of eggs or granuals of some sort. Do you have any idea what this could be?
Could be a slime mold. While the name sounds ominous, slime molds aren’t generally considered lawn grass diseases, per se, as they pose no serious threat to your grass. You could just rake or mow the slime mold off, if it really bothers you. Slime molds thrive in wet, humid conditions, so you might also try cutting back on watering if the slime mold mars the appearance of your lawn too much (purely an aesthetic consideration) and you’d like to reduce the probability of its reappearing.
I have a couple of 12″inch diameter circles that have such tightly matted moss like texture that have suddenly appeared on my lawn. they do not grow larger or higher. What are they? How do I get rid of them?
Could be many things, Murf, including brown patch. If the circles are, indeed, brown patch, you may need to consider lawn aeration.
Had the yard hydro seeded and the yard was covered with alot of mushroom. This did not bother me but now that the weather is wet the yard has many spots that definately look like slime/mold and it is killing the grass all over the yard starting in these circular spots
Our lawn has little mud clumps coming up through the lawn. What is it and how do we make it stop?
D Hatcher,
Check out this article on mole control.
After cutting some branches off bushes this morning, I walked to the back yard and I noticed some strange stuff in my grass. I saw what looked like dark green jelly. It was in small clumps and different areas almost in a trail. It was only on the east side of my house. Could this be some sort of insect infection or grass fungus and what do I do about it?
Yesterday, I found these bizarre long red “fingers” in my grass, they’re hollow inside. Range in color from pink to yellowish to red. They are freaky!! What is it, how do I get rid of it?? Is it poisonous, I have dogs! yuck!!
I have this green jelly type areas on a portion of my lawn. After about a week they have turned black. But the spots are growning and what was a limited space is now getting larger and larger. Does anyone have a clue as to what this could be?
Cathleen,
You may have stinkhorns in your lawn. I did a quick search on this fungus, and all the results I came up with said non-poisonous (but take that with a grain of salt, obviously).
Shauna,
According to this site, “This is a lichen/moss type found in wet sunless areas where the soil has become too acid. Treat with iron sulphate which you can find in any lawn-care product which contains lawn sand.” Of course, that assumes we have the correct lawn grass disease ID — always a tricky proposition unless pics are supplied.
I have bare spots on my lawn that I am seeding. I purchased seed that has the fertilizer and mulch altogher. I put the seed down right before a day of rain. The next day I noticed these little clumps of clear jelly like things only where I planted the seed. I used this seed earlier and it grew nicely. I brought a sample of these jelly things to my local nursery and they had no idea what it was. Can anyone help me?
Thanks
Mark,
A picture could be helpful in this case. You can post photos in the Landscaping Forum.
i have these strange patches of black jelly leaching from the ground they smell like earht an are very shiney however when you touch it it it is very firm and dose not mark you finger and one know what it is and is it bad for may lawn
Colin,
Please see my response to Shauna above, since you both describe your patches as “jelly”-like.
My lawn has been in good shape all year, but this past week I mowed the lawn and the grass has turned brown in the tracks of the mower. (Nice brown tracks up and down the lawn). This has happened occasionaly in past years as well. Any suggestions?
John,
Rather than being a lawn grass disease, here’s what might be happening here:
Sometimes, we mow in the same pattern (or nearly the same pattern) every time we use the lawn mower, without thinking about it. Because we are, thereby, laying down tracks in approximately the same place over and over, we’re putting extra stress on the grass in those areas.
This is the time of year when grass is most stressed, to begin with; factor in what I said above, and you can see how easily browning could occur.
Sharon,
See my response to Shauna above regarding the “dark green jelly.”
I just bought a house and the grass is sparse between large patches of dead grass. I know the previous tenant did not water. I have been watering, but I’m not see much results. Could these dead spots be more than water deprivation? If so, how can I get green grass again?
I feel like I’m asking about the same stuff Sharon & Shauna were asking about but I have searched all over the internet for answers & can find none. I have a strange dark green/brown “jelly” like substance in my yard. We live on pasture land with no trees & plenty of sun. We do not narmally water this part of the yard because we can not afford to water 2.5 acres. I have a picture if someone can tell me where to load it.
Sandy,
Pics can be posted in the Landscaping Forum.
My neighbors (across the street) grass started turning brown on the edge of his lawn and continued to spread to other parts of his lawn. He is very meticulous about his lawn, so when this happened we were really surprised. Our lawn was pretty and green when his lawn started turning brown. Now, our lawn is starting to do the same thing and it has quickly spread. My next door neightbors grass is still pretty and green. What could be the cause of our lawn turning brown.
Lindsey,
It could be any of a number of things, but here’s one hypothesis:
If your neighbor did any herbicide sprayiing on a windy day, the damage to the grass could have been uneven. That is, the part of the lawn that bore the brunt of the spray would have died first. Areas that received less spray could have died more slowly. The further away from the lawn area most affected, the slower the damage (thus your lawn’s holding out till last).
Just one possibility. Hard to know without being there….
After all the snow melted this past week or 2 I have trails of dead grass that when I rake comes up without any problem . I live in Southern Wisconsin. The lawn was in good shape last fall. It had been covered with snow for about 3 months. Any suggestions ?
thank You
We have numerous small patches in the lawn that appear to be lots of tiny, very orange, slimy threads tightly packed on the leaf blades. From the pictures on your Web site, I think they look a little like red thread (except that they are orange and so far have not yellowed/killed the grass) and a little like pythium (orange, but not dead spots yet). We’ve been having very wet weather, recently hot, and mow in different directions. What to do?
Cindy,
You could put on a mask and gloves and manually remove the fungi, so that they don’t release more spores. When the wet weather ceases, you probably won’t have much a problem anyway.
For the past 5 years each summer my lawn looks dry and lifeless. I water regularly and fertilize each spring and the lawn look nice. After about amonth and the lawn look like it is dry and dead but only in certain areas. A friend mentioned that it could be from the poplar trees that I have (never heard of that). Every year the dryness seams to be spreading and getting larger no matter what I do to it.
I have had awesome looking grass for about 5 years and recently have had a problem and need help identifying the problem…
I keep my grass cut at the highest level on my walk behind and water it at 5 am daily….. I recently overseeded with Scotts and was surprised at how much yellow nutsedge germinated….nutsedge is weedlike and grows faster and stands taller than the rest of the grass and is easy to pull out due to short roots…. So i tried scotts fertilizer with halts and got no results. few weeks later i tried spectracide that u hook up to a garden hose and it worked, killing all nutsedge…..a few weeks after that i used turfbuilder and now i have noticed i am getting a twisted or swirly pattern in my entire front yard, everywhere i sprayed …..
I am not sure if i am stressing out the grass or am i getting a fungus of some kind or overwatering… Grass is almost laying down in circular patterns , kind of looks like someone has walked on it after a fresh cut and watering…. kinda getting a small bare spot under patterns and soil is very damp
I stopped watering to see if i get any results, have’nt found any pics or any one else with same problems.
What are signs of over watering?
any thoughts or comments would greatly be appreciated
Help me to head off and eventually eliminate this creeping charlie problem
Here’s an article about creeping charlie, including a link to a resource on getting rid of it: creeping charlie.
Jeff,
It’s possible you stressed out the grass with all that chemical usage. The way the grass is lying down could indicate that this is the problem. If so, the damage has already been done; I’d reevaluate in fall. If you determine, in fall, that you will need a new lawn or overseeding, the weather will be right for either of those tasks.
i have a blue-grey powder like and it goes in a line can anyone tell me what it is please
Jackie,
A blue-gray powder such as you describe could be slime mold. Slime mold, once present, is best controlled via manual removal (i.e., clean it off your grass blades — tedious work, but effective).
I plant new grass seed, it comes up green and looks very good. It gets to about 1″ to 11/2 then it turns brown, need help
recently patches appeared on my grass these were greyish black but with white specks these were on individual blades of grass but forming patches when brushed with the back of the hand they appeared like a dust can you tell me what it is please
Steve,
The closest lawn grass disease I can come up with is discussed and pictured on the University of Nevada site.
my yard has all these little round mud spots all over it. we get it every year. Is it because of to much water. We ferterlize regulary every year.
Sandy,
Watering will definitely foster fungus, no question about it.
I have patches of dirt throughout my lawn and it is the dead of winter in the mid-Atlantic region. The grass around the dirt patches is very weak and fairly rootless (pulls up very easily as if grubs were the issue). We had our lawn aerated in the fall with overseeding, but this problem is fairly recent and getting worse with time. Not sure what to make of this. Any insight?
JT,
Depending on how it was done, overseeding doesn’t always “take” very well, right away. I’d wait till spring and re-evaluate. If you still find the same problem in spring, overseed again.
Portions of my yard has been taken over by a neighbor’s grass problem that appears to be a quickly-spreading spongey green moss (fuzzy), and large portions of the neighbor’s yard has also turned to patches of dirt from this spreading moss-like scourge having killed his healthy grass. Is there a product that would help kill off this moss-like growth, or would it entail digging it all out and replanting with seed and fertilizer? Thank you for your assistance!
Sandra,
The presence of moss plants is an indication that you have less than ideal conditions for growing a lawn. So after you kill the moss (you can pick up a moss-killer at your local garden center), your work is really just beginning: It’s time to determine the root cause, and eliminate it. Otherwise, you’ll just end up with new moss in the near future. For example, soil pH or a paucity of necessary nutrients could be the issue. So start by sending a soil sample to your local cooperative extension for a soil test, to determine whether acidic soil is causing the problem. Other possible culprits are soil compaction, too much shade or excessive moisture.
I live in Calgary, AB and now that the snow is melting down and grass is getting exposed I see grayish web like formation on the grass. I sure seems to be some kind of net on the grass. I am afraid it might spread to the whole lawn or might kill the grass underneath.
I am looking for some suggestions. Thank you!!!
I live in WA state and we have had a ton of rain this year. Now my front yard is uneven and lumpy. It also grows uneven. I don’t know if it is a disease or just a result of all the rain. Could you tell me how I can repair it please? Thank you.
Patti,
It doesn’t sound like a lawn grass disease, nor is there any easy way of “straightening it out.” Unfortunately, you will more or less have to start from scratch, following [at least some of] the directions in this article on starting new lawns.
we have clumps of fungus (not sure) which is light brown on top and gray underneath on our lawn and if touched it breaks apart like powder. what is it and how can we get rid of it?
Annac,
This isn’t typically a lawn disease, per se, but take a look at these fungus pictures (especially towards the bottom of the page) and tell us if this is the fungus you’re seeing.
After pulling out dead grass on south side of house, I reseeded and used starter fertilizer. Everything went well — nice green lawn. But after the fourth mowing, it became infested with vine-like weeds overtaking the grass. After pulling those weeds out, I was left with a patchy lawn, which I reseeded; but nothing seems to be growing.
I also noticed a few mounds of dirt caused by a flying bug about 1 1/2″ long brown body with yellow stripes on its lower half. Could this insect be the problem?
B,
It does not sound likely that this insect is the problem. Rather, it sounds more like the bug is just exploiting the bare patch. Without having more information, I would have to attribute your problem more to heat than anything else.
My grass seems to be dying. There are brown patches which look as though they are being dug up by some animal. Underneath are these slug or worm-like things with two small legs at the front of their body. There are quite a lot of them. My neighbour has now started to develop this problem as well.
Carol,
Definitely more of an insect problem than a lawn grass disease problem. Skunks will dig up your grass to get at beetle larvae, etc. You need to apply a product such as Grub-X to kill those grubs.
I have a lot of large, brownish,, flat toad stool like fungus in my yard. What are they and how do I kill them?
Bud,
We would need a picture to identify them. You can post photos in my Landscaping Forum.
In terms of getting rid of toad stools in a lawn, physically removing them is a step in the right direction, as this means you are not allowing a new batch of spores to fall onto the earth.