No one likes to see patches of dead grass on their lawn. Unsightly patches of brown grass are a problem for home and business owners, and it may be difficult to figure out exactly the cause. Check out this list of possible reasons your yard has dead patches of grass in it.
Grub Damage
Grubs are one pest that may be responsible for your dead grass. A few grubs here and there are perfectly normal, but an infestation can cause serious problems.
If you think you have a grub problem, the way to check is simple. Use a spade to cut out a square foot of grass in an affected area, a couple of inches deep. Pull back the sod and see what you’ve got under your grass: a couple of grubs is ok, but more than five in a square foot means you’ve found your culprit.
Natural Gas Leak
Dead grass, shrubs, and bushes in your landscaping can be a common sign of a gas leak outside your business or home. When the gas escapes from burst pipes or other sources, it poisons the soil around the leak, leading to dead plants in that area. If you have just one area of dead foliage, your problem may be a gas leak.
Dog Urine
When dogs urinate, they get rid of excess nutrients and chemical compounds. Some of these compounds are harmful to grass in substantial amounts, such as nitrogen. You may notice a patch of discolored grass if your dog is peeing in the same place every day or if someone else lets their dog pee in your yard during daily walks.
Heat and Drought
Sometimes, the mystery grass killer is too much heat and not enough water. Drought can cause patches of brown grass because your yard may naturally retain moisture better in some places than others. If your property is on a slope, you’ll probably notice dead patches where the water runs off.
Fungal Diseases
One of the reasons your yard has dead patches of grass may be fungus. There are lots of fungal diseases that can impact grass, and many of them mimic the symptoms of other causes on this list. However, with most fungi, there will be some visual indicator, like certain kinds of mushrooms popping up in your yard or a white sticky film on the grass.
We hope this list helps you figure out what’s causing the brown patches in your yard. Once you know what kind of problem you have, you can start to remedy the problem.