WHY TURF DISEASES HAPPEN

The traditional disease triangle components of host, pathogen and environment influence the degree of damage that’s experienced from north to south, in residential lawns to commercial lawns. These can be found on all species of turfgrass like Kentucky bluegrass, fescue, and different types of sod. No matter the setting, turf disease is a challenging malady.

When different seasons of year is added to the mix, some considerations change and some remain the same. One difference between many Spring and Fall conditions is the expectation of the customer for the outcome, or the aesthetic appeal, of the turf. In Fall, the tendency is to just sort of give up when the turf starts to look a little stressed and not take any control measures until their turf or commercial property even gold courses are now damaged as a result, and then it’s the LCO’s fault, not theirs. Here is where the use of SumaGreen Turf can help remediate many of these stresses in the turf compared to the 100% fertilized turf. SumaGreen will help bounce the turf back into shape though the time line on this will vary depending on the time of year and the temperature.

How to avoid this from happening until it is too late

Weather conditions often change quickly and an outbreak can suddenly erupt before you know it. Late Summer and Fall turf diseases are weather dependent maladies. The first step in dealing with these causal agents is to regularly inspect lawns. Some people call it scouting and others call it monitoring. Whatever you call it, trained technicians should always be on the lookout for turf damage when they are on your lawn. 

An Inspection should be thorough, close-up look for disease symptoms.

There are several ways to go about these inspections. With the nature of the variety of services provided being the best way to determine the best approach. It’s not essential that every applicator, or technician become a turfgrass pathologist, just that they are able to identify that something’s wrong with the turf. This requires a thorough investigation.

Another opportunity for inspection can be taken when they are on your lawn for an application of the SumaGreen Turf. When you are applying Fertilizer (if not using SumaGreen Turf) applicators finish with product dispersal and are blowing material from impervious surfaces (such as sidewalks and driveways) back to the turf areas. The Applicator’s observations about different colored turf can be noted and communicated to other staff better versed in diagnosis. This is step is never the case with SumaGreen Turf as it is a liquid application and gives the applicator and even color for the grass and nothing to blow back on grass from sidewalk or driveway. Regardless of the arrangement, regular inspection is a good idea.

 *** Picture taken (above) is what a lawn would look like that is still using granular fertilizers blown back onto the grass from driveway and sidewalk.   See the random brown spots along the sidewalk. This is just another good reason to use SumaGreen Turf with Sumagrow inside.