Brown Spots on Lawn: How to Identify the Cause

Brown spots on lawn
Before you can fix brown spots on grass, you need to know their cause.

Brown spots on lawns are frustrating to deal with! Just when you think you’ve done everything right, suddenly there’s a patch of grass that’s dead or dying. There are a number of causes of brown spots in lawns, from insects to disease to human error.

To get to the bottom of the situation, you’ll have to do a little old-fashioned investigating. Here’s a checklist to help you determine the cause of brown spots in your yard.


Dog hiking leg to urinate on tree
Animal urine can cause brown spots on lawns. (Adobe Stock photo)

Human and Animal Damage

Unfortunately, it’s very easy for us (and our pets) to damage lawns. Some common causes of brown spots on lawns include:

Dull Mower: Dull mower blades tear your grass, causing damage and gradual death to the grass.

Remedy: Sharpen your blades in fall and spring. After mowing, examine your grass to see if the mower is cutting cleanly.

Scalping: If your mower blade is set too low or there are lumps in the lawn, it can cut the grass too short and cause damage.

Remedy: Practice proper mowing techniques by raising your mower blades, and smooth out high spots by digging up the sod, removing some of the soil underneath, and replacing the sod.

Chemicals: Gasoline, fertilizer, herbicides, and pesticides can cause dead spots if spilled. If fertilizer is applied unevenly or incorrectly, it can burn the grass. Even insect repellents can burn your lawn when sprayed on the grass blades.

Remedy: Pour chemicals, fuels, and sprays on your driveway, not on your lawn, and follow application directions.

Animal Urine: Dogs are the most common culprit, but large birds and other animals can cause urine spots, too. Urine usually causes your lawn to turn yellow in spots, sometimes with a bright green ring around the edges where the diluted nitrogen in the urine acts as a fertilizer.

Remedy: Check out our article on How to Keep Dogs From Damaging Your Lawn for tips.


Boot driving an aerating fork into a green lawn
Aerating your lawn with a digging fork will help grass grow. (Deposit photos)

Poor Growing Conditions

Brown spots on your lawn might mean the conditions in your yard may be unfavorable for grass to grow:

Poor Soil: Soil quality can vary in your lawn, and poor soil can occur in patches, causing brown, bare areas or moss.

Remedy: Take a screwdriver and push it into the soil. If it doesn’t go easily, your soil is likely compacted. Try aerating and top-dressing to incorporate organic matter in the soil. When you aerate, take a look at the plugs, to see how the quality and texture of your lawn varies in different spots. Keep this in mind as you amend and improve your soil.

Buried Debris: I once puzzled over a brown patch for weeks before finding an old piece of buried lumber under the grass.

Remedy: While you’ve got that screwdriver handy, poke around a little to see if anything is underneath the sod.

Erosion: Water tends to run off slopes, taking grass seeds and young shoots with it, and leaving bare ground or dried out areas behind.

Remedy: Aerate your lawn to increase water absorption. If the slope is steep, consider building terraces or planting groundcover.

Roots: Large trees or shrubs usually win the battle for water and nutrients. The area under trees is notoriously difficult for growing grass.

Remedy: Consider mulching or naturalizing areas under trees and shrubs.

Drought: Lawns need one inch of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation. Dry, compacted spots are more easily drought-damaged.

Remedy: Keep an eye on dry, sunny spots, especially if your soil drains poorly. If you irrigate, make sure your entire lawn is watered evenly.

Dormancy: Cool-season lawns can go dormant during the heat of summer while warm-season lawns go dormant during the winter. If your lawn has a mix of grasses, you’ll have curious brown patches as some areas go dormant while others stay green.

Remedy: Seasonal dormancy is normal, but make sure your lawn is healthy and strong to prevent unnecessary browning.


Brown spots on lawn after dethatching
Too much decaying grass can choke out healthy grass. (Deposit Photos)

Common Lawn Diseases and Pests

If you’ve eliminated all the above causes for brown spots on your lawn, it’s time to move on to some of the more serious diseases and pests that plague lawn grasses. Some of the most common culprits are:

Thatch: Thatch is a buildup of decaying grass blades that can build up so thick that it chokes out healthy grass.

Remedy: Remove thatch if it is more than a half-inch thick.

Grubs: Grubs are a common problem in mid to late summer, and most easily identified when your sod easily pulls back from the ground like a carpet.

Remedy: Pull back a section of sod and inspect for fat, white curved worms. More than ten per square foot can cause lawn damage. Grub control products are available at your garden center.

Chinch bugs: Chinch bugs are a common summer pest in warm-season lawns, especially in hot sunny patches beside driveways and sidewalks.

Remedy: Inspect your lawn closely, and look at your shoes as you walk through the grass – you should be able to spot the small black and white adults. They’re resistant to many pesticides, but there are products available to target them.

Other insects: Caterpillars and other pests can live part of their life cycle in lawns.

Remedy: Watch your lawn closely – look for crawling and munching insects and for grass blades that look eaten. Also watch for birds and wasps feeding on these pests in your lawn.

Fungal Diseases: Brown patch and other fungal diseases thrive in moist conditions, most often in midsummer (when nights and days are hot and humid) and spring (as snow melts). They may show up as circular or irregular brown spots, or you may notice a spotting or infected pattern on the blades or a generally dying/thinning out.

Remedy: Increase air circulation and sunlight as much as you can to make your lawn less inviting to fungus. Note the size and shape of the damage as well as the frequency of watering, fertilizer, mowing habits, and sunlight in order to diagnose the disease correctly. Take a sample of the brown spot on your lawn (blades, roots, and soil) to your local cooperative extension office for analysis.


Further Reading

58 COMMENTS

  1. Sweet, thanks for the info. I had my sod installed by Evergreen Turf and was looking for general lawn-care tips so I can maintain my lawn myself.

  2. I bought a home the has St Augustine grass. The grass has brown patches. I was thinking of replacing those patches or is their something else I can do. And if I do replace the pacthes I would like to put fresh soil. Should I use black cow or what should I put down so the new patches wont die.

    Sincerely

    Evelyn Baez

  3. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY BACKYARD FOR SEVERAL YEARS WE HAVE TO PLANT NEW EACH YEAR, WE HAVE BROUGHT IN NEW DIRT FERTILIZED RESEEDED AND THE SAME THING HAPPENS OVER AND OVER AGAIN. GRASS GROWS VERY WELL AND THEN OVER NIGHT THE GRASS DIES IN LARGE SPOT IT HAPPENS IN THE SAME SPOTS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.YES WE HAVE DOGS THEY ARE NUTERED AND WALKED OUTSIDE THE YARD, WE ALSO HAVE OAK TREES AND HAVE USED MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEED WE ARE STUMPED

  4. Water them daily for a week. Get some liquid nutrients and mix them with a steroid in a 55 gallon then spreed around the trees and bushes. It will stimulate the roots and plants will grow.

  5. for years I get brown patches every fall and gradually gets green in the spring time, I planted a new grass and still doing the same thing. finally I used weed killer to kill the grass and its roots( roots are so thick and and spread every where) but still have the same problems and it spreads all over the yard gradually. what should I do?

  6. large dead spots in lawn, I had them for years. If you live down south, the culprit is more than likely Mole Crickets, They will destroy a lawn in a short time, If not treated they will return year after year. Triazicide Insect Killer, made by Spectracide, from Home Depot will get rid of them. Also kills Fleas,Fireants, and most other lawn pests for entire season.

  7. We have light green spots of grass in our grass. A lawn care place told us it was deer urine. It is getting worse.
    Can this be deer urine and if so how to stop them from urinating on our grass. Neighbors don’t seem to have so I thought it might not be deer urine as we were told

  8. I have what they call spring kill in my yard.Several brown spots soil is tight,what can I do to get back my pretty lawn?

  9. You sent me postings on brown spots these are definitely not brown spots but real light green circle patches in my lawn. I have NO DOG. Could it be from deer urine??
    Thank you.

  10. Hello,
    We have new sod fescue grass almost a month , recently the grss get thin and later becom,brown patch. Many different spot. Our water irgration is correct , how do I pervent from this matter. Our gardener mentioned la k of water , I ve seen even the place has water has same problem.

  11. my brown patches look like small areas of brown blades of grass, like above ground thatch. have not used anything but milorganite and the spots showed up before I even used it. could it be a fungus? thanks

  12. When I cut my grass using either of my 2 riding mowers, I get light spots that cause the grass to turn brownish yellow and then dies out. When I use my push mower this doesn’t happen. I checked to see if they are leaking gas, but didn’t find any evidence of it. What else could it be. Also is there a way to raise a riding mower that is too low even on its highest setting.

  13. I put Scotts Turf Builder on my lawn and now I have weeds and crab grass growing when I did not have to begin with and also brown spots appearing in circles. I used the Scotts spreader and made sure of the settings as per instructions. Also per instructions it staed can be used any time and willnot burn the grass. I am stumped

  14. My grass was looking great after applying the recommended fertilizer for my zip code (77356 – Montgomery, TX). I bought a new lawnmower and mowed my grass several times, but the grass grew so fast that it didn’t look like I’d mowed it two days later. Therefore, I lowered the blades on the lowest level – which was the dumbest mistake to make on a mulching lawnmower. I SCALPED my yard and subsequently the grass died. I applied Bayer fungicide for brown spots and water every morning until the past two weeks, when I water every other day. There are a few new blades of grass springing up, but my yard looks hideous. Any advice, such as reseeding, etc.? I resodded the dead areas in the yard a year ago and the new grass was looking terrific – until I scalped it. (the reason I had to resod is because I had to have a huge pine tree removed and the pine shavings must have been too acidic for the soil) HELP!

  15. Triazicide Insect Killer, made by Spectracide, doesn’t work. I spray a bottle religiously every month 12 months a year. It says it works for 2 months – NOT! I have a dog and want to make sure there are no fleas or ticks & it works for that. I don’t have grubs, as far as the mower blades, changed service 4 months ago so if it’s dull blades I can’t do anything about it. I’ve resodded the sports, I’ve sprayed lawn disease Spectracide Immunox, my sprinklers are on every other day. I’m going to try the cornmeal I read from one of the comments and see and if that doesn’t work.

  16. I had my lawn aerated but did not have a section over seeded. The area that I did not over seed got brown. We have not had any rain for over a week so I began watering it and have not cut it yet. prior to aeration lawn was green and thick. Any suggestions?

  17. I rototilled and reseeded the lawn a year ago exactly per the bags instructions. Used Scotts seed and it was more weed then lawn. As per instruction added the lawn food when the grass got to 3.5 inches. Fertilized it using Scott’s as per instruction shortly after. The grass was doing ok after I hand pulled every weed supplied in the seed for awhile. Then I bought a spray weed killer you attach to the hose when watering that claimed safe for grass. Well the lawn was somewhat nice for a few months but now it’s just dying off faster then I can fix it. If you go out and dig up a patch of grass and smell it I bet 90% of these probs are the same as mine is. It’s cat urine and you can smell it and it’s all over the place. Well home depot has a animal repellent for 15 bucks that lasts about a month or you can do what I did and go to the 99 cent store and buy a few dollars worth of Cayenne pepper and sprinkle the perimeter of your yard. It’s stops the cats safely and lets you have a little revenge on them at the same time. Quite a event watching a peppered cat.

  18. planted sod last fall. did really well. this spring it came back strong, then we notices grass turning greyish in spots with the blades thinning then brown and dying. it is spreading to the entire yard. also having a mushroom problem. used some antifungal spread and only water in the morning.no improvement. we could sure use some help please

  19. i have low spots in my yard that has always had good grass, but with all the rain we have been having, it is getting bad. it is getting slimy on the ground or soil and the grass is not looking good. would it be ok to put some good top soil on that and then put grass pads? please let me hear from someone. Thanks!

  20. I bought 2000 square feet of Kentucky blue grass, laid it within 6 hours of receiving it. Rolled the top soil, laid the grass, then water it for 2 hours on Saturday 2 hours on Sunday and on Monday. Had half of each 2×5 rolls turn brown. Don’t know what happened?
    thanks for the advise,
    Al

  21. Here are 10 free tips for the lawn. And mind you, I am NOT a pro, this all comes from my MANY years of trial/error/reading and learning on how to get MY own lawn (and some neighbors who hire me to maintain theirs) looking thick, green, lush and well, better than any MLB ballpark!

    Tip #1 – Mow your lawn short (at about only a 1-1/2″ to 2″ height) when it is cool outside (when temps will stay cool outside, say between 55f-68f)! But, you must remember, short lawns WILL get burned as it gets hotter outside and stays hot! That just means you should mow higher as the seasons get hotter! Simply mow your lawn higher (at about 2″ to 2-1/2″) when outdoor temps are steadily above 68f-75f! And mow it even higher when outdoor temps are even higher (3″ to 3-1/2″ when temps are above 80f or 90f), mow even higher when it will be hotter than 90f (4″-4-1/2″). Most GOOD mowers have easy to adjust “height adjustments” at each wheel, just raise your blade up by half inch, or even as much as one full inch as the seasons get hotter and you WILL be protecting your lawn and it’s roots, and your soil from getting “cooked”! Remember this!, grass NEEDS sun, water and some warmth, it doesn’t really need hot! Any full sun temps above 75f-80f for long periods are NOT very friendly and NOT a good thing for your lawn/roots/soil!

    Tip #2 – Do NOT de-thatch your lawn! ONLY de-thatch if your thatch layer is MORE than a half inch thick or so! And even then, only remove some of the layer! A thin thatch layer IS a good thing during the growing seasons as it IS protecting your soil and grass roots from heat and also feeds the lawn and soil as it breaks down! A thicker layer (about 1 inch) is also good for winter protection when your lawn is dormant, but make sure you thin it out when Spring comes again next year!

    Tip #3 – Do NOT Aerate your soil! That should only be done MAYBE once every 4 or 5 years, and only if you really hate your current lawn and you are planning to fully reseed your property! Aerating, as the name implies, allows more air into the soil which allows nutrients and moisture to be absorbed and dried up very quickly, which is NOT really a good thing! It can also allow root eating bugs and larva laying bugs to get under your lawn more easily! Also, NOT a good thing!

    Tip #4 – Have bare spots? Ditches? Divots? Than you should go buy a few bags of GOOD LAWN SOIL (NO!, NOT Top Soil!) Yeah, there IS a bit of a difference! Cover the bare spots, fill in divots and ditches and level your yard out simply with your own two hand and one good steel rake! But WAIT! Are those bare spots from animal urine or just can’t get anything to grow in that one lousy spot? If so, than, since you already have that big ol’ bag of Lawn Soil you just purchased, get a spade shovel and dig up some of the bare spot and discard, yep, remove that soil, than fill it in with the bag of good fresh soil you just bought! Hey!, It’s easier than trying to water the urine or whatever it is out of that one small spot of dirt that nothing was growing on! Why waste time with sad soil? Then drop some seed on that spot of new dirt and keep the spot watered for the next 14-21 days! POOF! That bare spot IS gone now ain’t it?! LOL

    Tip #5 – Do NOT use a bag on your mower if your clippings are short (1 inch or less), those clippings help feed and protect your lawn it’s roots and your soil, which IS a good thing! ONLY bag your mower if your lawn is very long/high or if it has tons of weeds, bagging a weedy yard helps to NOT spread the weeds!

    Tip #6 – Do NOT OVER water your lawn! ONE inch of watering only ONCE per week is enough when temps are below 75f-80f, twice per week is fine if your area is hotter than 80f! Over watering leads to rot, fungus, mushrooms and a place for bugs and their larva to live happily, among other issues you don’t want! Also, by watering less your training your grass to become more heat and drought tolerant and stronger!

    Tip #7 – Cool season grass seeds, as their naming implies, will only grow when it is cool outside, DUH! (Between, say, 55F-65F!) So if you seeded and it ain’t growing, it’s either too hot or maybe even too cold outside! DON’T WORRY THOUGH! If you seeded when it was too cold out, no problem, as it warms up outside the seed WILL eventually grow, and if it was too hot out, don’t worry, the seed is NOT ruined and your didn’t waste your money, it’s just dormant seed now and WILL emerge when temps drop back down in the fall! I have had each happen to myself many times due to temp fluctuations! I’ve gone and seeded, and than it either got too cool for a prolonged period, or it just got too damn hot out too quickly for it to emerge, but I waited and POW! up it grew (finally)! lol

    Tip #8 – In the northern states, early fall IS the BEST time for seeding and/or reseeding (and also the very best time for planting flowers/shrubs/bulbs/trees)! Yep, even BETTER than seeding (or planting) in the spring! Between Aug.28-Sept.28, and even as late as Oct.10 in some areas is the best time frame for seeding! And in the southern regions, between Oct. 12 to Nov. 20 works well!

    Tip #9 – Here’s another free hint as far as seeding goes, check your local ten-day weather forecasts to see what your areas temps will be over the next ten or so days and seed accordingly to the temps! Will it be lower than 70f for at least ten days or so, yet warmer than 55f? If so, than that IS the best time to get that seed down!

    Tip #10 – When to FEED a lawn! Well, there ARE a few times in the Early and Late Spring/Summer/Early and Late Fall that I find are great for putting down feed, weed-prventers/killers and bug preventers/killers! What works well for ME is when I apply feed just after the last frost in early Spring (about mid.-March in MY area) to my moistened lawn, it helps to get that lawn fed, spruced up and green again after winter. I apply a Scotts brand lawn food with Crabgrass preventative, making sure my lawn is all moist, than I wait about 48 hours and than water it in daily for the next 5 days. I’ve been doing that to my own lawn and have NOT seen crabgrass for 3 years now, after being over run with CG back in 2011 which took over my entire property and killed every inch of beautiful lawn that I had and had worked so hard for! Then I wait at least 8 to 10 more weeks for mid-spring (middle to end of May in MY area) and apply a second lawn food with an added weed killer in it (And I also add a Grub and bug killer to it since I had a huge Grub issue two summers ago) and get that down on the moistened lawn, again I wait 48 hours and than water it in daily for 5 days. I have not had any weeds, dandelion, nor Grubs in 3 years now. And the Feed/Weed Kill/Bug Kill CAN all work fine together! (Just as long as you DON’T have St. Augustine grass! St. Augustine and some weed killers do NOT work well together at all!) Then I wait another 8 weeks (about mid July) and get another feeding down onto the moistened lawn, I use one that has a different bug killer/repellant in it. Doing that helps keep the Japanese beetles away! No Jap Beetles=No Grubs! Then around mid-September I add a regular lawn food/turf builder to my moistened lawn, wait 48 hours and water in for 5 days. And then around early November I use a winterizing food for a final feeding til next Spring. Some might think I’m overdoing it on the feedings/weed preventers/killers/bug preventers/killers, believe me, I am not, I am just being diligent and the results ARE spectacular! In the last 4 years my yard has gone from a mix of weeds/bare spots/twenty different shades of green/CG damaged/Grub damaged eyesore embarrassing disaster to a thick, green carpet than anyone would be more than happy to lay down or roll around on all day long!

    Hope these (or at least SOME of these tips, and the two hours I’ve just spent typing all this stuff) can help YOU get the lawn you really want to see out your window and under your feet!!

    DJ

  22. Hi, I have Zoysia grass and live in Central Fl. I have a lawn care company and my lawn has slowly deteriated since their care and ignore the problems I am having. A couple of months ago I saw a deep purple spot in my lawn. I thought someone poured something on my lawn, and now it is all over my grass. It turns purple, turns brown looks bleached and dies and the grass is lower in those areas. They always say it is drought damage, but I know it is not. The areas that have always been beautiful are covered with these patches. Do you know what they are and how to fix the problem before I loose my lawn?
    Thanks, Sandra

  23. Folks – when giving advice, please say WHERE you are located. Advice that makes sense for NJ probably doesn’t apply to AL or TX or NE.

  24. Random brown spots varying in size are appearing in overall healthy grass. I’ve determined the spots appear when I idle with my riding mower for a minute or two on the spot. There is no gas leaking, could it be exhaust?

  25. I planted Scotts East Seed and it came up great – green and plush. I water correctly – but we recently had 2 weeks of hot weather (Michigan), now the areas I planted are drown and appear dead. What are my options?

  26. We live in Porter Ranch, California – San Fernando Valley suburb of Los Angeles.

    We have an Olive Tree that is unfortunately dying – we believe due to a fungus when the gardener trimmed it.
    – A large patch of grass nearby the tree is dead, dying brown.
    – When the dead grass area is watered – numerous huge mushrooms grown.

    -We assume the mushrooms are due to decay underneath the dead grass.

    Can the roots of the dying Olive Tree that branch out under the dead grass be causing decay in the soil ?

    Help & what can we do ?

    Do we need to remove the dying olive tree & surrounding nearby roots ?

  27. I spread grub killer in the spring now my lawn looks so terrible brown spots and areas that looks like animals were digging at it and my dog keeps sniffing in the ground. I like to get my lawn back to shape do you have any suggestions on what might be causing it and how can I get it back in shape for next year.
    Sincerely,
    Anthony Blauch

  28. I have a Meyer Zoysia lawn that is in excellent condition, except for several dead spots 5-6″ in diameter that have just appeared in the past week or so. I live in the Atlanta, Ga. area. Could this be a problem with insects, grubs, or worms? Thank you!

  29. I live in central florida and take care of parents down the street. Their grass is a mess, cant afford service for lawn. So, I have to do something. They have moles, brown spots and bare spots. I would really like to fix it up for them. Should I reseed, fertilize it? What kind of grass seed should they have living in new smyrna beach fl? thank you

  30. I have “Brown Patch” or “Fairy Circle” in a large area that is in the shade of an oak tree here in Venice, FL.
    My gardener says there is no chemical that can kill the fungus that is in the ground, in fact the area is growing larger as the spores are spread by foot traffic, machine traffic etc. Should I give up and convert the area to cement?

  31. I have an Argentina Bahia lawn. I water 3 times a week,. I have 10 stations,,each station waters for 30 minutes. Every thing in my yard is doing great,except for my lawn.parts of my lawn is doing great,but some
    parts of my lawn is showing large brown spots that are growing fast. How do I stop them?

    BOB

  32. Hello I live in Miami. The weather is getting hot, my grass has some brown spots. I put the sprinklers in the morning. I always take care my grass, I don’t know what to do ? Help

  33. In response to DJ:
    First of all, thank you very much for this extensive information. I read it all and it sounds excellent advice to me.
    I had my front yard re-sodded last Spring in zone 7 and I remembered what gardeners used to do near Paris FR, but I totally failed to account for the variation in soil and the temperature (I am in zone7) I grossly over-watered probably; so now the beautiful lawn is full of fungus.
    Now I know what to do and what NOT to do!
    Thanks again.

  34. we have mexican grass in our land scape area , recently it has developed brown spots which is rapidly spreading , we are from bangalore india kindly guide me sir

  35. We have large brown spots in our yard, have treated for grubs, in central Fl, also get mushrooms frequently we’ve treated yard with a spectrcide fungas stuff.
    Any solutions do not want lawn service have had in past and they are good for awhile than they fall apart.

  36. i have large brown spots at areas i retopsoiled and reseeded and same areas grass dies an every year. I thought i used wrong grass seed but it grows in spring like normal but when temp. gets hotter it dies off leaving areas with dead grass. What do i need to do

  37. For the last 3 years we have large circles of St Augustine grass that turns brown starting about October. The come back fine and are nice and green in the Spring and Summer, but come fall, the brown patches start again. We live an hour North of Dallas. Any suggestions. We are not over watering this time of year. Appreciate your expertise.

  38. I live in south Florida the brown dried spots in my backward are getting bigger I have tried fungus sprays granules the last thing I tried was a product made by black flag for fungus and insects, I water now it’s not necessary because we have rain everyday, the law in the front is beautiful only have the problem in the back,. I do not have pets but there are always spots in the yard which looks like some animal has been digging, small round holes.
    My lawn in the front is cut by the association, the back where I have the problem is cut by my gardener.
    I need your help thanks

    • Round holes in yard is from rabbits digging a place/ hole to ha e babies… I keep filling holes back up eith good black sad oil and seeding. Then I put Some thing over or around the holes for the bunny can’t get to it again. I also spray it with bunny and deer repellent twice a day

      • Thanks for sharing your experience with the Today’s Homeowner community, Dawn!
        TH community members helping other TH community members — we love it. 🙂

  39. Live in Chesterfield, VA. Have a beautiful Zoysia lawn. Fertilize and water correctly. Lawn starts developing dinner plate size brown spots in late September but comes back beautiful the next year. Any ideas? Thanks. – Robbie Redfearn

  40. Help! I’ve got the brown clusters growing in my grass. Looks like clusters of prunes. That’s the only way I can describe it. The most gross stuff I’ve ever seen! I’ve asked around at work and showed pics, but no one knows ever seen anything like it. Really want help in getting rid of it ASAP.

  41. I live in Northern Utah and we have A BioKentucky Bluegrass. It is brown is some spots and you can pull it out and it has no roots. We have had fungus in the past and been able to treat it. This does not seem to be fungus related however. It looks dry and just pylls away from the soil. Any suggestions woyld be greatly appreciated.

  42. jlg57chevy@yahoo.com This year for some reason the grass is brown where the tires on my mower run. If I make a turn you can see everywhere I have been. Have no idea what is causing this. Same mower New last year. Didn’t do it last year just started this year. Thanks for any help you could give .

  43. Is it possible that a professional lawn service can initiate brown patches in a lawn? 10 days after an application the spots appeared.. The only thing different that was added to the formula was a liquid grub deterrent..

    • Hi, Mick!

      Numerous factors could contribute to brown patches on a lawn. For this reason, and without seeing the lawn in person and knowing all the factors involved, we would avoid (basically) accusing anyone or any business of contributing to that situation.

      Your best bet is to contact the professional lawn service to discuss the matter.

      Thanks for reading!

  44. Lawn has large brown patches and it’s size is increasing. Figured it was a heat/water problem. As there has been little rain, I began to water it daily for at least 2-3 hours daily. Only result is that the brown spots are increasing and taking over my front lawn. HELP.

  45. I live in south Florida, have a small backyard overgrown with weeds.I pull them by hand and also found grubs, caterpillars, palmetto bugs, snail shells and other bugs. My plan is to add an insect killer, lay new sod , watering it every day for a week. Is my plan reasonable?

  46. “Pour chemicals, fuels and sprays on your driveway”
    Yikes! And allow them to wash off into the ecosystem? Let’s practice safe disposal of hazardous materials.

  47. I’m in the Spring Tx area, north of Houston.
    Can a dull blade kill my grass? I hired a new lawn guy and I think he just mows and edge some and he has applied weed killer to my driveway, which I thought was great, but I think he’s not edging with the same weed killer!
    Now I’m getting weeds and brown spots all over my lawn!!!
    My lawn was thick and beautiful! What is happenings?

    • Hi, Anglia. Using dull blades does tear grass — and that’s problematic.
      This is more than a cosmetic issue, with side effects including discoloration and moisture loss.
      So, please ensure those blades are nice and sharp.
      Good luck. 🙂

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