Brown Spots in St. Augustine

jchristena – posted 08 February 2003 16:18

Not sure if this has been asked before, but can anyone tell me why there is a dying circle in my St. Augustine? I live in Tx, and the circle started about September last year with about a 6 inch circle. Now it is about 2.5 feet in diameter. The grass isn’t completely dead, but it is obviously not healthy as compared to the surrounding grass. Is this a common problem? Hopefully there is an easy solution. Thanks!

michaelturner – posted 10 February 2003 09:31

I live in east texas and have had the same problem you have discribed…it is most likely a mold or fungus that attacks ST. Augustine…I lost have my yard from this same thing 6 yrs. ago by not reacting quick enough…It can be controlled very easily with one of the common fungicides from your local garden center…over-spray process…hope this helps.

horticare – posted 18 February 2003 12:45

sounds like fairy (or faeirie, or whatever variation) ring. there is more info on this subject in the phenomena section of this forum, i believe. usually caused by fungus or spores, something to that effect.

frenchman – posted 18 February 2003 16:35

I don’t think it’s fairyrings. Fairyrings won’t kill the grass, it just makes the grass have a darker color to it. It sounds like take-all-patch, but then again I don’t mess with St. Aug here in Ky

jesse t. valenzuela – posted 02 March 2003 02:01

can barricade pre-ergent weed control setback st. augustine grass in march 2003

ted – posted 04 March 2003 21:57

you had brown patch fungus last fall. you probably live somewhere around the southeastern portion of the state , right? it’s caused by overwatering, and improper fertilization, and dull mower blades. try next year to cut back on the frequency of the watering, and try not to overfertilize in aug. if you still want to work some more on it you can spray prostar fungicide before the fungus starts, but it has to be used by a professional licensed chemical lawn care company. you can’t buy it. and nothing you will do now will fix the damage that’s already occurred. it’s like trying to get a flu shot after you’re done with the flu.. try to fertilize the lawn properly now nad it’ll come back just fine.

houston, tx

Jeanette – posted 20 May 2004 15:48

Try using just 2 tablespoons of plain dishwashing liquid in 1 gallon of water and soak the area to a depth of one inch. I had fairy ring 2 years ago and had a company out to put a fungicide on the lawn and it worked for a while but when the rings appeared agian I went on a quest to find a solution and the canadians have successfully treated fairy ring with this method and so far I have too. Soap and water has been reccommended for many pests in the garden and plants and it is safer to the children and environment that some of the fungicides used. I use a 2 gallon yard sprayer and it has helped and even kept some other pests from my lawn. Good luck

ted – posted 20 May 2004 17:15

texas is a long way from canada….

the original post did not describe fairy rings. fairy rings can be huge, like, 20-30 feet around.

cohiba – posted 21 May 2004 06:40

Fairy rings are a very complex subject. There are literally hundreds of different fungi that cause fairy rings. Some kill all the grass, some kill some of the grass others just make the grass greener. Some produce fruiting bodies(mushrooms), others do not. The turfgrass scholars have developed a classification system for fairy ring based on this criteria. The rings start off small, +/-9″ size? and grow concentrically each season they are not killed off. Weeds usually invade the interior of the circle after the turf is weakened or killed. The fungi produce a waxy coating on the soil that repels water. That is the reason the soap masks the symptoms. As does fertilizer and soap (or wetting agents). The only true way to rid yourself of fairy ring is to core aerify the spot heavily, and while it is open, perform a soil drench with ProStar Fungicide. It really works to break the cycle of growth. The largest fairy ring is hundreds of years old and is several acres in size???

Probably way too much info but it is an interesting subject to me…….