Brown Patch lawn disease, which can also be known as Large Patch lawn disease is caused by Rhizoctonia solani, a pathogen which can present itself across a vast array of different vegetation types, all producing different names dependant on the plant infected. The variation in names for the turf disease is often used to differentiate between cool season grasses and warm season grasses, with the cool season types disease being known as Brown Patch, and the warm season grass disease known as Large Patch.
For simplicity and because of cultural norms in Australia, we’ll continue to refer to the lawn disease as Brown Patch for the sake of this article.
Brown Patch presents itself as patches of dead or dying turf ranging in size between 5 centimetres and 1 metre in diameter. The inner colour of these patches can be golden, brown, straw or even an orange colour. There is most usually an outer ring on these patches which is a smokey colour, either brown or grey, which is most often referred to as the ‘smoke ring’.
Brown Patch disease is most prevalent as it is coming into or out of the lawn’s Winter dormancy, which of course means that we will notice the disease most in Autumn and Spring. Temperature is also an important aspect in the growth of Rhizoctonia solani, whereby it prefers temperature ranges which are present in Spring and Autumn, over those of Winter or Summer. The disease is less noticeable in Summer as the lawn is most actively growing and at its peak of health. Fungal growth in the form of web-like mycelium threads can be seen on affected turf areas in early morning and when dew is still present.
The pathogen responsible can remain in soils for many years before ever attacking a lawn. The disease can be spread from lawn to lawn by people, pets, water, lawn mowers, and anything else that can cross from one infected lawn to another lawn.
Curing Brown Patch Lawn Disease
Once more, as with all lawn diseases, we hit this one on many different fronts at once too.
Excess moisture, shade, and poor soil drainage will all contribute to an outbreak of Brown Patch in our lawns, and so naturally these should be the very first areas of attack against this lawn disease.
Remove any excess shade which may be overshadowing the lawn, especially in areas where Brown Patch (or any other disease) is prevalent.
Soil drainage can be improved by lawn aeration via methods like lawn coring, although we can also use a garden fork to really get into and break up and disturb the lawn soil too.
Poor lawn watering habits are always a culprit in all lawn disease outbreaks, including this one. Always aim to water the lawn as least often as possible, and then apply more water as is needed for the lawn to remain healthy. Always water lawns in the morning and never at night.
Morning dew is always a problem for lawn diseases too, though this will be a great hassle for the homeowner who has a busy work life to undertake and to manage. Controlling morning dew is done in a couple of different ways. The first is to mow the lawn each morning when dew is present, to break up the dew. The next method is to drag a garden hose over the lawn to break up the dew. Yes it is a pain, but every turf expert says the same thing as an effective method to control lawn disease, including Brown Patch lawn disease.
Wind… yes this is a new one… a breeze of any kind will help evaporate water away from the leaf of the lawn and from the thatch layer of the turf as well. If we have any type of morning breeze possible where we live, and if there is anything at all in our garden or on our property which is stopping that breeze from drifting across our lawns to help dry them off, we should address that barrier so as to remove it. This may mean pruning bushes, or moving large objects to other locations. In this case we want the breeze to dry out the lawn leaf and the thatch layer of the lawn, so if this is a possibility on your property, best to do so. And if you don’t think I’m serious on this one, golf courses are known to use high powered fans on parts of the turf in the mornings to evaporate dew so as to decrease the possibility of lawn disease.
Decreasing fertiliser usage, most especially in Summer is also a wise move to help combat Brown Patch lawn disease. While fertiliser is wonderful for lawns in so many ways, most especially in tackling many different lawn problems, it seems that in the case of Brown Patch lawn disease it may be best to cut right back on fertiliser usage until we have this problem solved.
Lastly we come to the fungicide option.
Fungicides for Brown Patch are available to us to use on our lawns. However, as always, lawn fungicides are never a magic bullet on their own, and they almost always require multiple applications. Fungicides for Brown Patch should be combined with every other cultural management solution which is available to us as being suitable for our own lawns.
With this in mind, look carefully over every piece of advice already presented of the different ways we can tackle Brown Patch disease. Choose what is most suitable for you the lawn owner, and for your own individual property, and utilise whatever option is suitable for you, alongside any fungicide applications.
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