Bermuda grass brown is normal and expected to occur during the fall as the temperatures drop, brown grass during the growing season is not acceptable. This problem happens because of a number of reasons, and so we are here to help you out.
Read on as we have covered the common reasons and how you can fix them, together with the solutions and methods how to properly address these common causes.
Contents
What Is Bermuda Grass Turning Brown The Result of?
Bermuda grass turning brown is a result of different causes, such as soil compaction, and not having the right amount of sunlight. In addition, it may also be due to low temperatures, and different fungal diseases that are causing it to start turning brown.
– Soil Compaction
Soil compaction is one of the common problems of lawn owners. Some of its symptoms are shallow roots, slow new growth, thinning leaves, yellowing or browning of the leaves, and the existence of weeds that can tolerate lower oxygen, such as knotweed and bluegrass.
Having soil compaction is one of the reasons why your Bermuda grass turn brown. Soil compaction happens when the particles in the soil are pressed together tightly or packed too closely together and leave no room for oxygen and water to enter the pore spaces between them. Compaction of the soil is hard to see, but it can create significant damage to your grass.
This results in the suffocation of the roots and poor drainage because of less air and water movement that creates thatch build-up. Compacted soil, together with lack of or too much water, causes the turf to dry faster and create brown patches and, over time, may kill your grass.
– Inadequate Sunlight
Inadequate light also causes the browning of your Bermuda grass lawn, especially if you are growing them in a location with shade or the grass blades are longer than two inches. The grass may begin to turn brittle and brown at the lower portion of the leaves due to the lack of sunlight. In the case of elongated leaves, the sunlight that did not reach the bottom part of the leaves makes them turn brown.
– Low Temperature
This is the grass that goes dormant during winter as it cannot tolerate temperatures below 55 Fahrenheit. Being a warm-season grass, it cannot adapt to cold weather and has difficulty producing chlorophyll.
They will start to lose the dark green color of the leaves naturally, and then the leaves turn brown. For this, you should notice that the given issue is not really bothersome, so you don’t need to worry. Your grass is just in a state of dormancy, and it is normal.
– Diseases
The brown patches that spread and become bigger in size are more likely a symptom of one of the grass diseases called brown patch disease. Aside from this manner, there are also several other diseases your grass might be suffering from that cause the browning of the leaves.
For instance, the brown patch disease appears to look like circular brown areas in your lawn. It usually develops in the spring or fall when the weather is wet and cool. The grass leaves wilt and die, resulting in a brown, patchy area in your yard.
This is a fungal disease caused by the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia. It is very common in warm-season grass like Bermuda grass. It is usually active when the temperature at night increases to 70 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. If left untreated, Brown patch disease could create severe damage to your turf.
It may also face leaf spots caused by the fungus Helminthosporium and typically attacks during wet spring when the grass is just breaking out of dormancy. It begins as tiny brown spots on the leaves; however, do not underestimate these little spots; if it is left uncontrolled will cause your turf to wilt, turn yellow, turn brown, and eventually die.
Spring dead spot is another fungal disease to watch out for is the spring dead spot. It commonly attacks the well-maintained lawn; the more you fertilize, the more attractive it is to this disease. To easily identify it, look for brown circles in your turf, which would appear like a bleaching effect. This disease rots every part of the grass, so inspect where you notice brown spots, so it is common during the spring season and in soil with high nitrogen content.
What Are Ways to Fix Bermuda Grass Turning Brown?
The ways to fix Bermuda grass from turning brown are to aerate the soil and give it adequate lighting properly. You must also revive it from its dormancy period, make sure to treat the diseases it faces, and lastly, use grass sprigs.
– Perform Core Aeration
A great way to rule out soil compaction is to perform core aeration. This process will loosen the compacted soil, remove the plugs in the soil, and prevent thatch accumulation. It also allows nutrients, oxygen, and water to penetrate the soil and be easily absorbed by the grassroots.
You will need to use a core aerator so that you would remove the plugs of soil from your lawn. In doing this, you will basically create holes with a diameter of around ½ to ¾ inch using the aerator machine in your lawn. Some of its further benefits are that it will provide the root system more room to grow, fertilizers will easily get access to the roots, and thatch will be gotten rid of.
Perform the core aeration process in your lawn once every year during the early spring. Aside from core aeration, minimizing the traffic in your lawn, especially when the soil is wet and periodic movement of the mowing pattern will lessen soil compaction in your yard. Having these practices as part of your lawn care will definitely give your grass great benefits
– Give Adequate Light
Bermuda grass is a tropical grass that thrives in warm climates. Six hours of full sun daily is the required sunlight your grass has to receive. Provide it to your grass through regular mowing. It will also help your turf to recover and keep it from browning as it would expose the lower portion of the leaves to the sunlight.
Add to your lawn care list the need to maintain the ideal height of the grass, which is between one and two inches. Do this especially when there is inadequate sunlight. Also, mow your lawn twice every week when the sunlight is plentiful to avoid crowding out of the leaves and prevent browning.
Remember that this is the type of grass with a low shade tolerance. Compared to many other turfgrasses, Bermuda has a higher light requirement, which, if not regularly met, will greatly affect its growth, development, and appearance.
– Revive Dormant Grass
During the dormancy stage, ensure that your grass gets plenty of air and sunlight. Rake the fall leaves that cover the turf—delay mowing during winter, as your grass does not need it. Keep an eye on your lawn, and ensure that it is free from winter debris like sticks and stones.
Irrigate your grass only if needed to prevent extreme dryness or water desiccation brought on by dry periods. Water them at least half an inch every two or a maximum of three weeks to keep the moisture.
Try to rehydrate your grass lawn by watering it to a depth of five inches and reduce stress by maintaining the regular height of the grass. Mow only early in the morning or late in the evening, and in the early in the morning or late in the evening. Make sure that you do not mow more than one-third the height of the grass.
You must also help them grow quickly by supplying enough of all the nutrients they need. Be mindful of avoiding excessive application of fertilizers. And be very detailed that during the dormancy period, reduce traffic as much as possible to prevent the crowns of the grass from being damaged and to lessen the stress that causes dehydration.
Lastly, manage the weeds thriving around your dormant grass because they take the nutrients from the roots, which hold the water during the dormant stage. Try applying herbicide to the weeds and pulling them out using your hand.
– Treat Diseases
To treat and prevent brown patches use a fungicide such as Daconil, Immunox, Rubigan, or Rimidin. Treatment could be done once every two weeks; however, expect this treatment to be expensive. For this, you may also seek help from a licensed landscaper because administering fungicide requires accurate dosage and application to achieve the best results and avoid creating more damage to your turf.
On the other hand, leaf spot is better to prevent than cure, so you should dethatch during the early spring to prevent the development of this disease because there are still no fungicides that can help treat leaf spots. However, you can manage it by removing your plant’s infected part and avoiding watering it in the late afternoon and early evening during summer.
If the plant is suffering from spring dead spots, to treat them, you have to balance out the administration of fertilizers in the growing season and fungicides in the late fall when the plant is in a state of dormancy. In short, expect the recovery to be slow because you are preventing the spread of the fungal infection while boosting the growth of new shoots to replace the damaged spots on your turf.
– Use Grass Sprigs
Grass sprigs are any grass plant’s small cut-out parts with stolons and roots. Grass sprigs are used to grow together to establish or repair a lawn.
Sprigging is the cheapest and the best method to establish or repair a lawn of tropical grass, such as Bermuda. Growers keep them under controlled conditions and ship them to where they may be needed. It is a great way to start growing a lawn without waiting for a slow grass seed.
Conclusion
Identifying correctly which condition is affecting your turf and ways you can deal with it are essential to its overall health, and below are some points to remember and prevent your grass from browning:
- Look out for soil compaction in your lawn and try to aerate the core.
- Make sure your grass receives six hours of direct full sun daily.
- Apply fertilizers with high nitrogen levels so that the plant will start to gain its color again.
- Watch out for diseases, and treat them accordingly; each disease must be identified and treated in a detailed manner.
- Reduce traffic to avoid damaging the grass, and the plant would no longer show browning.
Looking through this article and following the procedures and methods on how to overcome the brown leaves of your beautiful grass will give you good results, and your time and effort will all be worth it.
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