Why is my grass dying in patches – 5 possible reasons?

Seeing brown, ugly patches on a once beautiful lawn isn’t a welcome sight any day or time. Unfortunately, browning of the lawn happens even with the best care, fertilizer application, or watering procedure you’re using. This is simply because lawn grass can die in patches due to different causes. Therefore, it’s important to find out the exact cause of your lawn’s health challenge before you begin treatment. We advise consulting your lawn care company to run a check and find out first.

If you wish to always keep your lawn in the best health, we have discussed five possible reasons why grass could die in patches. While some of these causes will happen regardless of efforts, it’s still important to know about them and learn how to mitigate them.

Read on below to learn the five possible reasons why your grass can die in patches.

1. Water-related problems

A poor drainage system can lead to brown patches developing on the soil. When water sits on the lawn without draining for 24 hours or more, it affects the root system of the grass and eventually kills it. A visible brown shade is usually the result when this happens. Lawn yards should have adequate drainage systems in place to remove excess water off the lawn and reduce the chances of becoming water-logged.

Lawn watering is expected to be done twice a week at most so that the lawn can easily absorb the water on it for its activities.

If your lawn retains too much water per irrigation time, consider introducing a bit of sand into deep holes in the lawn soil to help drain some of the water after each irrigation session.

Similarly, a lack of water can also cause brown patches to form on the soil. Lush, green lawns enjoy enough water from rains or irrigation to keep them healthy. We advise working with your lawn mowing service to decide what’s best for your lawn.

2. Excessive Fertilizer Application

As much as we encourage periodic boosts of fertilizer into the lawn yard to juice the nutrient level for your grass, care must be taken not to over-do this. Excessive fertilizer applications can harm your lawn badly.

Fertilizer contains rich compounds that can be harmful in large doses – this is the case whether you’re using an organic or synthetic fertilizer. Brown patches will form on your grass when there’s an excess of nutrients in the lawn.

Spread the fertilizer evenly on the surface of the lawn when applying it to ensure there isn’t a concentration of it on any particular part of the lawn.

3. Control Your Pets

Owning a pet is a beautiful thing and will continue to be so long into the future. Pets, when allowed to roam on the lawn, can easily harm the lawn with their urine. Urine contains compounds like urea and a high concentration of nitrogen which when absorbed by your grass can affect its health. In the end, your lawn will turn a messy shade of brown and might even die off.

The best way to avoid this cause is to keep your pets off the lawn. Dogs and other animals can play on the lawn but trained not to relieve themselves on it. A fence can also prevent other pets within the neighborhood from messing up your lawn too. Your local lawn care or landscaping service can help with setting up a fence.

4. Dull Lawn Mower Blades

Normally, regular mowing when done right is not a problem. However, when done consistently with a dull, unsharpened mower blade, torn and shredded grass blades would be the outcome. Ripped up lawn yards will turn brown and worse, dead in a matter of days. Hiring a professional lawn mowing service in your area can help lawn owners avoid this problem.

With a lawn mowing service, you don’t have to worry about keeping your lawnmower blade sharp. Being professionals, the grass cutting company will handle this on their own. Dull mower blades cause more damage to the lawn and should be avoided at all costs.

If you notice that your grasses are shredded or torn up rather neatly cut, contact your lawn maintenance service immediately.

In addition, if brown patches often appear on your lawn after a mowing session, consider sharpening the blade or changing it completely to check the difference.

5. Disease Infestation

The introduction of a disease into a lawn yard is capable of turning the lawn grass to dying brown patches. When the weather is dry and humid, this can easily happen from infestation by lawn fungus. Consider reducing water application and introducing fungicides into the lawn to reduce any chances of fungal disease festering on your lawn and causing brown spots.