Lawns are prey to more than one hundred different diseases,
although they're not likely to be severe except on bent grass and highly
managed lawns. No single chemical can cure all of them, and recommendations
change quickly, so consult your local garden center or state agricultural
college for the up-to-date recommended remedy. But prevention is favored over
treatment. Most lawns are not so easily damaged by diseases if not over-stimulated
by high feeding.
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| Lawn Of Puerto Rico by Darrell Goode |
Luckily, newer turfgrass varieties have been bred with at
least an amount of resistance to diseases. A generation ago almost every
bluegrass lawn was victim of excessive leaf spot during spring. Now almost all
of the new varieties withstand this disease. A mixture of several varieties
should provide you a reasonable disease-proof turf without using fungicidal
sprays.
Among the latest innovations in lawn care is the use of
endophytes—"contaminated" turf grasses that survive extreme droughtconditions better than other grasses and even kill insects. An endophyte can be
either bacteria or fungi that live inside another plant without causing
disease. These endophytes can be found in broadleaf plants and grasses all over
the world. How endophytes work is a mystery, but they're believed to be fungi
that create toxins which disrupt the biology of insects. Plant breeders hope to
harness these endophytes ("End-o-fights") as important tools in
bringing down insect population.
Non-Chemical Lawns
The trend toward non-chemical lawns is spreading. In the
past, the suburban picture perfect lawn drenched in toxic herbicides and
pesticides did more than kill bugs—it made a lot of people sick, primarily
because of careless application. Environmentalists, committed gardeners, pest
control people, and producers of alternative lawn-care products have shown that
organic ideas spread faster than crabgrass. News wire services have carried
stories about non-chemical lawns and many writers narrate horror stories
experienced by some homeowners. Because of these problems, there has been a
boom in sales for oldline organic gardening products.
Presently, about 15% of U.S. households use commercial lawn
services that apply pesticides, says the Environmental Protection Agency. It
estimates that another 20 to 25% of households are do-it-yourselfers, also
employing pesticides on their lawns.
Chemical Lawns
While lawns have many turf diseases, there's a ray of hope
that a lot of these diseases can be checked with systemic fungicides. These are
applied to the grass and are absorbed via the root system. At the present time,
the composition of fungicides shifts frequently. Hence it is best to consult
with your state college of agriculture. The systemics give great control of
Sclerotinia dollar spot, fusarium, smut, pink patch, snow mold, and others.
Some golf course diseases are checked marginally, if at all, by the systemic
fungicides.