Lawns all across Overland Park are suffering from a disease known as Brown Patch Rhizoctonia solani.

Brown Patch is a serious infection on Turf Type Tall Fescue lawns that often can be clearly identified by the large circular brown patches that quickly appear in a lawn.  Unfortunately – what often happens when homeowners ere these patches appear they assume drought stress – since brown patchy usually appears during the first very hot humid stretch of the year.  However, this usually will only help spread the disease further since Brown patch thrives in lawns that are moist for a prolonged amount of time when night time temps remain above 70 degrees.

The good news is that Brown patch rarely kills the entire plant and rather just causes leaf tissue damage and a thinning of the turf – which will recover once fall brings cooler temperatures and more vigorous grown back to Kansas City’s lawns.

Once Brown Patch is present follow these recommendations in order of importance:

• Stop all overhead watering except in the early morning hours.
• Bag grass clippings and dispose of them off site. 
• Use a fungicide such as Prostar, Bayleton of Daconil.  These are expensive and only somewhat useful as a curative.
• Once Brown Patch has stopped spreading – fertilize with a  light .25#/n dose of nitrogen from an  organic source such as Miloganite, Bradfield’s or Espoma.