Is it possible for mold to flourish in your yard? Are you aware of how to get rid of mold in the yard?
Spending hours making your yard full of life and greenery, only to wake up and find that some patches with unusual colors are slowly spreading. Probably it’s a lawn fungus, but no worries since you can still save your lawn yourself.
The probability of your yard producing mold growths is very likely if you’re currently reading this now. If you’re still not sure how to identify and treat mold, then continue reading.
Is Your Yard Growing Mold?
Mold is more common outdoors than indoors, where moisture is harder to control. Mold thrives in the optimum conditions of high humidity, warm temperatures, and rainy season.
Do you see any lawn area with black mold on grass blades? Maybe some blades that are browning or yellowing?
What about the gray areas or the whitish-gray patches? If this is the case, your lawn is believably infested with fungal diseases or molds.
See this comprehensive article to discern how to identify lawn fungal diseases. This listed the common fungi-caused lawn diseases.
Knowing how to identify this is the first step in dealing with the molds growing in your yard.
Different yards can vary in causes for growths in molds and the symptoms shown. The unjust treatment of grass could only lead to more harm; it’s best to examine the problem closely.
Getting Rid Of Mold In The Yard
With different molds, different actions also needed to be taken. See the following to know more:
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Brown patches
Brown patches appear as a large spot of dried grass caused by the fungus Rhizoctonia.
To avoid this, fertilize carefully, improve air circulation in soil, and water the yard properly. If it’s already existing, a fungicide with fludioxonil is what you need.
If it’s necessary to use chemicals, it’s best to ask a professional’s help.
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Pink snow mold
Pink snow mold often occurs during late winter, when a layer of snow seals moisture underneath, destroying grass from the crown to the roots. This mold becomes visible as the snow melts and would appear like circular patches with a hint of white to pink color.
Don’t let the snow cover the lawn for too long and remove it to get rid of mold. Increase the air circulation by removing excess thatch.
Pink snow molds love high nitrogen levels, so it’s best to avoid fertilizer with high levels of nitrogen.
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Gray snow mold
Gray snow mold appears in irregular patches of white to gray fluffy fungal growth. A hefty snow stockpile on the unfrozen ground provides an ideal condition for this disease.
It’s best to frequently mow your lawn and not use too much nitrogen fertilizers going into winter to prevent this mold. As for the removal, rake the affected area and mow the lawn and let it dry as thoroughly as you can.
For supplementary information, you can read this article about how to get rid of snow mold.
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Red thread
The red thread appears as pink to red spots, and through close observation, you would see a reddish thread structure on grass.
To get rid of this, fertilizing during late spring and early summer will help. If it has become a chronic problem, then it’s best to have a fungicide treatment.
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Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew can be easily inferred as it appears as light grey or fine white spots, and it can spread and cover an entire stalk. It requires high humidity and warm temperatures to grow.
To get rid of this, use sulfur-containing organic fungicides as a treatment and preventive agent.
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Dollar spot
Dollar spot resembles hollow patches of straw-colored grass. Once left untreated, it can rapidly spread.
The best way to treat this is to use fungicides such as Propiconazole & Fludioxonil.
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Slime mold
This mold somehow resembles foam and is frequently spotted as orange or yellow. It does look unsightly, but it doesn’t bring any harm to its surroundings.
There’s no urgent demand for slime mold removal, but you can rake up this mold and let it dry out if you want. Learn from this article about how to get rid of slime mold on mulch.
Mold Prevention For Your Lawn
Unlike the preparations done indoors to deter mold from growing, managing the moisture and humidity outdoors is tougher. However, this doesn’t mean that there’s no other way to avoid mold growth.
The following advice can help in lessening the likelihood of growth in your yard:
- Avoid watering at night. It’s most suitable to water in the morning so that the moisture wouldn’t last long enough to draw fungi.
- Don’t exaggerate watering; if it rained, then there’s no need to water your lawn. Read this article to know about the best time to water your lawn.
- Don’t use too much or too little fertilizer.
- It’s best to monitor the thatch in your yard or lawn because too much thatch can prevent the air from flowing, consumption of water, and fertilizers from reaching the roots.
- Mow regularly but do not cut too short because short grass attracts more diseases.
- Testing the soil is also helpful. Make sure to balance the nutrients of the ground.
- Apply fungicide as a preventative treatment.
Conclusion
With different kinds of mold, you’ll need to read many articles to determine how to get rid of mold in the yard. Starting in this way is also the best way to eliminate molds.
Some mold doesn’t affect its surroundings, but more of those have a terrible impact on the environment. Ridding of these molds is the best course of action not to compromise the vigor of your yard.