How to Treat Lawn Fungal Diseases in North Texas

So many things in life boil down to a simple phrase: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you regularly take vitamins, you practice this. If you change your oil and rotate your tires, you’re doing it for your vehicle. 

While all of these efforts won’t stop things from happening, they will greatly decrease the odds. And if you get sick, your engine light goes on, or you test positive, your preventative efforts can reduce the severity of the problem.

How Fungus Can Kill an Entire Lawn

Fungal diseases affect your turf in much the same way. And here’s an ugly secret: fungus exists everywhere. But it doesn’t become a problem unless other factors are present. Texas A&M Agrilife Extension office offers a great explanation. “Three components must be present for a turfgrass disease to occur: a susceptible host plant, a pathogen, and the environmental conditions that favor the disease.” In other words, you need the presence of a fungus, a weak plant, water, and the right temperature.

And some turf and plants are just simply more susceptible to it. We know that fungal disease affects St. Augustine grass ten times more than any other, but St. Augustine is the best grass to grow under trees. So this is one of the areas to keep an eye on.

Who Should Apply Fungus Treatments on Lawns?

Texas A&M also notes that the best landscape care also creates the right balance of nutrients and management practices that deter disease from forming. Sometimes that means introducing hardier, more appropriate grasses and plantings that are more resistant to diseases, fungal or otherwise. Sometimes it means applying the right nutrients and treatments at the correct time and in the correct quantities. 

That’s one of the most important reasons to use a professional landscaping service like College Fund Landscaping – we’re experts in this. It can be difficult to stand in your favorite home supply store and not only know what to buy but how to use it properly. Use too much, and you can harm your turf even more. Use too little, and it’s just money down the drain. 

How to Treat Fungus in North Texas Lawns

So how do you treat fungal disease? It’s really a basic, two-step approach. The first step is to treat it and promote recovery. The second step is to prevent it from coming back. Whenever we service your lawn, our team keeps an eye out for the presence of disease, and we’ll let you know if we suspect something needs to be addressed.

When it comes to disease control, our treatment can stop it, but it’s also essential to make sure you’re giving your yard all the tools it needs to be successful in our climate. We include this service in our Grubs Control, Ant Protection, Disease Prevention & Aeration (GADA) services, or we offer it as a one-time service if a fungal disease is identified. 

College Fund Landscaping’s GADA Program

For clients on our GADA program, we use Propiconazole which is a broad-spectrum, liquid treatment used to target a wide range of fungal diseases. It controls diseases for 7 days to an entire season, depending on the disease. It’s also safe to use around pets or family that are in the yard.

For homeowners in Texas, the most important thing to remember is that while it may be too late to take preventative measures, it’s never too late to take care of the problem. And even more importantly: once we have everything under control, we can take the necessary proactive steps to improve the overall health of your lawn. Like vitamins, vaccinations, and preventative maintenance, quality landscape services can keep your yard as healthy as possible.