Treating Gray Leaf Spot in New Lawns

Identifying and Treating Gray Leaf Spot in New Houston Lawns

Spotting and treating gray leaf spot is something you need to do NOW if you’ve laid new grass or even if you have an established lawn.  June, July and August are the times when your lawn is most threatened.

Treating gray leaf spot in new lawns is a problem in Houston because of the need to water the new grass and the high humidity we have in the Gulf Coast Region.  Add in the fact that your new grass may be in a shaded area where it doesn’t dry out and then add the fertilizer in the sod, and a fungus like gray leaf spot can attack and kill your new grass (and your established grass) very quickly.  Houston Grass Owner Michael Romine describes how to identify gray leaf spot and then talks about treating gray leaf spot in new lawns in this video.  Call us at 281-431-7441 for more information.

Grass is healthy and thriving. Thanks for the advice and great service. – Nicole B – September 16, 2017

Summary of Treating Gray Leaf Spot in New Lawns

– – Now I’d like to talk a little bit about gray leaf spot. We talked about it in an established lawn, and what to look for, and how to treat. I’d like to talk about gray leaf spot as it pertains to planting new grass.

Brown Spots Indicate Gray Leaf Spot
Brown Spots Indicate Gray Leaf Spot

Our grass comes from our farm in a really, healthy, green, fertilized state. We fertilize a lot. We use a lot of nitrogen to the grass as deep green and pretty as we can. The issue is that during the summer months in the Houston area, June, July, August, especially July and August, we really see, especially in shadier areas, we see a lot of gray leaf spot.  There are several things that, that kick gray leaf spot off, excessive nitrogen, which, we fertilize a lot at our farm to keep the grass healthy, and so, but if you add that nitrogen, and you, if you plant the grass in a little bit of shade, especially if we’re talking about one of the more shade-tolerant grasses like Palmetto St. Augustine grass.

Palmetto for some reason is particularly susceptible to gray leaf spot.  Anytime you’re planting grass in the summer months, with the extreme heat, extreme humidity, you have to be aware of this gray leaf spot.

You’re going to have this nitrogen on the grass, and you’re going to go plant this grass, and then you’re going to water it excessively for a couple of weeks. Excessive moisture is another thing that feeds the gray leaf spot, and you have to be aware of it.

Use Eagle Turf Fungicide to Prevent Gray Leaf Spot

Nitro Phos Eagle Turf Specialty Fungicide
Nitro Phos Eagle Turf Specialty Fungicide

The fungicide chemical that you use at the farm has a two to three week residual, so after that chemical runs out, you’re going to start to see the gray leaf spot start to appear, so we recommend that in the first week that you treat with this Eagle Turf. Eagle Turf is a product by Nitro-Phos. It does a really good job, especially if you put it out there preventatively before the gray leaf spot shows up.

We recommend that if you buy any grass that’s going to go in the shade, then you should buy a bag of this Eagle Turf or some kind of systemic fungicide to put out there with it at the same time.  You’re going to dump all that water on the new grass to give it a good start, and it’s going to be in a shadier area where it doesn’t get to dry out totally.  Gray leaf spot can be a real issue, and as a matter of fact, it wipes out yards a lot in the shade.

If you’re planting grass in the summertime, it’s really a must that you keep on top of a good fungicide program, because if you don’t, it can wipe your grass out in a hurry. A lot of times your grass can recuperate if it’s out in the sun. It can make a comeback if you get after it, but if the gray leaf spot rears its head in the shade, a lot of times it will take the grass down to almost nothing and it can kind of be disheartening.  So just be aware of that if we’re talking about new grass being planted in the summer, especially, especially in the shade.

Call 281-431-7441 for the best grass sod in Houston!  We have Eagle Turf Fungicide in stock.

Another option for treating gray leaf spot is Heritage G fungicide, which we usually carry.  It’s a very effective product, but it’s relatively expensive.  If you’re treating large areas, it might make sense to use Heritage G because its recommended spreader settings allow one bag to go a long way.

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