What Is Causing Your Lawn to Turn Brown? 3 Possible Culprits

What Is Causing Your Lawn to Turn Brown? 3 Possible Culprits

It's never a good sign when your lawn in Pennsylvania turns brown, and you'll want to determine what's causing it so you can get it back to its beautiful, healthy green color. Three possible culprits that could be causing your lawn to turn brown are: dehydration, overfertilization, and lawn diseases. A dehydrated lawn becomes brittle and dry because of the lack of water, but you can remedy this with proper watering. Meanwhile, overfertilization can cause burnt grass blades, with the excess salt content of the fertilizer drawing out moisture. On the other hand, lawn diseases, like brown patch, fairy ring, and dollar spot, can also cause your lawn to turn brown, and you'll want to contact a professional to administer curative treatments and nurse it back to health afterward.

1. What does dehydration look like on your lawn, and how do you fix it?

Your brown lawn can be caused by dehydration. Lawns need enough water to stay healthy and green, and hot, dry weather and insufficient watering can cause them to turn brown. If your lawn is brown due to dehydration, it'll become brittle, dry, and crunchy. Grass blades that are dehydrated will also not spring back up if you step on them or a lawn mower goes over them. The soil beneath your lawn will also become dry and hard.

Fortunately, you can fix this with proper watering! Your goal is to ensure it receives 1-1.5 inches of water weekly, either from rainfall or your irrigation system. Aim to water your lawn deeply but less often. This will encourage deep root growth and prevent the grass blades from turning brown again. Then, you can give the affected area a fresh start by overseeding it.

2. What does overfertilization look like on lawns, and how do you fix it?

While fertilizer is highly beneficial for your lawn, too much of it can cause more harm than good and lead to a brown lawn. The excess salt content from the fertilizer treatment will draw out moisture from the grass blades, essentially dehydrating your turf. This will lead to a scorched appearance on the grass blades, causing brown or yellow patches on your turf.

To address overfertilization, put a hold on the next treatment. If your lawn received a granular fertilizer, remove any clumps of the product sitting atop your turf. It's also important to water your lawn to flush any excess treatment and dilute the product. From there, you'll want to make sure your grass receives the recommended application rate. The most efficient way to do it is to invest in a professional lawn care program and let experts handle the job.

3. What do lawn diseases look like, and how do you fix them?

Unfortunately, your lawn is susceptible to various diseases that can turn it brown. Some common ones in the area include brown patch, fairy ring, and dollar spot. Each disease is caused by a different fungus, but they all cause your grass to turn brown. Lawn diseases often start as small spots of brown grass, eventually expanding as the issue progresses.

While each has different symptoms, you'll want to contact a lawn care professional to determine which one is infecting your turf. They will administer a curative treatment to eliminate the lawn disease and stop it from causing more damage to your grass. Afterward, they can help nurse it back to health with fertilization and aeration, as these services will provide the nutrients it needs to recover and loosen compacted soil so that its roots have better access to them.

Call us today to sign up for our lawn care services!

If you want to keep your lawn healthy and prevent it from turning brown, we're here to help! At Lehigh Valley Lawn, we offer lawn care services to ensure your turf stays in tip-top shape year-round, including lawn fertilization, weed control, aeration, overseeding, and lawn disease control. With us, you can rest easy knowing that we have the skills and expertise to maintain your grass and keep it healthy and beautiful! Our team has been providing high-quality lawn care services since 2001, so you can trust that you're in good hands with us.

We offer our lawn care services to residential and commercial properties in Macungie, Emmaus, Breinigsville, and other nearby areas in Pennsylvania. Call us today at (484) 547-8246 to sign up for our services!