To care for your grass properly during winter, it’s necessary to look out for snow mold. However, we need to understand what snow mold is and how it affects your lawn after winter. In this post, we have explained in detail what you need to know as a lawn owner whether you hire a Dallas lawn service or not.
Snow Mold Explained
Snow Mold is a disease of the lawn caused by a fungus that looks like snow. It usually gets active as the snow melts after the winter season. It affects the grass by killing it, leaving straw-colored spots of grass. Typically, snow mold lives in the soil all year round but sprouts when melting snow begins to run off. With the right lawn treatment service applied, the effects of snow mold can be eradicated or at least mitigated.
This is one reason it’s important to have professional lawn maintenance companies working on your lawn yard rather than doing it yourself. To the inexperienced eye, it’s easy to write off snow mold as melting snow without taking precautions early enough.
Types of Snow Mold
Snow Mold comes in two species, Gray snow mold, and Pink snow mold. The first one has a mild effect on grasses and is not as destructive but the latter species is seriously harmful to grass. If you suspect that your lawn might be under attack from snow mold, kindly consult an experienced lawn care service in Dallas, TX to look into the situation.
- Pink snow mold – also called Fusarium patch and whitish-pink color
- Gray snow mold – also called Typhula blight and grayish-white in color
The fact remains that both species of mold cause harm to the grass. However, Pink snow mold has a more devastating effect and kills both grass blades and roots. Grass will not re-grow after an infestation of pink snow mold, unlike gray snow mold which isn’t as fatal.
What Type of Grass Does Snow Mold Affect?
Snow Mold mostly affects cool-season grass and is more prevalent when the lawn has been covered by snow for long periods. Kentucky Bluegrass is known to be mildly affected by snow mold while Fine Fescue has the highest resistance of all the cool-season grasses.
Other cool-season grass species are seriously affected by snow mold. There’s a need to check for and eliminate spores of this fungus early enough before winter sets in. Hiring an affordable lawn service near you with a good reputation can save you a lot of trouble.
How to Take Out Snow Mold
Perchance, your lawn has already been affected by snow mold. What do you do at this point?
Here’s our suggestion – the damage has happened already so you might as well go hard on the disease. Contract an expert Dallas lawn service to remove the snow mold using chemical compounds – fungicides. When the disease has been tackled, you might want to re-seed the affected areas if the fungi species at work is Pink snow mold. Grass will usually bounce back and grow to full health if attacked by Gray snow mold.
Preventing Snow Mold
The best way to eradicate snow mold is through preventative measures. Stop it from happening in the first place. Below are some best tips on how to get started with preventing snow mold:
- Mow the lawn yard before the first snow begins. When you do this, the grass and soil have less moisture on them to hold. Less moisture means fewer chances of molds activating. Wetness on grass for a long period time facilitates the sprouting of spores from snow molds which are usually dormant in other seasons.
- Use a preventive fungicide to treat your lawn right from the moment winter sets in. To get it right, seek the help of a lawn treatment service in your area. When using chemical compounds, always seek professional lawn care in Dallas. Avoid doing anything yourself to keep any potential risks low.
- Create adequate drainage for your lawn to run off excess water that can otherwise get trapped and facilitate the sprouting of molds.
- Dethatch your lawn to give less room for molds to form on your lawn soil and grass. Consider dethatching twice or thrice yearly for best results. Dethatching can be done with a rake without any extra assistance from a professional.
- Remove snow, leaves, and other organic debris as they pile up on your lawn. Trapping moisture on the grass is the fastest way to increase susceptibility to snow mold.
- Keep your lawn as dry as humanly possible. Hire a cheap lawn service in Dallas for professional assistance. Moisture on the lawn for a prolonged time is generally bad news.
At GOMOW Lawn Care Services, we offer affordable lawn mowing near you to ensure that keeping your lawn clean and healthy is straightforward. Our experience in providing the best-mowed lawns is second to none in Dallas, TX. Contact us right away!
Get a FREE QUOTE today by visiting our website at – www.gomow.com/service-areas/dallas
