Grubs, patch, and reno

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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mdxers
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Grubs, patch, and reno

Post by mdxers » August 14th, 2017, 11:20 am

I guess I got lucky with summer patch and grubs in the backyard. I was wanting to reno the backyard in sections each year. My question is whether or not to be concerned with grubs and/or the patch disease before slit seeding? I have dethatched already with my tow-behind dethatcher, have scalped, and would be interested in laying down some compost before seeding. Do I need to do anything about the grub, or patch issues before seeding?

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Grubs, patch, and reno

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 14th, 2017, 1:26 pm

If you have grubs, you can knock them out with dylox pretty handily, and it's pretty seed-safe. Just read the label and follow it.

Next year, since you know you have grub problems - allocate some money for a preventative grub app using the newer grub-x active ingredient.

Makes notes of where you have summer patch for next year - and be prepared to go at it hard and early - there's a nice, long summer patch prevention thread to subscribe to.

mdxers
Posts: 35
Joined: June 9th, 2017, 5:27 pm
Location: Lincoln, NE
Grass Type: Bewitched, Award, Mazama
Lawn Size: 20000-1 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Grubs, patch, and reno

Post by mdxers » August 14th, 2017, 1:54 pm

Thanks. Will the patch affected areas be okay with compost and seeding? I don't have to worry about fungicide before seeding?

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Grubs, patch, and reno

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 14th, 2017, 2:29 pm

Read up on summer patch. It will basically 'always' be in that soil until it's eradicated. Grass will still grow above it, but once the roots hit that pathogen - the risk for it becoming infected is there - and I'd assume it will be there next summer.

Core aerating the SP-infected spots and then applying fungicide right now would help suppress the desease, but you'd still need to think about preventing it next year - it's very difficult to kill chemically. Summer patch won't be evident in a few weeks as temps cool.

Physical removal of the infected soil and replacing with clean soil is even better. If it's only a few spots, a few bags of clean topsoil and a spade is a lot cheaper than a bottle of Heritage for applications over the next few years. Even so, you may still have the disease in other spots.

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HoosierLawnGnome
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Re: Grubs, patch, and reno

Post by HoosierLawnGnome » August 14th, 2017, 2:31 pm

ETA: No, you don't need to kill the fungus to get grass growing there now.

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