Why is my lawn orange? Rust.

Why is my lawn orange? Rust.

You get done mowing the lawn and look down to see orange shoes.  Good thing you didn’t wear your new Air Jordans to mow right?  Why is my lawn orange and why am I covered in something orange after mowing?  The answer is Rust.

What you see is Rust Lawn Fungus.  It is a lawn disease that creates spores on the grass blade that can then rub off on mowers, shoes, and dog paws.  It isn’t harmful and rarely do you ever see it kill grass, but it isn’t fun to deal with.

Weather conditions bring on rust disease.  Usually you see rust in Late Summer/Early Fall when there are dry periods.  The excessive rain we experienced previous to the recent dry period can use up all the available nitrogen from our fertilizers.  This may cause rust to develop too. Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, and tall fescue are all affected, depending on cultivars. Perennial ryegrass is usually the type of turf that is most prone to rust disease.  Rust spreads via air, water, shoes, and equipment.

What can you do to help it go away?

  1.  Put down nutrients – Many times we put down some nitrogen (fertilizer) and it will help grow this fungus out.
  2. Plant Grass that is naturally better at fighting this type of disease off.  We would suggest turf type tall fescue grass seed.  The ideal time to plant grass seed is in September.  If you need tips on planting grass seed check out our blog post on this at –https://www.mypurelawn.com/plant-grass-seed/

 

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