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Show t Yard & Garden Brown Spots On Lawns By DAVID WHITING As warm weather appears, brown spots in lawns become common place. They are most frequently caused by water stress. Well managed lawns will have roots which extent? about two feet deep, and irrigations would provide adequate moisture throughout this rooting zone. A lawn requires about two inches of water per week (approximately one-fourth to one-third inch per day) during dur-ing the typical summer. ON DEEP loam, loamy clay or clay soilsjiapply about two inches - of "water at each irrigation. This would last six to eight days. On more sandy soils, which hold less water, apply one to one and a half inches of water and irrigate every four to six days. During hot or windy weather, lawns will use more water and thus require more frequent irrigation. Naturally, Na-turally, if lawns are grown in shallow or gravelly soils, the roots will be restrictedTand they will require more frequent, light irrigations. FREQUENT LIGHT irriga tions, such as daily or every other day, do not satisfactorily satisfac-torily water the rooting zone. Lawns watered in this manner generally suffer more from stress, thinness, disease and weeds. Daily watering can be justified only in situations like new seedings. : ft is advisable to measure the. amount of water being applied. This can be done :when sprinkling by placing '.several cans under the "Sprinklers. BROWN OR dry lawns will not always recover quickly t when watered. It may take ' two to three weeks before a water-stressed lawn shows recover. Lawn disease may cause brown spots. However, these diseases require free moisture mois-ture to grow and develop, and under Utah conditions with proper watering this moisture is generally not present. Lawn disease is rare in this area so beware of do-gooders who diagnose lawn disease and recommend expensive fungicides. Lawn insects such as bill bugs, and white grubs may cause brown areas. With these insects, the roots have been eaten and the turf can be readily lifted out. Insecticide treatments of Diazinon or Dursban will control this problem. The insecticide must be watered into the lawn root zone. Seeing a few moths flutter over the lawn is not an indication of lawn insect problems. Question: I have heard that the insecticide Sevin is highly toxic to bees. Is this true? Answer: That is correct. While many insecticides kill bees very quickly the chemical Sevin reacts rather slowly, allowing the honey bee to return to the hive. The hive is contaminated and extensive ex-tensive damage may result. Sevin must never be used on or around plants in bloom. IF YOU have a question for this column, address it to Yard N Garden, P.O. Box 291, Roy, Utah 84067. The Utah Cooperative Extension Ex-tension Service, an Equal Opportunity Employer, provides programs and services ser-vices to all persons regardless of race, sex, color or national origin. |
