What are these brown spots in my yard??
Question:I have these circular brown spots in my yard and I have noticed that where ever my dog pees....there it is....but I also have a horse-shoe shape (quite large) size area that is slowly turning brown. How do I get rid of this and what is it?
Answers:
The dog pee problem is from the nitrogen in the dog's food. If your dog didn't eat protein, the pee issue wouldn't be as great, but since the dog's eat protein, their pee damages the lawn. As I said, it's the nitrogen..imagine pouring a handful of lawn fertilizer in one spot and walking away. The lawn would die...same deal.
Watering right after the dog pees would solve the problem but not practical.
There is nothing you can add to your dog's food that will counteract this...
All you can do is wait until the lawn thickens back up naturally, reseed or resod those spots, or teach your dog to pee and poop in a certain area....good luck.
As for the horseshoe....assuming it's not several pees atop one another, first check for thatch as someone mentioned. There are insects that live in that layer that could be munching on your lawn. Also dig down into the soil out along the perimeter of the spots and a bit beyond....looking for grubs in the soil eating the roots.
Finally diseases can be diagnosed by taking grass samples from the brown area margins and into the healthy grass. Take these samples to your Extension Service agent or a very knowledgeable nursery worker (good luck there). Fungicides are expensive and if the wrong one is used or misued all you've done is wasted money. Dealing with lawn fungus may be easier thru correcting growing problems than speading fungicide which is why I'd rather have you talking with an advanced degreed horticulturist or agronomist instead of a nursery worker.
Someone mentioned fairy ring, if this brown ring is expaning but the area it has passed over seems to heal itsself, it does sound like the ring. It is an underground fungus feeding on something dead below....a die tree root. You would eventually see mushrooms along the ring as the fungus "flowers." There's really no cure for Fairy Ring that makes sense. Let nature fix the underground problem.
get some pet stain fetilizer...its just caused by the dogs pee
The horse shoe shape.. bet you have a fungus starting.. a fairy ring.
Time to apply an antifungal agent to the area. check with a local garden center for their recommendation on what to use.
for the dog pee spots- apply garden gypsum- and water well.
the dog damage is a tough one to get rid of. I put tomato juice in my dog's food each feeding which helps. Using childrens vitamin C tablets works as well. The only other alternative is to spray water on the spot where your dog pees- this is a very unrealistic remedy for me as I cannot see myself persistently following my dogs around the yard with a garden hose and spraying down the area where they pee everytime. The horse shoe ring sounds like a disease called fairy ring. google fairy ring to get more info on that.
The circular brown spots are probably from the dog piles. The more often you pick up after your dog, the less time it has to damage the lawn. Fertilizer meant to neutralize pet spots, may need to reseed the area.
As to the horseshoe area, it could be a fungus, water issue, thatch, the dogs again, or something I'm not thinking of. When was the last time you loosened up the thatch? In areas of high dog traffic (favorite paths or play area) can start dying just because of the damage to the grass & matting.
A ph test in various places in the lawn wouldn't hurt either. You probably have several things going on.
Take pictures of the problem & take them with you to the garden center! A picture is worth a thousand words.
Use lime and gypsum on your yard. That will counter the acid in your dogs pee that is burning your yard. That or water your yard frequently to water down the concentration of it.
The other spot could be something the other people mentions or possibly grubs. It's probably a good idea to treat your yard for grubs.
Yellow Doggie-spots on lawn are caused by excess nitrogen & salts in urine. First lightly sprinkle gypsum over & around each spot. This dissolves the excess salts. Then spray lawn w/1 c baby shampoo or liquid dish soap per 20 gallons of water.
About a week later you can follow up by spraying this Lawn Saving Tonic: 1/2 can beer, 1/2 can regular cola (not diet), 1/2 c ammonia -- Combine in 20 gallon hose-end & spray til run-off
If the other is a Fungus, you can use this: 1 T baking soda, 1 T instant tea granules, 1 T horticulture or dormant oil, 1 gallon warm water -- Mix all in large bucket then apply w/handheld sprayer lightly (do not drench). Repeat in 2-3 weeks if needed.
Good Luck!!
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