Spring dead spot

Spring Dead Spot usually appears as circular or irregular dead patches in bermuda grass during spring green-up. The patches are often straw-colored, tan, or brown and may range from a few inches to several feet wide.

The surrounding bermuda may green up normally while the infected areas remain dormant-looking or dead. Weeds may grow inside the dead spots because the turf canopy is thin or missing. In severe cases, the patches can return in the same areas year after year and slowly expand over time.

Spring Dead Spot develops when fungal pathogens infect bermuda grass roots, rhizomes, and stolons during the cooler months. The damage happens mainly in fall and winter, but symptoms usually do not become obvious until spring.

The disease is often worse in bermuda lawns that are over-fertilized with nitrogen late in the growing season, low in potassium, compacted, poorly drained, or stressed going into winter. It is also more common in intensively managed bermuda lawns and areas where the turf enters dormancy weak or unbalanced.

Prevent Spring Dead Spot by keeping bermuda grass healthy going into winter. Avoid heavy late-season nitrogen that pushes soft growth before dormancy. Maintain proper potassium levels, improve soil drainage, reduce compaction, and follow a balanced fertility program.

Core aeration, proper mowing, and avoiding excess thatch can also help strengthen the turf. If a bermuda lawn has a history of Spring Dead Spot, preventive fungicide applications in fall are usually the most effective approach.

Spring Dead Spot is difficult to control after symptoms appear in spring because most of the infection occurred the previous fall or winter. In spring, focus on helping bermuda recover by encouraging lateral growth through proper fertilization, mowing, watering, and soil improvement.

For recurring Spring Dead Spot, apply a fungicide labeled for Spring Dead Spot preventively in fall when soil temperatures are cooling and the disease is active. Fungicide applications may need to be watered into the root zone according to the label.