Lawn Brown Spots

Lawn Maintenance Services
in Bergen County

According to several Web sources, more than 60 million Americans own dogs and that means that many of these pet owners are facing the challenge of brown spots on their lawns. Which means that unless “fido” is extremely well-schooled and/or trained you could end up with the following.

SUMMER LAWN BROWN SPOTS

What causes the brown spot? It’s just like over-fertilizing! There is a high nitrogen content in pet urine, which causes the urine to burn the grass. The number one thing pet owners can do to avoid brown spots is to water the area well within eight hours to dilute the high nitrogen level.

Before you start implementing changes to correct lawn burn,
you need to make sure that your dog is actually the culprit. Several lawn diseases can look like lawn burn, causing small, characteristic brown patches. First, make sure that the brown spots are in areas where your dog urinates.

Most dogs will have an area in the yard that they choose to use when they relieve themselves. Second, make sure that the grass in the brown spots is still firmly attached. Grab a handful and give it a steady pull. If the grass is firmly rooted, that points to lawn burn. If the whole bunch of grass pulls up, roots and all, then you may be dealing with a grub problem.

The technique to repair brown spot may be as simple as breaking up the surface of the patches to create a seedbed, sprinkle on the seed at the rate recommended on the pack and then lightly cover (not more than a few mm in depth) with soil or compost. Protect the area with netting to keep off cats, birds and of course the dogs. Keep watered until the seedlings become established. clip with shears initially until the grass is strong enough to withstand the mower.

Also establish a routine with leaving your pets outside and after they do their duties, try watering the lawn. This will help to dilute the harmful concentrations within their urine which causes the damage. In essence “washing it away”.

For an in-depth explanation of Brown Spots caused by dog or pet urine – read this article about lawn care.