ARE THEY ALIEN CROP CIRCLES OR JUST ANNOYING BROWN SPOTS?

We knew the homeowner was joking when he called the brown spots on his lawn “crop circles caused by aliens.” But he did have a point. Brown spots do seem to come out of nowhere and seemingly overnight. 

But there’s really no mystery to them, and with all this rain we’re having, it’s a good time for ArtisTree to present you with the facts. The “brown spots” in this particular case were actually identified as Brown Patch Fungus, a disease that favors high humidity coupled with temps of 85 degrees or higher in the day and 60 degrees or higher at night.

Since this “phenomenon” is mostly weather-related, there’s not much you can do to prevent it. However, your landscape maintenance company can adjust its practice by applying fungicide to affected areas.

For those other, more infrequent times when the infection isn’t triggered by rainfall and instead by excessive irrigation, you can flex your human intellect and adjust your irrigation timers (if you’re a private homeowner and not living in an ArtisTree-maintained community). Remember, turf surrounded by trees, shrubs and buildings will remain wet for extended periods of time due to reduced air movement and sunlight. Wise watering and good soil drainage will help reduce the incidence of Brown Patch.

Of course, all this is a moot point if your HOA community already uses the contract services of ArtisTree Landscape Maintenance & Design. If not, contact Mike Casper at 941.488.8897 or mikec@artistree.com. He’ll be happy to deliver a proposal to meet all your landscape maintenance and irrigation needs.

We also offer landscape renovation services! Contact Jenni Lassen at 941.488.8897 or jennil@artistree.com to meet with one of our award-winning designers.

ArtisTree proudly serves Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties.

Category Fungus