Snow mold is a big danger to your lawn if you live in a climate that gets cold and snowy during the winter. Fortunately, it is both treatable as well as preventable.
Two types of snow mold
There are two main types of snow mold – pink snow mold (also known as Fusarium patch) and grey snow mold (also called Typhula blight). Pink snow mold is the more damaging of the two, because it can affect the roots and crowns of your lawn, while the grey snow mold may just affect the blades.
Both of the molds show up as circular discolored and dead patches on your lawn between three and twelve inches wide after snow melts, and you can potentially have both types of snow mold at the same time. You can distinguish between the two types of mold by their respective colors.
If the mold is severe, it will look like it is taking over your entire yard. Grey snow mold will start to clear up when temperatures get above 45 degrees, but pink snow mold may continue to grow until temperatures get into the 60s.
How to prevent snow mold
The best defense against snow mold is good lawn care maintenance before the winter. Talk with your Lawn Doctor lawn care professional about proper fertilization – excessive fertilization, or fertilization poorly timed, can worsen the issue – and what steps you should take to properly mow the lawn before winter. You don’t want to have too much thatch, or too little aeration, for your lawn – these issues can also cause problems. You also want to make sure that your lawn receives enough water. And make sure that you get all of the leaves off your lawn before winter comes – this can potentially cause snow mold to build up as well.
Having a healthy lawn, and doing all the right things to keep your lawn safe is half the battle when it comes to snow mold. When in doubt, talk to a lawn care professional about what to do.
How to treat snow mold
There are several methods of treating snow mold once it shows up.
- The first is to rake or fluff up the affected areas. This can dry up the mold and prevent it from going any further.
- Another thing you can do is get a fungicide – whether chemical or organic – applied to the mold areas.
- You can also have the affected areas overseeded, so that the lawn grows again in those areas.
Fortunately, snow mold is treatable. Contact us at Lawn Doctor if you need help getting rid of your snow mold.
