Did you know that mold can grow on your lawn and kill all the grass that you worked so hard on during the spring, summer, and fall? Well, you might have known that mold spores and fungi like mushrooms can grow in your front and backyard, but maybe you were not aware of the mold that can grow underneath the blankets of snow that fall during the winter. It is true: if snow falls on your lawn and does not melt for a long period of time, mold can start growing and kill the grass underneath. This is especially true if the grass has not stopped growing before the snow falls and if the snow is thick and wet. Another significant factor is that the ground the snow falls on top of is not frozen.
The only real symptom that you should be able to see besides the mold growth itself is the appearance of large circular patches of dead grass. These circles can be from 3 up to 12 inches wide, but in the most extreme cases of snow mold, you may not be able to distinguish one patch from the next because the mold has killed so much of your lawn.
Pink snow mold appears to be the most dangerous to your grass and it is caused by a mold called Microdochium nivale. This mold, when it matures, can be a light to a dark pink color. This is the most dangerous kind of mold to your lawn because it kills not only the blades of grass, but also the roots. This needs to be treated as soon as possible before it kills your entire lawn, if it has not already.
Gray snow mold can be caused by a few different species in a genus called Typhula and it can be anywhere from gray to white in color. These molds typically do not do more damage to the grass than affecting the blades; the roots are not typically affected.
Snow molds like to grow in temperatures that are just above freezing and in moist conditions. Even though it is called “snow” mold, it can also be caused when leaves are left covering a patch of grass for too long.
Preventing snow mold is not too difficult, but sometimes it will occur, anyway. Do not fertilize your lawn less than six weeks before cold weather starts to come in and causes the grass to stop growing. This can cause a spurt of green growth that the mold will feed on after it starts to grow underneath the snowfall.
Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.
