Is your lawn in sporting
condition?

Dealing with Problems

Despite your best efforts early in the season, the lawn may still have summer problems. Here are some common ones and ways to handle them.

Weeds: When weeds are obvious as you scan the lawn, they are a problem. If you had weeds last year, spray a herbicide in late April and May. Don't broadly apply any type of herbicide in the summer; that's when the lawn is most heat-stressed. It's still possible to remove any weed -- such as broadleaf dandelions, clover, and chickweed, as well as grass weeds including crabgrass and annual bluegrass -- by hand. For larger areas (not the whole lawn), spot-treat any problem with herbicides. Soap herbicides are less toxic than other herbicides.

Irregular brown patches: Pieces of lawn that come up easily are symptoms of grubs -- the larval stage of beetles that eat grass roots. Pull up a section of grass and examine the soil for white larvae. If you see larvae, spike the soil 2 inches deep in early fall, or kill grubs with special grub insecticides sold at nurseries.

Moss: Compacted, shaded acidic soil with drainage problems is ripe for a moss takeover. Rake out moss as soon as you find it or apply a moss-killer sold at nurseries. Reseed bare spots in fall or put in sod in spring or fall.

Other strange patterns or brown-yellow spots: It's extremely difficult to diagnose whether a lawn's problem is a disease, an insect, a certain weed, or the next-door neighbor's dog visiting your lawn. Take a 2x2-inch plug of grass and soil to a local nursery or the cooperative extension service, and ask the staff to identify the problem and the treatment. Examine the entire lawn so you can describe any unusual patterns or colors.