Two Diseases Attacking Our Turf

 

                                             Strobe G Preventative 

                                              St. Augustine     Strobe G     Preventative

                                            Large patch fungus attacking the whole yard

Horticulture Hotline 11/23/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

The disease that attacks the turf while it is going into dormancy (fall) or coming of dormancy (spring) has exploded on the Lowcountry’s turf. While walking and driving around, it seems that large patch has invaded the Lowcountry in a big way. As the cooler weather comes, the daylight hours shorten, and the grass growth rate slows down, large patch fungus began to show up in our lawns. Proving once again, the Lowcountry is the hardest place in the world to grow grass and why it is so important to have a program for your lawn. Do you see areas of your grass that are brown when other parts are green? Be sure the areas that are brown are your turfgrass and not summer annual weeds (crabgrass...) that have died (doubtfully if a reader of the Horticulture Hotline).

 

Large patch disease is always present in the soil; it just manifests itself when the environmental conditions are right and your grass cannot outgrow the damage. Without any sustained cold temperatures, this disease is slowly spreading across lawns as the temperatures that favor its growth keep coming into play. This prolonged fall is great for outdoor activities like visiting local plantations, fishing, boating, golfing, shopping, and working in the yard; however, the temperatures are also perfect for these diseases to develop and spread. The grass is not fully actively growing (not mowing as much) and it is not fully dormant (brown), so these are perfect conditions for the disease to attack. Disease needs to be present (in the soil always), susceptible host (your grass), and the right environmental conditions (been nice weather for us – a slow transition is not good for the grass). These three conditions make up the disease triangle.

 

Large patch fungus likes wet, heavy thatch, improper nutrition, and/or compacted soils.  Culturally you need to manage your irrigation system, raise any low areas, and correct drainage problems.  Reducing thatch (at Possum’s we have a great organic granular product for controlling thatch), maintaining proper fertility levels, and aerating to alleviate compaction, will also help control large patch. A healthy turf (following soil test derived feeding schedule) with a soil with a lot of biodiversity (use of cotton burr compost, SeaHume and other organics) has been shown to help manage this disease.

 

As your grass is going into dormancy and the temperatures begin to cool at night, large patch is ready to attack your grass. Large patch will go inactive when the temperatures get very cold; however, it will become active again when the temperatures favor the disease. If you have discolored areas in your yard that appear to be a disease, check with someone that knows. Even if it is during a cold phase and the disease does not appear to be active, you can still put out a systemic fungicide for protection if you see that the weather is warming. Our soils do not get so cold that the plant will not absorb the fungicide with its roots. Remember treating a fungus with a systemic fungicide is like getting a flu shot – you do it preventatively before you have the disease. If it is too late to use it preventively, when you want the disease to stop spreading, you can use the fungicide curatively. Treating preventatively requires less product and less frequent applications of fungicides.

 

A good granular one-two punch control strategy is T-Methyl and Strobe Pro G (both systemic fungicides that get into the plant). Reliant is a good organic spray that is a good rotation partner. Use these products in areas where you have had large patch previously at the preventive rates and intervals recommended on the labels. Be sure to use T-Methyl with Strobe Pro G, so you are switching chemistry classes and modes of action. Good control early on can help avoid flare ups in the spring also. If you do not manage the disease, the grass will thin, and weeds will take over. Two pictures show the use of Strobe G preventatively and the other picture shows the large patch fungus.

 

If you are growing ryegrass this fall, the conditions have been perfect for Pythium as well. Pythium is a disease (not a fungus), and it thrives in hot, humid, poorly drained, and overwatered areas. Warm humid nights, grass blades that stay wet for long periods of time (have you ever seen someone using a dew whip on a golf course green to knock the dew off so the leaf blades dry quicker?), and wet warm weather will make this disease explode. Warm nights and foggy mornings also make ryegrass susceptible to this disease.

 

Pythium travels super-fast through an area and can wipe out large areas of turf overnight. Mowing, rolling, tarps on infields of baseball fields, and surface water drainage will spread this disease rapidly. In 36 years of writing this column, I have never written about this disease; however, the environmental conditions have been so perfect, I figured I better write about it.

 

Sometimes in the morning, you will see something that looks like cotton candy or cobwebs on the turf areas. The grass can also appear to be greasy. Like any disease it is best to treat preventatively when you see favorable environmental conditions in the forecast. Strobe, Reliant, and Subdue (Mefenoxam) are good control products to rotate for control of this very fast-moving disease.

 

What an awesome Lowcountry Fall! James Island County Park’s Holiday Festival of Lights? Soil Test and Fertility Program from Possum’s? Rats? Roaches? Fleas? Tree pruning and trimming? Transplant shrubs or trees? Edge bed lines and sidewalks for the last time for a while? Rake or blow leaves? Clean out beds that have an accumulation of mulch, leaves, or pine straw? Mulch your beds after leaf drop? Moles?

 

Always read, understand, and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply (follow us on Facebook). Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com. 

 

 

Christmas Tree and More

 

Horticulture Hotline 11/23/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Another year has almost gone by. What a year! Army worms, lots of high tides (salt issues), mosquitoes, strange rain (or lack of rain) patterns, and moles. With the dry spring, we had very little, large patch fungus – a nice change! With the recent prolonged mild temperatures, large patch fungus and pythium (on rye grass) have been hot topics.

 

This week I started seeing tents going up in parking lots, so I figured it was time for the yearly Christmas tree article.  

 

The Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park is always a must see this time of year. The light show is a tradition with my family. The lights, the train, hot chocolate, smores (if you listen to “The Garden Clinic”  you know I’m not a fan of smores -sticky messy-, but everyone else seems to be), the walking trails with lights, the big sand feature, music, gift shop, and oh yeah, Santa. If you are a kid, does Christmas still seem like it takes forever to get here? It sure comes up quickly to me now that I’m an old geezer! 

 

I wanted to get this yearly Christmas Tree article out, so you could make plans to go to a local Christmas Tree Farm, find a local source for a cut tree, or use a live tree that you could use in your landscape after the holidays, if you were so inclined.

 

After Thanksgiving, many of you will be searching for a Christmas tree.  If you are going to buy a cut tree, consider buying it from a local business that is here year-round like an independently owned garden center.  If you buy it from a tent, or a temporary site, look for one that is run by the Exchange Club, Optimist Club, Rotary Club, a local church, a local school club, a local landscaper, or another local organization.  Many local organizations that sell trees give a portion of the profits to local charities such as Camp Happy Days or Ronald McDonald House.

 

There are some people from out of state that set up tents in grocery store parking lots. Many of them bring their employees with them. They take their profits out of state when they leave. If you support our local businesses, then you keep our money in our local economy and maybe save a local job. It is very important to always keep profits local, especially these days with so much going to online merchants that do not hire people or spend money locally.

 

Many of the local garden centers offer great Christmas gifts along with trees this time of year.  They have purchased many seasonal items that would be a great present for anyone. Gift certificates are usually available for the hard-to-shop gardeners. Shopping at a garden center is a great way to avoid long lines.  The parking is free and plentiful at this time of year. A nice pot, potting soil, wetting agent, and fertilizer would make a great gift.

 

Have you ever considered a live tree? Different Hollies (right now you can tell the females with beautiful berries), Eastern Red Cedar, Little Gem Magnolias, Osmanthus, Deodara Cedar and many more make great trees and after the holidays you can plant them in your yard instead of throwing them to the curb. Leyland Cypress have been removed from this list due to their disease issues.

 

Local tree farms are also an option. A ride in the country is always a good family event (young children, “how much longer will it take to get there?”). Picking out your own tree is fun for the whole family and usually involves hot chocolate and hayrides. You know you are getting a fresh tree when you cut it yourself. 

 

If you go with a traditional cut tree, make sure it is in water at the place you buy it (unless it is coming fresh off the truck), and make sure it stays in water until you take it to the curb after the holidays.  Once you bring the tree home, cut an inch off the bottom of the tree, and place the tree in a five-gallon bucket of water.  While the tree is still outside, consider spraying the tree with Transfilm, Cloud Cover or Wilt Proof to keep the water loss through the needles to a minimum. If you notice any insects on the tree, blast it with a strong stream of water or consider an insecticidal soap. Let the tree dry before bringing it into the house. 

 

Locate your tree within your house away from heating ducts and the fireplace.  A stand that can hold a lot of water is a big plus because a fresh cut Christmas tree can drink 1-2 gallons of water per day.  Have one responsible adult in charge of watering the Christmas tree daily to avoid ruining the carpet or floors.  If you can, fill (2) one-gallon milk jugs each day and let them sit for 24 hours, this will allow the chlorine to evaporate out of the water.  Letting chlorine evaporate from the water you water your plants is a practice you should use when watering all house plants.  

 

There are many secrets to keeping a tree fresh.  Having a fresh cut and keeping water above this cut always is the most important thing you can do for the tree.  The water conducting vessels quickly close if the tree does not have constant water.  Using a drop of Super Thrive in each gallon of water will help the tree stay fresh. Many people use 7-up and an aspirin in the water. You might want to save the aspirin if you drink Uncle Joe’s egg nogg, bourbon soaked cherries, or Holiday Punch.  

 

Thank you for shopping at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply and for all your letters, questions, comments when I meet you, and for reading “The Horticulture Hotline”! Make it a Great and Safe Holiday Season!

 

 Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply. Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hot

Fall Color and Other Lowcountry

Sunset Near Folly (no filters)

Cassia and Rye

Poor Possum

Beautiful Japanese Maple

Milkweed Monarch

Mistletoe

Pyracantha

Ryegrass Riverdogs / Riley Park

Ginko

Virginia Creeper and Yaupon

Poison Ivy 

Red Fox - my new dog?

My Old Dog (Ol'Boy)- Holiday Festival of Lights

 

                                           Pure White Sasanqua Camellia

                                            Rye on Fertilizer Program

                                           Rye on Dog Urine Fertilizer Program

                                            Rye and Cassia

Horticulture Hotline 11/03/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

I have eight tea olives in my yard that are all over fifteen feet tall. When fall comes and they are blooming and smelling so sweet, I know the hot days of summer are coming to an end. The tea olives are spread in strategic places throughout my yard, so no matter how the wind blows, I will get to smell them. When they bloom, usually the threat of hurricane season comes to an end (fingers crossed), football season is in full swing, the weather is perfect, visits to our local gardens, parks, and plantations are awesome - oysters, anyone?

 

Great weather, cassia blooming, camellias blooming, holly berries, pyracantha berries, nandina berries and fall leaf color – one of the reasons you live in the Lowcountry? The different varieties of Japanese Maples provide many different hues of color in the fall. And of course, there is poison ivy – be sure to garnish your Thanksgiving table with something other than this colorful vine.

 

One big question to answer this time of year is do I want to grow ryegrass in my lawn, paint my lawn green, or let it go dormant? The football fields, soccer fields, baseball fields, and golf courses look so nice this time of year. Green grass all winter would be nice. Many of the people that live in Charleston now are used to green grass in the winter. If you are a little apprehensive, instead of doing the front yard where the whole world can see, try the back yard or a side yard. If you have active children or dogs (the other children), ryegrass can lessen the damage from traffic. Ryegrass does very good under the canopy of oak trees – just ride by The College of Charleston’s Cistern during the winter.

 

While driving through neighborhoods, I see a lot of houses for sale. Ryegrass or green paint could separate your house from the multitude of other houses that are on the market.

For the very low cost of seed and fertilizer or paint, if you could sell your house one month earlier saving you a monthly payment, wouldn’t it be worth it? What about a year earlier?

 

Ryegrass has a bad reputation because people misapply it. I often get asked, “doesn’t rye kill my centipede (or St. Augustine)?” If you manage the rye correctly, you should have no problems. The ryegrass question is like buying a dog. If you base your decision on the few untrained pit-bull stories and never purchased or adopted a dog of any type because of these stories, it would be too bad.

 

The 3 biggest mistakes I see with rye grass that give it a bad reputation are:

1. Put out at too high of a rate, so it chokes permanent grass.
2. Use cheap rye with lots of weed seeds and poor color.
3. No fertilizer programs. Light green grass and no additional fertilizer so dog urine spots (dark green grass) become your fertilizer program.
4. It is not managed in the spring chemically or culturally, so it competes with permanent grass while it is coming out of dormancy.

 

If you decide you want to put out ryegrass, now is the time to check your trusty application chart. Have you put out a pre-emergent herbicide this fall on your lawn? If so, when and at what rate? If you have recently applied pre-emergent products, you may want to try the paint or wait until next year. You could put out something to deactivate the pre-emergent so you could rye, but that will just add to your cost. If you decide to rye, putting a pre-emergent product in your beds will help to keep rye from popping up in your beds, saving you time and frustration.

 

If you are painting or not using rye, you can attack some of the nasty winter weeds that will compete with your turf grass next spring without having to worry about the rye grass. Painting will also capture heat that will help your grass “green up” sooner in the spring. Who wants to be “mowing weeds” late winter / early spring? Florida Betony and other winter weeds are visible now. Remember it is easier to kill them now when they are young and actively growing than to wait until they are flowering.

 

Three Possum’s Stores hot topic reports – vicious late season mosquitoes, winterizing fertilizers (use SeaHume, Possum’s Minors, 00-00-25, Cotton Burr Compost - stay away from winter fertilizers for fescue and blue grass), large patch (I was trying to avoid saying large patch this week), moles (of course), pots / winter color, fire ants, Neem oil for shrubs, and mole crickets. Bring in your soil test now, so you beat the spring rush!

 

Always read, understand, and follow product label or hire a professional. The product label is Federal Law.

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply (follow us on Facebook). Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com. 

Large Patch Fungus

 

                                            Halloween and Large Patch

                                                      Large Large Patch

                                                      Large Patch

                                                      Controls Large Patch

            

Horticulture Hotline 10/21/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

Wow, we are getting weather that is making it really hard to deal with some of our perennial worst situations this time of year. The rain we had about ten days ago was a perfect slow rainfall that penetrated our landscapes instead of running off into stormwater drains and out into the harbor. Unfortunately, Large Patch loves this moisture too.

 

Rain and nighttime temperatures in the 60’s are perfect weather for Large Patch (Brown Patch) disease in turf. Unless you cover your grass with a tarp, like a baseball diamond, it is hard to turn off the rain. Hopefully, you are managing your irrigation system. It seems like when the skeletons and other Halloween decorations appear in the lawn, so does the Large Patch. With a disease, you want to treat when the conditions are favorable, before you see the damage.

 

All fungus diseases must have three factors line up for there to be an active problem. This is referred to as the disease triangle. There must be a susceptible host (your grass), a favorable environment (in this case cool nights, water, grass is going into dormancy….), and the disease must be present (in the soil in this case). When all these conditions are met, the disease strikes your grass.

 

The quick fix would be to apply Strobe G or T-Methyl throughout the yard. Strobe G and T-Methyl are systemic fungicides that get into the plant (grass) and protect the grass plant from the disease. Getting a flu shot would be a human equivalent. Depending on the weather, rotating chemistries is always a good idea to prevent resistance to the disease. Applying the product before you get the disease when you notice conditions are right, will save you money and time applying the product. You wouldn’t get a flu shot after you had the flu. Unlike the flu shot, Strobe G and T-Methyl do have curative rates.

 

Rats, mice and roaches like to move inside for the winter and the rain just seems to accelerate that migration. The Lowcountry is such a hospitable place, I guess we welcome rats, mice and roaches too! I was looking over some figures the other day preparing for our 2026 season at Possum’s and I was amazed at the amount of products we sell to control these pest. Granted, many of them are sold to professionals; however, they are still used in this area.

 

Do irrigate your yard in the winter because the dry, cold low humidity air can desiccate your lawn, trees and shrubs, similar to the way your lips get chapped. The grass loses water through the runners even though it is dormant and the trees and shrubs lose water through the bark and leaves (if it is an evergreen).

 

Mole crickets and fire ants have been particularly active. With Halloween just around the corner, be sure to manage your fire ants. You would not want that little Princess or Vampire to get bit!

 

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

Fall - Yes!

                                           Best Sandbags Ever!

 

                                                     Large Patch / Brown Patch

 

Horticulture Hotline 09/29/25

By Bill Lamson-Scribner

 

While walking and driving around, it seems that brown patch/ large patch/ Zoysia patch (I will use these names interchangeable) has invaded the Lowcountry. As the cooler weather comes and the grass growth rate slows down, large patch / brown patch / zoysia patch fungus began to show up in our lawns. Does it seem to you that right when we got the army worms and sod web worms under control, here comes the large patch? Proving once again, the Lowcountry is the hardest place in the world to grow grass and why it is so important to have a program for your lawn. Do you see areas of your grass that are brown when other parts are green?

 

Large patch disease is always present in the soil. The disease just manifests itself when the environmental conditions are right and your grass cannot outgrow the damage. Without any sustained cold temperatures, this disease is slowly spreading across lawns as the temperatures that favor its growth keep coming into play. A prolonged fall is great for outdoor activities like visiting local plantations, fishing, boating, golfing, shopping and working in the yard; however, the temperatures are also perfect for these diseases to develop. The grass is not fully actively growing (not mowing as much) and it is not fully dormant (brown), so these are perfect conditions for the disease to attack.

 

Since this disease is a big problem in the Lowcountry, knowing that it is a soil borne disease can help you with control strategies.  Being a soil borne disease, you know that it will reoccur in the same areas year after year.  There are not any spores flying through the air like many of your leaf spot fungi, so the disease is easier to control.

 

As a soil borne fungus, if you map the areas that you have the disease, you can concentrate your control efforts (dollars) into a smaller area, putting less control products into the environment.  If your yard is 5,000 sq ft usually you might have a few infected areas which might total approx. 500 ft.  Instead of using control products to treat 5,000 sq ft, you can concentrate your efforts into the 500 ft (i.e. 10% of your total yard).  If Large Patch was an air borne fungus with spores, you would want to treat the entire yard because air borne fungi spreads easier and quicker than soil borne fungi.

 

As your grass is going into dormancy and the temperatures begin to cool at night, large patch is ready to attack your grass. Large patch will go inactive when the temperatures get very cold; however, it will become active again when the temperatures favor the disease. If you have discolored areas in your yard that appear to be a disease, check with someone that knows. Even if it is during a cold phase and the disease does not appear to be active, you can still put out a systemic fungicide for protection. Our soils do not get so cold that the plant will not absorb the fungicide with its roots. Remember treating a fungus with a systemic fungicide is like getting a flu shot – you do it preventatively before you have the disease. If it is too late to use it preventively, when you want the disease to stop spreading, you can use the fungicide curatively.

 

 

A good granular one-two punch control strategy is T-Methyl and Strobe Pro G (all systemic fungicides that get into the plant).  Use these products in areas where you have had Large Patch previously at the preventive rates and intervals recommended on the labels. Be sure to alternate T-Methyl with Strobe Pro G, so you are switching chemistry classes and modes of action. Good control in the fall can help avoid flare ups in the spring.

 

Large patch usually likes wet, heavy thatch, improper nutrition, and/or compacted soils.  Culturally you need to manage your irrigation system, raise any low areas, and correct drainage problems.  Reducing thatch (at Possum’s we have a great organic granular product for controlling thatch), maintaining proper fertility levels, and aerating (when the grass is actively growing – not now) to alleviate compaction, will also help control large patch. A healthy turf (following soil test derived feeding schedule) and a soil with bio-diversity (use of cotton burr compost, SeaHume, crab shell, Nature’s Blend, and other organics) has shown to help manage this disease.

 

It looks like we dodged this storm. Instead of waiting in line to get sandbags that get sand everywhere (in your car, on your driveway), consider using Cotton Burr Compost or Topsoil bags. After the threat of flooding, you have a great product to use in your yard! We are still getting sporadic reports of fall armyworms, mosquitoes (EEE death reported in Beaufort County), mole crickets and fire ants.

 

Time to take soil test and beat the spring rush at the soil testing lab. Every soil test is unique to your yard. Lime takes a while to fully react in the soil, so if you need lime, it is good to get an early start. Time to get ready for 2026.

 

Always read, understand and follow product label. The product label is a Federal Law.

 

Bill Lamson-Scribner can be reached during the week at Possum’s Landscape and Pest Control Supply (follow us on Facebook). Possum’s has three locations 481 Long Point Rd in Mt. Pleasant (971-9601), 3325 Business Circle in North Charleston (760-2600), or 606 Dupont Rd, in Charleston (766-1511). Bring your questions to a Possum’s location, or visit us at possumsupply.com. You can also call in your questions to “The Garden Clinic”, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, or listen to the replay of Saturday’s show, Sundays from 11:00 to noon on 1250 WTMA (The Big Talker). The Horticulture Hotline is available 24 / 7 at possumsupply.com.