What is it?
Dry patch is best described as a waxy coating found in soils making the area resistant to water: hydrophobic. There is no clear reason why lawns get dry patch. It is not a disease.
Being hydrophobic, dry patch has a massive restriction on the lawns access to water. Its affect is similar to polish on a car. Water just runs off.
With water being essential to a lawns health, dry patch needs to be addressed.
How can I tell if my lawn has Dry Patch?
There are various ways of doing this:
- Looking at your lawn from an elevated position you notice areas of the lawn looking a darker colour than other parts of the lawn. This could be an indication of dry patch.
- If you water an area of your lawn and it stays on the surface this is an indication that dry patch may be underlying in the soil. If it does permeate the soil very slowly, it could be a drought issue which if not corrected, could deteriorate into dry patch.
- Examination of the soil by taking samples reveals the soil is extremely dry (sometimes almost powder like).
- Another identifying mark might be the presence of a whitish substance that looks chalky, known as mycelium. This will be related to dry patch too.
Does GreenThumb have a treatment which is specifically tailored to treat Dry Patch?
Yes our Oasis Treatment.
How can I prevent Dry Patch from happening in the future?
Our regular treatments Aeration, Scarification and our Oasis treatment is a great way to help prevent Dry Patch. Both our Standard and Ultimate programmes include Aeration and Scarification, Oasis is included in all our programmes, however if your lawn is suffering from Dry Patch it may benefit from an additional Oasis treatment.