Snow Mold on Long Island

In the late winter and early spring, as the lawn starts to come back, you sometimes find round patches of brown, dying grass. These are areas where snow melted and has formed a fungus called snow mold. Sometimes the mold is pink and other times it could look fuzzy and gray on the surface. In either case, the lawn is treatable and can make its way back to a healthy green lawn.

Why does the snow mold form? Well, if the snow sits on the lawn for a long period of time, the mold will form underneath.  It could also be from fertilizing too late in the season and therefore there is a lot of nitrogen in the soil which has produced the mold or it could be because there is a thick layer of dead grass or thatch under the lawn.

The way to treat the lawn with snow mold is to manicure the lawn, raking the grass and getting air flow into the roots. If there are areas where the grass is clearly dead, then it is a good time to lay down some grass seed. Using the proper fertilizers will also help and with the assistance of a Board Certified Master Arborist, the right fertilizers can be used that will not kill the grass seed, preventing it from germinating.

If you have seen this during the winter call Sterling Tree to get your lawn back in shape for the spring.