As someone who cares about the health and condition of their lawn, finding something wrong, such as seeing rust on grass, can be a huge source of frustration. Lawn rust is caused by a fungus and shows up as orange powder that can easily get tracked around (and even inside).

While it can be annoying, lawn rust is relatively easily managed.In this article, we’ll dive into everything you need to know including what causes lawn rust and how to implement the best lawn rust treatment options.

We’ll cover:

What Causes Lawn Rust?
What Does Rust on Grass Look Like?
Is Lawn Rust Harmful to Dogs or People?
Treating Lawn Rust
Minimizing The Risk of Rust on Grass
Choosing Lawn Care in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky

What Causes Lawn Rust?

Lawn rust disease is caused by the fungus puccinia spp. that thrives in warm, humid weather. It tends to grow in shady areas of the lawn.
Because it loves warmer weather conditions, we tend to see this disease most often during the summer or early fall. However, if the conditions are right, it can show up at other times of the year.

What Does Rust on Grass Look Like?

Lawn rust shows up as an orange, powdery substance that some people say looks like dust. It can spread easily as it can get picked up by shoes or even pets’ paws.
It’s not only frustrating to get this orange dust on your shoes, but you’re also spreading the disease this way. Homeowners are also very frustrated when this orange dust gets tracked into their homes. It can stain floors and furniture.

You want to do what you can to avoid walking on areas with rust on grass so that you aren’t spreading it around or tracking it inside.

Is Lawn Rust Harmful to Dogs or People?

Since rust on grass can easily come into contact with people or pets, you rightfully want to know whether it’s harmful. The good news is that lawn rust is not harmful to people or to pets.
Still, you can wash your pets’ paws or have people remove their shoes so that they are not tracking lawn rust into your home.

Treating Lawn Rust

The good news about lawn rust is that once the weather conditions change, this disease will largely clear up on its own. To understand this, you must first understand the disease triangle.

In order for any plant disease to develop and spread, there are three factors that must be present.

1. Suitable Environment (weather conditions)

2. Disease Pathogen (source of transmission)

3. Susceptible Host Plant (in the case of lawn disease, this would be variety of grass)

Just like there are three sides to the triangle, these three factors must be present for lawn disease to grow and spread.

When one of these factors changes (such as the weather conditions changing), often the lawn disease will resolve itself. This is why we do not recommend investing heavy sums of money in fungus treatments.

That being said, there are still some steps you can take to mitigate the spread and improve the condition of your lawn, which we will cover next.

Minimizing The Risk of Rust on Grass

As you can see from the disease triangle (mentioned above), sometimes lawn disease just happens. The conditions are optimal for a disease to spread, and it does. You can’t always entirely prevent these situations.

However, you can take steps to make sure that the effects are minimal and that you don’t do anything to make the problem worse.
Here are a few things to keep in mind.

• Fertilize Properly: Often, the grass is just slightly tinged with rust. But as you stimulate new growth through the use of proper fertilization, it will start to grow out of trouble. It’s also important to remember that one of the best defenses against lawn disease (and other problems, including weeds) is a thick and healthy turf!
• Don’t Overwater: Proper watering is absolutely imperative when it comes to avoiding the spread of disease. It’s also important that your lawn is well-aerated so that it does not become compacted. Lawns that don’t drain well can start to deal with rust fungus (or other fungi problems) as they thrive in moist soil. Along with aerating, you should also be overseeding, which we’ll explain next.
• Mow Regularly (and not too short): Proper mowing is absolutely imperative to a healthy lawn. Most importantly, you want to avoid mowing the lawn too short as this can put tremendous stress on it and leave it prone to problems.
• Overseed Annually: Every year there are new and better varieties of grass being created that are increasingly disease-resistant. When you aerate and overseed your lawn each year, adding these improved varieties can help your lawn resist diseases (like rust).

Choosing Lawn Care in Cincinnati, Dayton, OH and Northern Kentucky

At the end of the day, even the healthiest lawns will sometimes face troubles like lawn disease. But with a lawn care professional on your side, you don’t have to worry that you’re going to lose your lawn.
At Oasis Turf & Tree, we believe that a healthy lawn is a team effort. You can count on us to guide you with cultural recommendations in regard to the tasks that you handle. And we’ll continue to ensure that our lawn care program is helping you produce healthy results.

By working together, we can help you achieve a thick and healthy turf that is not only going to look great but is going to have a much better chance of fighting back against invasive lawn disease.

Want to learn more about professional lawn care services for your Cincinnati, Dayton, Ohio, or Northern Kentucky home? Request your quote, choose the lawn care program that’s right for you, and then sit back and relax as the pros help you get the lawn of your dreams without the worries.

Image Sources: lawn rust,  rust fungus