NJ Lawns Community

Hey everyone, I'm in Ridgewood and completely panicking right now. I thought my lawn was looking a bit stressed in this heat wave we had last week, so I started watering TWICE a day - once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Big mistake. Now I've got these large brown patches showing up all over, especially in the sunny areas near my driveway on Euclid Ave. To make things worse, I'm seeing mushrooms popping up everywhere! Did I cause root rot?? My lawn is mostly tall fescue and some KBG that was seeded last fall. I paid($900) for a professional aeration and overseed job last September and now I feel like I've ruined it. Any advice appreciated, I'm losing sleep over this!

Oh man, I've seen this exact scenario dozens of times in my 15 years working Bergen County lawns. You're NOT alone in this, but yes - you've almost certainly created perfect conditions for a fungal root rot called Pythium blight or possibly brown patch (which is actually a Rhizoctonia fungus, not true brown patch disease). Watering twice daily is way too much, especially with our clay-heavy soil up here. Our soils in Ridgewood don't drain fast enough to handle that schedule. The mushrooms are actually a GOOD sign in one sense - they indicate excess moisture and organic matter decomposition. Stop watering immediately for 3-4 days. I'd recommend getting a soil test done through Rutgers Coop Extension in Hackensack - it's cheap ($20) and will tell us your actual drainage capacity. We're dealing with this in Teaneck right now on three clients who did the exact same thing.

I totally disagree with stopping water entirely unless you're in full sun all day - that's overkill advice. Different situation though: those mushrooms are telling you something important. In Ridgewood specifically with all the oak and maple roots we've got everywhere, you're probably creating a perfect storm for fairy ring fungi. Instead of going nuclear, try watering ONCE per week deeply (like 1 inch) rather than these light sprinkles. And please don't go running to chemical fungicides yet - I've helped neighbors on Chestnut Ridge Rd reverse this exact problem just by adjusting watering schedule and adding some corn gluten meal as a natural nitrogen boost. Aerate with a core aerator (not the spike kind!) and leave the plugs on top - they'll break down and help with that compaction. Your fescue should bounce back with the right approach. Let's see photos of those mushrooms?

Calendar date matters here - what week is this? Because if we're talking late July/August, you're fighting a rough seasonal battle anyway. Tall fescue goes semi-dormant in our Ridgwood heat and that's NORMAL - it looks bad but it comes back. KBG is more prone to the issues you're describing though. My honest opinion after handling lawns from Paramus to Glen Rock: you've got two problems happening at once. 1) Overwatering causing root rot and fairy rings and 2) possible fertilizer burn if you also increased feeding. Did you add any extra fertilizer when you started watering more? If so, that combination is lethal. For now: bag those mushroom clumps before they spread spores. Apply a light layer (quarter inch) of topdressing compost over the worst spots. Next spring, get a soil wetting agent in your program if you're set on watering more frequently - helps absorption instead of pooling.

Look, I'm the sprinkler guy and even I'M saying you need to turn those heads OFF. Twice daily watering is literally the worst thing you can do in our climate zone (6b/7a transition). Set it and forget it approach does NOT work in Ridgewood. You've got a classic case of waterlogging + fungal bloom. I've installed systems in 200+ properties across Bergen and every single callback for brown patches comes down to timer programs. I guarantee you've got clogged or misaligned heads causing pooling in some areas - that would explain why certain patches are worse than others near your driveway. Get a system audit done, the big box store timers aren't designed for clay soils. After you fix the scheduling: let the ground dry out completely, don't mow for 2 weeks minimum, and raise your mower deck to 3.5 inches minimum - scalping infected grass spreads spores everywhere. Check out the local supply place on Route 17 - they've got gypsum treatments specifically for our County clay conditions.