Practice Prevention
As the saying goes… An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prepare your lawn in the fall to prevent snow mold in the spring. Snow mold is a common fungal disease which occurs in the winter & spring following prolonged periods of snow cover. Snow mold looks like grayish or yellowish patches of grass (1ft across or less). They may also join together to form larger patches of damaged turf.
Prevent snow mold by lowering your mowing height through the end of the season. The last mow of the season should have the grass is so short it cannot lay over when the snow piles up. This will help prevent snow mold damage during the winter.
If you do get snow mold, raking the area with a leaf rake will allow moisture to escape and air to penetrate the turf. In most cases, this will help clear up the snow mold. Severe cases will require reseeding.
Allergies is an additional reason to try and prevent it. It is a fungus. Many people are actually allergic to it. Your allergies can be significantly worse in the spring. Less snow mold means less allergies and a healthier lawn!
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