LawnSuite guide: Dollar spot in lawns: how to spot it and fix the conditions
Use this LawnSuite guide to recognise the problem before deciding what to do. Dollar spot shows up as lots of small, straw-coloured spots across the lawn. It follows humid weather and long periods of wet leaves, and it's the disease couch owners see most.
How to spot it
Lots of small, straw-coloured spots, from the size of a coin to a saucer. Pick a few blades from the edge of a spot: hourglass-shaped marks with a tan centre and a dark red-brown border are the classic sign.
When it shows up
Mild to warm weather (about 15–30 °C) with leaves that stay wet for long stretches, and a lawn that's short on nitrogen. Watch in humid spells, and in shaded areas as autumn cools.
Your grass type
Couch: dollar spot is its main disease. Kikuyu: a second disease to watch. Buffalo: possible in humid, underfed patches. Zoysia: large patch is the main disease to watch, but dollar spot can appear. Cool-season lawns: possible in warmer areas. Kikuyu yellows is a different problem, managed with drainage and less stress, not a spray.
Fix the conditions first
Water in the morning, not the evening. Mow with sharp blades, because ragged cuts from dull blades open the door to disease. Reduce thatch. Low nitrogen is one of the conditions linked to dollar spot, so check the lawn is being fed at the right times for its type.
If you use a product
If it keeps spreading after you've fixed the conditions, use a turf fungicide whose label names dollar spot and your turf type, and follow the label. Different diseases need different products, so identify it first.
Keep reading
Not sure it's dollar spot?
Create a free LawnSuite account in your browser and photograph the patch. Photo diagnosis uses Google Gemini vision to identify the likely weed, pest or disease and shows a confidence score for each result, so you can match it to the signs on this page before you treat.