Does your lawn still have a grayish-white fuzz on it even after the winter snow melts? If so, you have snow mold on your hands. Snow mold happens when deep snowfall occurs early in the cold weather season and prevents the ground from freezing. The cool, moist area between the ground and snow becomes the perfect breeding ground for snow mold to become active. As long as the ground stays moist, the mold will stick around. This type of mold is sometimes also seen in piles of un-raked leaves.
While snow mold will just cause gray patches of grass that are slow to green, there is a chance it could affect your home if tracked inside. The mold may continue to grow if it is tracked into a cool, damp area of a home, such as the basement or garage. If you have items stored in these rooms, such as important documents or books, snow mold could damage them. When you have mold-damaged documents or books, you will need the help of a mold remediation specialist to restore them.
To help avoid the growth of snow mold, avoid using a fertilizer that contain a lot of nitrogen during the fall months. Additionally, the University of Minnesota suggests fertilizing your lawn around Labor Day. If your lawn is particularly prone to snow mold growth, however, do not fertilize it in the fall at all. Finally, when mowing you lawn, do not trim it shorter than two inches.
[photo: Amanda Miller]
