Dry Patch is a disorder that causes the soil to become repellent to water resulting in dry patches of soil and turf.
What are the symptoms?
Soils exhibiting dry patch will normally be bone dry and dusty and watering them will have no effect, you might also notice that water will travel to surrounding areas and they might in comparison be quite moist.
What soils are susceptible to Dry Patch?
Dry Patch as you might expect is normally most severe on sandy soils and it typically appears during periods of dry hot weather when the turf appears stressed and may thin.
Management
Soil compaction, lack of or poor irrigation coverage, thatch layers and slope are all thought to be possible contributory factors to Dry Patch so addressing one or all of these causal links will help to reduce the risk of reoccurence.
Cultural
Deep spiking to aid water penetration and de-compact soils.
Adequate and uniform irrigation.
Minimising thatch layers through scarification, and surface grooming.
Limiting localised undulations through top dressing
Addressing slopes that may lead to water shedding
Chemical
Use of wetting agents on the affected areas should be considered preventatively but are also the most obvious treatment, however, these products can prove expensive if a large area needs treating.
Localised areas can be treated using tablets combined with a purpose designed hose gun and water source but larger areas or whole pitches can be treated with a granular or liquid wetting agent.
