Freeze injury on turf

Yes, your lawn can freeze. Recent low nighttime temperatures below 30°F have resulted in freeze injury on turf.

Published April 11, 2012

Kevin Frank, Michigan State University Extension, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

The recent cold temperatures have resulted in freeze injury on turfgrass. In mid-Michigan we had two nights recently when the nighttime low temperatures were in the 20s. Late last week I noticed that my front lawn started looking a little yellow-whitish and unlike the last time I observed these symptoms and thought that it was the result of a dull mower blade, this time I knew better.

If you suspect your lawn is, too, suffering from freeze injury, look closely at the leaf blades. The visual symptoms to look for are on the leaf blade. If you look closely, you’ll notice the old leaf blades were burned and discolored from the leaf tip down about an inch. You’ll also notice the new emerging leaf tissue looks healthy, which means as soon as you mow you’ll remove the damaged tissue and your turf will look fine.

Freeze injury on turfgrass.

This article was published on MSU Extension News. For more information from MSU Extension, visit http://news.msue.msu.edu. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).