How do we control dollar spot in our HOA's common area turf?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 30, 2026

How HOA boards identify dollar spot in common turf, fix the low nitrogen and long dew periods behind it, and decide when a fungicide program is worth paying for.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

What to do about it

Dollar spot is a fungus that hits hungry turf. Most lawn diseases get worse when the grass is overfed. This one gets worse when nitrogen runs low, the soil runs dry, and the leaves stay wet from dusk to mid-morning. That makes it a fertility and watering problem first and a spray problem second. The order that works: 1. Confirm it is dollar spot and not brown patch, drought or insects. 2. Check the fertilizer records. If the contractor cut nitrogen to save money, put it back to the extension rate for your grass. 3. Shorten the hours the leaves stay wet: water before dawn, knock dew off in the morning, open up airflow. 4. Relieve compaction and thatch with core aeration. 5. Reserve fungicide for high-value turf with a history of the disease, and require the contractor to rotate chemical classes. Colorado State University Extension calls fungicide a last resort and warns it will not fix a lawn stressed by compaction, thatch, poor fertilization or insects. Start there.

How to recognize it

Texas A&M names the fungus Clarireedia jacksonii, formerly Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. The name comes from golf greens, where it makes round, sunken, straw-colored spots about the size of a silver dollar. On common-area turf mowed higher, the spots are bigger and fuzzier. University of Illinois Extension puts them at 3 to 8 inches across on Kentucky bluegrass, ryegrass, fine fescue, zoysia and bermudagrass, and Colorado State says patches can merge into areas several square feet wide within a few days. The leaf tells you more than the patch. Pull a few blades from the green edge just outside a dead area. Dollar spot leaves a bleached, white to tan lesion with a darker brown or purplish border, often pinched in the middle like an hourglass. Early on dewy mornings you may see white, cobweb-like threads on the grass. The UF/IFAS turf disease key separates it from the larger patch diseases this way: patches under 3 inches with leaf lesions, on any grass. Texas A&M notes that on high-cut turf it is often mistaken for brown patch. If the crew and the board disagree, ask the county Extension office how to send a sample to the university diagnostic lab.

Which grasses and which weather

Colorado State lists Kentucky bluegrass, annual bluegrass, bermudagrass, fine fescues, perennial ryegrass and zoysiagrass as hosts in Colorado. Texas A&M says highly managed bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are the warm-season grasses most at risk, while St. Augustinegrass and centipedegrass seldom take serious damage. UF/IFAS lists dollar spot among the diseases of bermudagrass in Florida. NC State Extension says infection starts in spring once night temperatures stay above 50 degrees F, and the fungus needs 10 to 12 hours of continuous leaf wetness. Cool late-spring and early-summer nights with heavy dew are the worst stretch, and activity slows once temperatures run consistently above 90 degrees F. Texas A&M describes the peak as warm, humid days of 70 to 85 degrees F with nights near 60 degrees F, from late spring through fall.

Fix the fertility first

UF/IFAS states it plainly in its turfgrass disease guide: very low nitrogen favors dollar spot. Illinois Extension says the disease is more severe on dry soils short of nitrogen and recommends light, frequent feedings. Texas A&M adds that regular nitrogen helps damaged turf recover. The trap is overcorrecting. The same UF/IFAS guide warns that heavy nitrogen encourages brown patch and gray leaf spot, and says to apply the minimum the grass needs, with potassium equal to or greater than the nitrogen. The goal is the middle of the extension range, not the top. Published targets to hand the contractor: - Bermudagrass in Florida (UF/IFAS ENH19): 3 to 5 pounds of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet per year north of Ocala, 4 to 6 in central Florida, 5 to 7 in south Florida. Each application should be 1/2 to 1 pound, with no more than 0.7 pound of soluble nitrogen at once. - Kentucky bluegrass in Colorado (CSU Fact Sheet 7.202, low maintenance): 1/2 pound mid-March to April, 1/2 to 1 pound May to mid-June, none in July and early August, 1 pound mid-August to mid-September, and an optional pound in October. - Texas: ask the county AgriLife Extension office for the rate for your grass, and soil test first. Ask the contractor for last year's fertilizer log. If feedings were dropped to hit a lower bid, that alone can explain an outbreak.

Water, dew, mowing and thatch

Every hour of leaf wetness counts. NC State recommends irrigating between midnight and 6 a.m. and watering by soil moisture, not the calendar. Colorado State gives a window of 9 p.m. to 8 a.m., so watering overlaps the natural dew instead of extending it, and warns that overwatering makes the disease much worse. Texas A&M says drought stress worsens it too, so water deeply and less often, as Illinois Extension advises. Dew removal is cheap. Texas A&M and Illinois Extension both suggest knocking the dew off early in the morning by mowing, poling, or dragging a hose or rope across the turf. NC State cautions that this can spread active disease, so crews should wash mowers before moving from infected turf to clean areas and remove clippings from infected spots. Other cultural steps from the extension sources: - Mow at the right height. NC State says low mowing encourages dollar spot. CSU recommends 2.5 to 3 inches for Colorado lawn grasses and never removing more than a third of the blade. - Core aerate compacted or thatchy turf, as both Colorado State and Texas A&M recommend. - Prune shrubs and low limbs that block airflow over problem areas. - When reseeding, choose resistant cultivars. Colorado State suggests a blend of two or more good varieties.

When a fungicide program makes sense

Texas A&M calls fungicide critical for highly managed turf such as golf courses and sports fields. Most HOA common areas are not that. Fungicide earns its cost on an entrance lawn, a sports field or another area where the disease returns every year despite good care. Illinois Extension notes dollar spot usually develops slowly, so the board has time to fix the cultural problems first. If you do approve a program, two rules matter. Start early. NC State says preventive programs work best when started in spring once night temperatures stay above 50 degrees F, and that curative sprays take high rates and short intervals. Illinois Extension cites repeat applications every 7 to 21 days during moist weather between 60 and 90 degrees F. The product label sets the real rate and interval. Rotate classes. NC State warns that the dollar spot fungus develops fungicide resistance very quickly. Its table rates thiophanate-methyl, boscalid and strobilurins like pyraclostrobin as high risk, to be rotated after every application and tank-mixed with a lower-risk product. Sterol inhibitors such as propiconazole are medium risk, rotated after one or two applications. Contact products such as chlorothalonil and fluazinam are low risk. The board does not need to pick products. It should require the contractor to name each product and its chemical group, and to confirm the label allows the site.

A sample year and contract wording

A sample year for bermudagrass or zoysiagrass in Texas or Florida. Bluegrass communities on the Front Range should follow the CSU feeding months above. - February to March: board member and contractor walk the turf. Map chronic patches and pull last year's fertilizer and irrigation records. - March to April: confirm controller start times. Spring feeding at the extension rate. Preventive fungicide on high-value areas only, once nights stay above 50 degrees F. - May to June: crew checks for leaf lesions and morning mycelium on each visit. Dew removal on problem areas. - July to August: deep, infrequent watering. Core aerate compacted areas. - September to October: the second disease window. Same scouting as spring. - November: compare the patch map with spring. Clauses the board can adapt: "Contractor shall fertilize common turf at rates within the current university extension recommendation for the grass type and region and shall provide a fertilizer log after each application. Irrigation shall run between midnight and 8:00 a.m., subject to local watering rules. Contractor shall report suspected turf disease within 7 days with photographs. Any fungicide program requires written Association approval, shall rotate chemical groups as the label requires, and shall be documented with product name, EPA registration number, rate, areas treated and applicator license number." Our guide on hiring an HOA landscaping contractor covers bids, insurance and scope.

Licensing and mistakes to avoid

Whoever sprays needs the right license. Texas Occupations Code section 1951.003 counts controlling pests or diseases of plantings next to a residence, for pay, as structural pest control, and section 1951.301 bars doing that business without a license. Florida Statutes section 482.156(4)(a) says the limited landscape maintenance certification does not cover applying pesticides to turf. Colorado's Pesticide Applicators' Act, C.R.S. 35-10-105, requires anyone applying pesticides for hire to hold a commercial applicator business license. Rules vary by state and by your governing documents, and this guide is education, not legal advice. Common mistakes: - Cutting fertilizer to trim the budget, then paying for fungicide. - Overcorrecting with heavy nitrogen in a Florida or Gulf Coast summer and trading dollar spot for brown patch or gray leaf spot. Our guide on treating gray leaf spot in HOA St. Augustinegrass covers that disease. - Evening irrigation that keeps blades wet all night. - Running the same high-risk fungicide until it stops working. - Scalping turf for a cleaner look. A notice for owners: "Small tan spots in the common lawns are a fungus called dollar spot. On university turf specialists' advice, the board has adjusted fertilizer and moved sprinklers to pre-dawn hours."

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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