(By Jared Hoyle, KSU Turfgrass Research and Extension)
Last week I came home after the KSU Turfgrass Annual Field Day that was held in Olathe, KS at the Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center and before I even made it into the house I knew I had rust in our back yard. The shoes in the garage were a dead give away. The shoes that my wife were wearing in the back yard were orange. This disease can occur just about anywhere, when the leaves of turf are wet and when plants are stressed they are more susceptible. We see it on perennial ryegrass but can occur on other species.
Don’t worry too much as the turf typically can grow out of it.
For more information on rust check out the KSU publication below, some past blog posts from Dr. Megan Kennelly and myself, as well as some information from Richard Jauron at Iowa State University.
https://www.bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/pubs/EP163.pdf
https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/tag/rust/
https://blogs.k-state.edu/turf/rust-activity-in-turfgrass/
