One winter morning in North Texas, Bennet Barrier woke to a dull, straw-colored lawn. Disease? Insects? Turns out his grass was just taking its normal winter nap.
The clues: Dormancy spreads evenly across the lawn, not in patches. And while stems and leaves turn brown, the crown and roots stay healthy underneath.
We’ll explain how to tell dormant grass from dead grass and decide if your lawn needs professional lawn care help or just time.
| Brown Caused by Normal Dormancy | Brown Cause by Disease/Pests/Death |
| – Most of the lawn is consistently brown – Grass resists pulling (tug test) – The crown is still light green or white – Roots are white or cream colored – Timing matches first frost/cold spell | – Patchy, irregular brown spots – Grass pulls out easily with no resistance – Crown is brown and mushy or brittle – Roots are gray, brown, brittle |
Why Healthy Lawns Turn Brown in Winter
As fall deepens, our lawns start to brown. Many times, that’s just the grass entering winter dormancy.
Grass blades? Not so important anymore. “In the fall, plants begin moving carbohydrates and nutrients from their leaves down into their roots,” says Susan Haddock, Extension educator with the University of Florida. “This shift is what causes leaves on trees and blades of grass to change color.”
This is how grass survives winters. Those stored nutrients keep it alive until spring, when warmth returns and growth resumes, Haddock explains.
What Healthy Brown Looks Like
The pattern of browning tells you a lot. “When healthy grass changes to a yellowish or light-brown color in winter, the color shift should happen evenly across the lawn,” says Haddock.
Don’t expect perfect uniformity, though. Shaded areas may lose color first, with the entire lawn following shortly after.
Not sure if it’s dormancy? Check the crown, says Barrier. As CEO of an artificial turf company in North Texas, Barrier has spent years studying the behavior of real grass, including his own lawn. He learned that the crown (the segment just above the soil where stems and roots meet) holds the answer. Dormant grass has firm, whitish crowns. Dead grass has brown, brittle, or mushy crowns.
Or, try the tug test: Grab a handful of grass and pull. Resistance means healthy roots. If it slides right out, the grass is dead.
What Can Damage Your Lawn and Turn It Brown
Not all brown means dormant. When pests or diseases are the culprits, you’ll see a telltale pattern: circular or irregular patches that grow and merge, explains Haddock. “These issues rarely affect the entire lawn unless they’re not noticed or treated early,” she adds.
Voles
These little rodents scurry under the snow cover, creating winding brown trails that look like narrow ditches 1 ½ to 2 inches wide, a clear sign of vole presence. Around their runaways, grass is trampled and tan.
Late winter is a good time to get rid of voles in your yard. Use repellents or traps (if local rules allow trapping). Then repair the trails in the spring: rake them clean, add topdressing to level the ground, and overseed.
Moles
Moles tunnel under Southern lawns through winter, until the soil freezes, damaging roots as they go. Above the ground, you’ll see telltale signs of moles: 3-inch-wide trails of wilted, tan grass and dirt mounds marking their paths.
Get rid of moles in the spring when they’re most active; otherwise, they’ll wreak havoc in your lawn. Try repellents or check with a local wildlife specialist about trapping options.
Snow Mold
Snow mold fungi create matted, flat patches of straw-colored grass, with a pinkish or grayish-brown tint. The lawn looks bleached, sometimes on large areas. In damp spots, you’ll also see white, cobweb-like fungal threads clinging to the blades.
Fungi die naturally when the weather warms up, but you can limit damage and speed up recovery. Check the lawn after snowmelt. Remove lingering snow mounds and rake the matted grass to allow the warm air in.
See Related: How to Get Rid of Snow Mold
Cold Winds and Winter Sun
Winter sun and dry winds pull moisture from grass faster than roots in frozen soil can replace it, causing winter desiccation (also known as winter drought). The result: tan, brittle turf that crumbles when touched.
This damage strikes hardest during winters with little snow cover, especially on exposed, elevated areas. If grass loses over 50% of its moisture or the crown dries out completely, it won’t recover.
To prevent dessication, lightly water the lawn in winter (during warm spells), and install windbreaks, such as fences or hedges, on the exposed sides of the property.
Thaw and Freeze
Late winter warmth can trick grass crowns into absorbing water — then a cold snap freezes them from the inside out. Look for it in low spots where water pools. The grass appears brown and water-soaked at first, then dries to a brittle tan.
This crown hydration is fatal: Damaged cells won’t recover, and the grass dies.
Prevent it by improving drainage: Aerate in the fall, fill low-lying areas, and avoid late-fall fertilizer that encourages tender new growth. If damage occurs, overseed bare patches in the spring.
De-Icers
Salt damage appears along driveways and walkways where you’ve been generous with the de-icer. Damaged grass is straw-colored, tan, or brown and appears thin, dry, and crisp. You may see a white residue on the blades and soil.
To repair salt damage, drench the area with gypsum and plenty of water. To prevent salt damage next year, use safer de-icers, such as CMA (calcium magnesium acetate), near your lawn.
See Related: Signs of Salt Damage on Your Lawn and Why They Happen
Why Dark Brown or Black Means Trouble
Healthy dormant grass turns tan or straw-colored, not dark brown or black. Those darker shades signal dead, decomposing tissue, often with pathogens involved. If the grass tissue is also slimy and wet, you’re looking at winterkill, says Ed Nangle, turfgrass specialist and associate professor at The Ohio State University.
Regional Color Variations in Dormancy
Is brown grass a normal look for your winter lawn? It depends on the grass you grow and where you live.
Northern States
Up north, freezing winters push cool-season grasses into full dormancy by late November. They’ll turn yellow or light brown when the soil freezes and stay that way until March.
After a brutal winter, though, don’t expect a quick bounce back. Yellow dormant turf can remain stunted well into spring, Nangle says, especially perennial ryegrass, which struggles when temperatures drop below 0 F. Kentucky bluegrass handles the cold better.
See Related: Guide to Growing Cool-Season Grasses
Transition Zone
The transition zone is complicated. Cool-season grasses typically go dormant in January and February, though milder coastal and southern areas may stay green. Warm-season grasses brown out by mid-fall everywhere and don’t recover until late spring.
Moving from Virginia to North Texas, Barrier has watched this play out across the region. “In Virginia, the cool-season grasses hardly change color in winter, with the occasional tinge of yellow,” he says. “Down here (North Texas), warm-season grasses turn completely brown almost overnight after a freeze.”
See Related: Guide to Growing Grass in the Transition Zone
Southern States
Further south, the rules change. Haddock uses Florida’s warm-season lawns to show how dormancy changes with latitude.
“In North Florida, winter temperatures can get cold enough for turfgrass to go fully dormant and turn brown,” she says. Central Florida grass slows down but doesn’t completely shut off — it takes on a yellowish or light-brown tint instead. In South Florida, warmer temperatures and longer daylight keep lawns green most of the year, though growth still slows.
See Related: Guide to Growing Warm-Season Grasses
FAQ
Purple grass in the fall could signal a phosphorus deficiency, but Nangle says that’s rare and only worth considering if a soil test confirms it.
More likely, he says, your lawn is reacting to bright sun on cold days. When temperatures dip below 50 F, cool-season grasses can’t use sunlight efficiently, so they produce anthocyanins — the same protective pigments that make berries red and purple. Drought and certain herbicides can trigger this response, too.
You could delay dormancy with fertilizers — but don’t. “Trying to keep grass deep green in cold weather can stress the lawn, weaken its growth, increase disease risk, and delay spring green-up,” Haddock warns.
Grass paint (a non-toxic pigment) offers a healthier alternative, providing green color for 2-3 months.
When to Call the Pros
Not sure if those brown patches are dormant grass or dead grass? A lawn treatment pro can diagnose the problem and treat it in time. Get a free quote from LawnStarter’s local pros and set your lawn up for a strong spring green-up.
Sources:
- Bennett Barrier, a homeowner and the CEO of DFW Turf Solutions, Dallas, Texas. Personal interview.
- Ed Nangle, turfgrass specialist and associate professor at Ohio State University/ATI, Wooster, Ohio. Personal interview.
- “Facts About Phosphorus on Lawns.” By turf science specialists Cale A. Bigelow, William T. Tudor, and Jared N. Nemitz. Purdue University.
- Susan Haddock, Extension agent IV at the University of Florida Extension in Hillsborough County, Seffner, Florida. Personal interview.
- “Why Does My Turfgrass Turn Brown?” by Susan Haddock, Extension educator. University of Florida.
- “What is Causing the Camouflage Patterned Spots on Lawns?” By Wayne Wells, Extension professor and turfgrass specialist. Mississippi State University.
Main Image: Dormant brown grass during winter. Image Credit: nd700 / Adobe Stock
