Snow Mold on Lawns: Pink & Gray Snow Mold Guide

title: "Snow Mold on Lawns: Pink and Gray Snow Mold Identification and Treatment"

Every spring on Long Island, a familiar pattern plays out as snow retreats: circular, matted patches of gray or pink-stained grass where the turf looks dead. The temptation is to assume winter killed the grass and start overseeding immediately. That reaction is usually premature.

What most people are seeing is snow mold — two separate fungal diseases that develop under snow cover and become visible when the snow melts. Knowing which type you have determines how you respond, and in most cases the recovery advice is the same: be patient, rake, wait.

Two diseases with similar names

Snow mold is not one disease. Two distinct fungi cause snow mold on cool-season turfgrass:

Per University of Minnesota Extension, gray snow mold is more common and less damaging. Pink snow mold is more aggressive and may require overseeding of severely affected areas.

Per Rutgers NJAES, pink snow mold can develop without snow cover, simply from prolonged cold, wet conditions above freezing. In the Northeast, it can be active in November and December even without significant snow.