Grass help

[Exterous]

So long story short - new house with an established yard. Completely lacking in fertilizer so I have been doing regular seasonal applications of lesco and milorganite fertilizers. Same soil and weather as my old house and its roughly the same schedule as my old yard. I do think they way over watered (every day or so I'm thinking judging by their old water bill) so I am reasonably certain the roots are much closer to the surface than they should be.

Anyway - the lawn went from a uniform deep green to deep green with some large dead spots. I couldn't figure out what killed the grass. This fall I slit seeded with 50/50 fescue and bluegrass to fill in the dead areas. Everything was going well and the new seed took well.

Until now - I'm getting another dead area. This was deep green and actually was growing the fastest due to better sun\shade due to the house (No new seed):


Also some of the newly seeded areas are yellowing. We had two night s of frost so I'm not sure if they are going dormant sooner because its new but I'm concerned they might be dying as well.


Any suggestions or thoughts on what might be causing this?

 

[NoCreativity]

Might want to pull back some of that dead grass to see if there are any grubs or insects in the soil.

 

[highland145]

Also soil sample, soil sample, soil sample....

Check with your local extension office about watering. My centipede is twice/week during the S.C. summer to try and promote root growth.

Also check on the time to aerate.

 

[John Connor]

I'll just add to not over water to encourage roots to grow deeper. Set the sprinklers just before dawn and never water during the day. This will make sure you don't burn the grass, the sun doesn't evaporate the water and you don't get mold in the grass.

There is a grass seed of which the name escapes me that grows short but has long roots. I seen Bob Villa advertise it.

Definitely do some soil samples and/or pull back the bad spots. I have this issue in the front yard, but I think it was from fireworks.

 

[Exterous]

Might want to pull back some of that dead grass to see if there are any grubs or insects in the soil.

Also soil sample, soil sample, soil sample....

I did soil sample and the soil was basically just dirt (no nutrients) and a little acidic. What am I looking for in terms of other insects? I see beetles and worms but aside from grubs don't know what 'shouldn't' be there

As for water its 2x a week in the early morning. I got a new 'Smart Sprinkler controller' so I don't have to remember to turn it off when we get rain

 

[highland145]

The sample should have told you how much fertilizer/lime to put down.

Also compaction....


Where's our landscaper? Charlie and another member...

Is it getting cold up there yet?

 

[NoCreativity]

Honestly I'm not sure what to look for in regards to insects. I got to a similar point with my grass and said screw it and had my neighbors company start to do the fertilizing. Grass looks much better now after one season. They said I had problems with insects and put down the grub/insecticide stuff.

 

[mindless1]

Insect issues don't seem likely. Why would they throw a party in particular little areas and leave the rest of the lawn alone? I'd sooner expect something like slowing or stopping a fertilizer spreader there during application, so excessive fertilizer killed that patch.

Check moisture levels in dead areas and compare to healthy areas. I suspect you're just not watering enough. A smart sprinkler controller is a poor solution for optimal watering because it's basically just a guess that cannot be considering all the variables, particularly in a case like this where some areas of the yard may be drier than others.

I notice on my lawn that with rain usually coming from the west, the lawn just to the east of the house and large trees gets less rain as they block it.

 

[boomerang]

Why not call the experts? I have my lawn fertilized and have weed control applied by a local company that charges me less per application than I can buy the materials for. They have been telling me for years that I have fungal problems which they have special treatments for but living in the country, I just want the lawn to look good from the road. They're not wrong, I just don't want to spend the extra. From the road, the lawn looks green and it's weed-free. That's all I want.

And IMO, that's what you've got going on. A fungus of one form or another. Every year, I get what they call red-thread. Small areas of the lawn turn a bit pink and close inspection reveals that there are red blades of grass mixed in with the healthy green ones. I also get bare spots that look just like yours every year. They also want to do an aeration every spring or fall which I know I really need but once again, I just don't want to spend the extra dough. If I lived in a subdivision I would more than likely try to keep up with the Joneses. But I live on acreage in a semi-rural setting.

You need to know if you have a fungal problem and or if an aeration will take care of it. Call the pros, keep guessing or hope for somebody here with enough knowledge to know, not guess. I'd call the professionals.

 

[mindless1]

^ I find it hard to believe your lawn company charges less than DIY. Feed & Weed products can be had for around $3 per 1000 sq ft. coverage, even less on sale or if you just buy generic 15-15-15, nitrogen, and weed killer separately and mix them yourself.

 

[Exterous]

Insect issues don't seem likely. Why would they throw a party in particular little areas and leave the rest of the lawn alone?

That was my thought too but I don't know much about insect habits so...*shrug*

I'd sooner expect something like slowing or stopping a fertilizer spreader there during application, so excessive fertilizer killed that patch.

Its in the middle of a long lengthwise pass so it would be unusual to have too much fertilizer there. Plus in 8 years of fertilizing I haven't had that happen once so 4 different spots that look like that in one year seems like an oddity.

Check moisture levels in dead areas and compare to healthy areas. I suspect you're just not watering enough. A smart sprinkler controller is a poor solution for optimal watering because it's basically just a guess that cannot be considering all the variables, particularly in a case like this where some areas of the yard may be drier than others.

The 4 areas that died have pretty different conditions. One was a depression in the front yard so it would have gotten a lot of water and no shade. Another area was well sloped so it drained well with no shade. One area out back was pretty flat and no shade. The one in the picture was pretty flat and lots of shade. I don't think too little watering would be the issue as its been raining enough that there are the occasional mushrooms growing in the yard without the sprinklers running.

This last dead spot on the flat ground happened after the depression filled in with new grass from my slit seeding in September. My thought is that if it was too much water the new grass in the depression would have died before the grass in the flat area.

But I'm just making assumptions on little experience

 

[boomerang]

^ I find it hard to believe your lawn company charges less than DIY. Feed & Weed products can be had for around $3 per 1000 sq ft. coverage, even less on sale or if you just buy generic 15-15-15, nitrogen, and weed killer separately and mix them yourself.

I have two and half acres but mow an acre. There is 43,560 sq. ft. in an acre. I pay $52.50 an application.

Edit: I have to make a correction. My memory failed me last night. It's $57.60 per application.