Tree Roots and Chinch Bugs Keep Wrecking the Lawn
Numerous posts express frustration with lawn care challenges, including tree root intrusion, grass identification and health problems (chinch bugs, discoloration), uneven grading, and mowing difficulties. Users seek advice on solutions ranging from DIY methods to professional services.
SOURCES (60)
“So this is my small lawn. Located in Virginia. Unfortunately over the last year or so I had to sacrifice it for my senior dog who can no longer go on walks and is going to cross the rainbow bridge soon so I decided to…”
“I think you are right to be worried you haven't done enough, but I don't think rototilling is the solution. Somebody else posted a link to a Virginia Tech turf scientists take on this, and the recommedations are: 1. glyphosate 2. wait 3 weeks while irrigating to encourage regrowth 3. glyphosate 4. wait a week 5. reseed You've done step 1. I don't know what the seeding window schedule looks like where you are, but if you have the time I would start with step 2 now and then follow”
“I live in NW Pa and have tried several different kinds of grass here (just OTC stuff from Lowe's) and I can't get anything to really take hold. It's heavily shaded (see the canopy pic) pine trees to the south, garage to the east, Maple tree overhead/ to the west. Suggestions? submitted by /u/Freeboro78 [link] [comments]”
How many zones and sqft is that. 3,600/day is a ton of water. $$$$
“That root is probably not doing much if the stump was ground 2 years ago, KBG has shallow roots anyway so it won't be fighting for much down there The wood chips mixed in the soil are the bigger problem, they break down and steal nitrogen. Dig out what you can, toss the big roots, fill with clean topsoil and you'll be set before you seed”
“Hello, I've recently moved into this rental property and want to start doing some work to the garden. The first thing I wanted to tackle is a problem with grass growth in a stone pathway. The problem being we don't want the grass growing in this pathway. I'm looking for advice on how best to deal with this problem. The stone pathway is part of a vegetable patch so ideally nothing that could contaminate any future veggies/fruits. I hope the pictures attached will help. Underneath the”
“Killed off existing lawn, detached, aerated, added 20 yards of topsoil to level and regrade, seeded KBG, sprayed with Tenacity, added Peat Moss and now lots of prayers. Had a big storm last weekend that washed some seed out in spots so threw more down 4 days ago. submitted by /u/Lawstudent212 [link] [comments]”
“Located outside Boston. We’ve got a beautifully healthy hickory tree that butts up against our small property. We’re on .2acre so space is at a bit of a premium. Earlier this year I installed some sod (black beauty) in our small backyard space. But, between squirrels in the hickory tree and burn spots from our dog (a probiotic has helped with that), the space is in super rough shape. I spend a couple minutes every day leaf blowing nuts and pieces of nuts off the patio and picking them up by hand”
“So sod was laid down almost 4 years ago and every year it seems this strip between road and sidewalk continuously get worse. 1-2 small patches in main yard but really small I can pull by hand Tried to get trugreen for a year to over seed and aerate and treat the lawn. Seems like since they did last year and this year it has gotten worse. I asked them about it last time and dude was clueless and said well if it’s this we don’t do that or if that we only do this. Just made me realize I’m going to”
“I have two German Shepherds who have basically created their own running path through this part of my backyard. The area is heavily shaded, stays damp longer than the rest of the yard, and between that and the constant dog traffic, the grass is turning into a mud pit. I’m looking for a long-term solution, but I don’t want to just dump gravel everywhere or have it look like an obvious dog run. Ideally I’d like to incorporate it into some kind of intentional landscaping/shade garden so it actually”
“Minnesota. Picture: Left is premium local KBG seed, and right is Scotts KBG turf builder. The seed alone on the left was $350 for 50 lbs. I core aerated on 8/21 and overseeded the entire lawn with an Earthway spreader on 8/24 and put down some seed starter. Did not scarify the lawn. Was cut to 2.5 inches prior to putting down seed. Watering 5 times a day, every day, 5 minutes per zone per cycle. It's almost 3 weeks later and I have no results. Is my seed bad? It looks brown compared to the S”
“In Nova Scotia, I have bent grass patches in my primarily Kentucky bluegrass lawn. The patches are very noticeable due to the brighter color and different texture. Is there anything I can do to target the patches without killing my KBG? submitted by /u/There_5oh [link] [comments]”
“Not much. Cut out the roots or add a few inches of soil if they are close to the surface. Otherwise, extra water and fert to combat the tree taking them up.”
“I have patches of this stuff in my yard. When I pull it the roots are “wirery” kind of like creeping Charlie roots. What is it? I live in Iowa. submitted by /u/teage10 [link] [comments]”
“Long post, sorry! We are at a loss at what to do for our yard. Zone 6A, eastern Nebraska/western Iowa. Grass gets baked in the sun almost all day. No sprinkler system but we water every other day during dry spells. We bought our house a few years ago. Last summer, during July, we got massive dead patches. Hired a lawn company and they applied some fertilizer (milorganite), herbicide, and aerated+overseeded in Oct 2025. We did some spot-filling this spring. In May, our yard was a nice green, no s”
“You can even spray glyphosate on the truck and it won’t hurt the tree. Just keep it off the trees. I would nuke until spring”
“Under big shade trees you should just plan on reseeding every fall. Oak trees aren't nearly as bad as maple trees though.”
“I don't have a lot of options locally living in a small town. My yard is almost 5 acres and have renovated almost all of it over the last 10 years. I have 1/4 acre that got killed by recent flooding in Indiana. The best seed option I have right now is Crossfire TTTF from a local Co-Op, it is 4.00 per pound. My local Rural King has a couple options, and I know you get what you pay for. Curious of these two options at Rural King (if I go that route), if one of them is a lot better than another”
“7B NJ. Front lawn is doing really well with KBG overseed. Already seeing seedlings. Backyard however is drowning…or fungus. Im not sure Im seeing small spider web like stuff around the yard. Maybe pythium? Heritage G Fungicide was put down when the seeds went down. It seems like the grass is matted down and dying. Before I seeded, I dethached. Aerated. Mowed it really short. Seeded and topdressed. Should I wait? Or take actions? What is your opinion? submitted by /u/Common-Coyote9375”
“I live in NSW Australia. The grass has died off in the exact same way twice now. It happened a few months after I moved in and thought it was because my yard gets a lot of shade. This photo was taken in the middle of the day in the middle of winter. That bottom right corner doesn’t see sunlight for more than two months straight during winter. I wasn’t sure what type of the type of grass it was so I replaced the entire yard with Buffalo which has a high tolerance to shade. But within a year it lo”
“When that tree falls it’s going to do some damage to your lawn. I would take it out before spending money on your grass.”
“I'm in the Colorado front range (Zone 6a) and looking for guidance on my backyard lawn and a potential switch to TTTF. For context last November I went on a month-long trip and blew out the sprinklers, assuming we'd get freezing temps while I was gone. Instead, it stayed unusually hot and dry through early December (followed by the driest winter ever). The lawn got horribly stressed/scalped and has just never recovered. Looking back at pics from last year (2nd photo) is very depressing h”
“I expect that it used to be grass, but now isn't. There will be a reason for that which must be understood or any success you may have with seeding grass will only be temporary as it gradually reverts to it's natural state. Dig up some soil and see when you've got under the surface. You say it gets sun, but now the sun is high. Grass grows most in autumn and spring when the sun will be lower. Will it get enough light then? Dog pee is hard on lawns. Especially when the grass is still”
“My neighbors do as little yard work as possible, like only mow when the HOA tells them too. They have mostly weeds, some try encroaching into my yard, but I hand pull them (spurge mostly). I try to not use herbicide, so far the last 2 years, RGS, T-Nex, and various fertilizers depending on the time of year, holding that line pretty well! WEEEEEDS!!! submitted by /u/Salt-Juggernaut-5641 [link] [comments]”
“Are you fully aware of the level of skill, person hours, effort, and money this ‘theme’ costs? I don’t even think my neighbor who is a retired landscape architect would attempt it solo. This is the kind of thing a team from a company creates and maintains, it’s not a solo thing.”
“trust me on this one do not go with a maple it is brittle you will be picking up limbs all the time that and the roots go everywhere if you have a sidewalk and you plant it near it the roots will go under it and raise the sidewalk up.”
“I have KBG in my yard. I overseed typically but this year is the first year I’m not. KBG will fill itself in… I may add some rye to the bare spots just to fill in for the winter but I’m tired of the weeds that seem to appear out of nowhere in the yard from topsoil and seed. Orchard grass has been the worst for me. It’s a bit of a trial but my grass otherwise looks pretty great right now so I’ll be curious if I have the same weed issue next year.”
“as a 25 year lawn care veteran we run longer string on our trimmers and use less throttle. this allows the string to bend into corners/recesses such as between your pavers. We do modify our trimmer guards to allow for the longer string and remove the cutter.”
“Roots are coming to the surface for water. Or that has been my experience. Water tree more drip system maybe.”
“I just noticed today that the roots of the tree in my front yard have popped up. It’s about 2-3’ away from the concrete walkway, one of the roots is about to do some damage to the water meter pit. It has pushed the soil up enough to make an ankle busting elevation change to the right side of the pit. Can I cut them out to keep them from further advancing ? Would that kill the tree? submitted by /u/Sudden_Ad_4193 [link] [comments]”
“Newish homeowner here, very little experience dealing with lawn care, looking for advice. I have a dog, 5-year-old child, and a spouse who is worried about their health and safety but can be persuaded to use weed killers as long as they’re safe within 24 hours. My home is in the DC/MD/VA area and can be divided into four quadrants: NE facing backyard, NE facing backyard, SE facing front yard, SW facing front yard. The front yard (not pictured here) generally looks great, no complaints there. The”
“I’m hoping you folks could give me some advice on my backyard.. I want to green up the grass and obviously get grass growing in some spots. I’m located in Massachusetts my backyard gets some sun I’m still trying to figure out how much exactly I want to say between 4-6 hours. The dirt is very compacted and there is a ton of weeds as I have not been keeping up with it really whatsoever but I definitely need to start. I plan on mowing today when I get home but I could definitely use some advice for”
“No, the grass is dry. And I mow a different direction every mow. Although I’ve always mowed it with my zero turn in the past. This is the first time mowing with my push mower.”
“I’m in Wisconsin, and my yard is very bumpy and uneven due to the builder (15+ years ago) not using enough topsoil over the rocky base. Seriously, I can hit rock in some places <1 inch deep. Because of this, whenever I mow, I bounce around like crazy and end up missing a lot of grass, no matter how slow I crawl along. For years I have accepted this and just mowed my yard twice, once in each direction. I have a relatively smaller yard so it isn’t a huge deal, but I’ve finally had enough. Any h”
“I always start with a calculation: LxW (area sqft) x 0.25 (desired mulch depth - 3” - converted to feet) x 0.037 = total yards. However, sometimes the terrain or other site abnormalities indicate an eyeball addition or subtraction from this amount. If you’re only calculating mulch for one space year after year it get easier estimating how much you need if you keep notes on how much you got previously and relate that to how much was or wasn’t leftover. I always overestimate by a yard or so for jo”
“Not Boston Ivy. The petiole on your pic is too long. Look at OP’s pics. Petiole is short, almost non existent. Plus, if you look at the young, red leaves (also a characteristic of poison oak), you can also see the oils shine in the light. ID is poison oak.”
“Hello, I am looking to replicate/spread my favorite part of my lawn and favorite grass variant to these less fortunate areas of the lawn. Best way to do so? Plugs? Thank you. submitted by /u/Comprehensive-Baby14 [link] [comments]”
“HOA is upset about these bare spots but I have no idea where to even start. Have two large Southern Live Oaks with thick, long roots in the front yard that I’m afraid are sucking up a lot of moisture. The leaves from the trees also seem to be part of the problem but no idea how to get rid of the majority. Any advice is helpful. Soil is a lot of clay. Grass is St. Augustine. submitted by /u/AdRepulsive397 [link] [comments]”
“I had KBG sod laid a few months back and so far it's taken quite well except for these spots under my birch tree. Watering has been consistent at an inch a week and cannot figure it out. Any ideas? Thanks. submitted by /u/UTC76 [link] [comments]”
“Apologies, I'm not sure if this should be in gardening or lawn care. My yard is mostly wooded. However before we moved in they had to replace the sewer line so they dug up this long path in between the trees that goes from the house to the street. Now it's just overgrown with weeds and crabgrass and looks horrible. My neighbor suggested maybe a wildflower field? But after doing some research would I have to somehow take all of the weeds and everything out to get fresh dirt and start from”
“I need to do this too. My thoughts are to use a shovel to lift the edge of the sod up and use a tool like a camping wood saw to carve out soil underneath.”
“Minnesota - areas of my yard look like this. Do I need to aerate the grass and put new seed down? Or something else? submitted by /u/kickphil [link] [comments]”
“There are a bunch of bare spots in my lawn that I want to seed, but not sure what seeds to purchase. It looks like a few different types. submitted by /u/tmkang [link] [comments]”
“Anything is possible with time money and effort. What’s your reason for wanting to establish turf grass? It’s a mostly green yard now. Looks like lots of clover but that’s not necessarily bad. Do you have dogs? They will make it pretty tough to establish and maintain a solid turf grass back there. I’m in cool season climate but I’m doing my best to keep up with the damage the dogs cause, but my neighbors yards are the biggest culprits right now. I put a river rock perimeter around the whole back”
“When you say “many years”, is it possible that before that there was a fire pit that was mostly removes, but part of the base is still under there? When we redid our pool deck about 5 years ago, we took out the section that our slide sat on, but they only removed down to the steel rebar that the slab was poured over. I know it’s past time to water my lawn when the dead grass rectangle starts appearing. Can you drive one of those lawn market stakes down a foot or more, or do you hit something sol”
“Looks like a maple. Maples have shallow root systems that can suck moisture around the base especially during hot summers like we’ve had. Our neighbor has a maple and lawn looks great each spring until the tree comes online and there’s a distinct ring around the base where it’s taking water away from lawn.”
“as the title - Was confused why the lawn was never growing on this line. tried to screw driver test to see if it was rodents and found it was the root from the tree. what are my options here to get grass in this area? Dug up little to see if it was feasible cut and remove the root. it’s hard and bigger than I thought. not sure how it will affect the tree if cut out. Any guidance is appreciated. thanks for your time. submitted by /u/Medium_Strawberry_28 [link] [comments]”
“Bamboo is a type of grass. This may not be a fix, but cut to the ground and mow often. If I’m wrong, let me know. On a different note, you can find out who owns the lot next door through your county tax office. We can find out online in Ohio just by using the GIS map. You may be able to track down the actual owner and make a deal on removing it. Just a thought.”
“Anyone know what could be causing my grass to die around the swing set? submitted by /u/ImprovementLate4867 [link] [comments]”
“Why does it have to be fast? Are you moving out? If so, sod will be the quickest (most expensive option) solution. Otherwise, let the weeds grow through.”
“I have KBG in my side yard, which is almost fully shaded by my house and surrounding trees. Roots from nearby trees are at the surface throughout this area as well. How do I get grass to grow here? Do I need to lay more dirt? Get a shade seed mix? submitted by /u/throwaway7827821 [link] [comments]”
“Are your neighbors lawns also flooded? If not you need to dig a French drain and direct the water towards the sewer system.”
“TL;DR - How can I stop cottonwood from next door invading my yard? I live directly nextdoor to an empty lot. The property owner has a few few different rental homes in the neighborhood. His adult son lives in one of these homes with his own family, on the backside of the empty lot, and generally takes care of it. Last year they had a crew come in and clear out the lot including cutting down a cottonwood tree. This tree was right on our property line and we had that awful white fluff in our backy”