Lawncare Enthusiasts Seek Grass Health Advice
23 posts in the last 30 days, all from r/lawncare.
“This is a different grass type, likely poa trivialis. It spreads by stolons and it will overtake other grass types with time. You can already see small light green patches around the bigger patch. The biggest issue is that it doesn’t respond well to summer heat and when it has…”
“I'm trying to figure out what are the next steps to identify what the issue is with my grass. Lawn was a disaster a couple of years ago, and I put in a few hundred grass plugs and the lawn was looking acceptable. I followed the Randy Lemon schedule for Houston grass and I have…”
“I'm located in SW Wisconsin. I did a reno of elite KBG a decade ago, the seed was from the Super Seed Store. For the most part, the lawn looks fairly good. I have a problem in the front where the grass is thinner. Rest of my lawn is thick and doing well. I pulled soil from 1" to…”
Multiple users are seeking advice on lawn care issues, including dealing with dead spots, weed control, grass selection (St. Augustine vs Bermuda), and overall lawn improvement strategies. They're looking for recommendations on products, techniques, and timing.
SOURCES (60)
“Middle TN I have a couple of spots where the grass I seeded has thinner blades and now some dead and browning spots. Could this be grubs or fungus? This area does get some over-lapping watering. submitted by /u/huntarwoods [link] [comments]”
“T-Zone works well. Highly recommend! [re: What are these things growing with my new grass]”
“Central Texas 70 miles west of Houston. St Augustine grass. Any help identifying these brown spots would be appreciated. I see plenty of armadillo holes around the yard but not in or around the brown areas. submitted by /u/rarmstrong0125 [link] [comments]”
“Look for grubs. I would rake up all of the dead grass, sprinkle a little top soil on the bare areas, spread some grub control and insecticide granular, fertilizer and seed. [re: Failed Sod (Kansas City area)]”
All new grass(TTTF) zone 7a submitted by /u/rxtek900 [link] [comments]
“I’d also add to the spring list a fungicide to avoid any problems with the wet spring and grub prevention. [re: Before and after 6 wks new lawn KBG Ontario, Canada]”
“Hi everyone, based in Scotland. I over seeded my lawn over a month ago and again 2 weeks ago in patches that remained bare. Initially, I raked, removed dead grass, disturbed the soil, aerated and added a layer of compost over the seeds. On the second overseed, I disturbed the soil less and added a layer of compost and top soil mix to quilt the seeds. First pic is my second overseed (prior to quilting the seeds), second is the same patch today and the third is also from today but another patch th”
“you probably need to strip out the top inch of soil where it's super concentrated, then freshen it up with some fresh topsoil before seeding again”
“dog pee is basically a nitrogen bomb and after two years that soil is probably fried, you might need to dig out a few inches of the dead zone and replace it with fresh topsoil before seeding again”
“Hi everyone, our yard in Bellingham, WA, was pretty good. We rescued a dog two years ago but wherever he has peed in the back yard grass won't grow in now. For the last two years we dethatched the dead spots, aerated, seeded, covered with a layer of dirt, and watered, but no grass comes up. Is the anything we can do to make grass grow again? I want to have a good grassy yard for our dog to roll around in, thank you! submitted by /u/Embarrassed-Cake853 [link] [comments]”
“Clumping can suffocate areas of your lawn and you end up with dead spots. Mulch does not add to thatch actually. That’s it the woody salons and rhizomes of grass. You actually do want a healthy layer of thatch. Usually no more than 1/2inch. Your grass clippings actually do not really add to thatch”
“This is a different grass type, likely poa trivialis. It spreads by stolons and it will overtake other grass types with time. You can already see small light green patches around the bigger patch. The biggest issue is that it doesn’t respond well to summer heat and when it has proper conditions it grows so thick it suffocates itself. Edit: if I’m correct in my identification (I’m not a professional lawn care specialist) then you definitely don’t want your entire lawn to be poa triv due to aforem”
“Hi all, I reseeded September 7th. Fine fescue from Twin City. It initially grew in great, thick and tall, but as of late it’s been dying out in patches. I am not sure what is happening. I’m in southern Ohio. Has anyone experienced this? First photo is late September. All other photos are today, where the grass has died out over the past couple weeks. I water once, maybe twice a day. Deep morning water and sometimes early afternoon if it’s sunny. I’ve mowed twice since September 7th on a very hig”
“This spot has progressively gotten worse over the last couple weeks. I just noticed the hole looking parts yesterday. Is this insect damage? Don’t need my lawn to be spectacular by any means but I’d like to have somewhat healthy grass. I’m located in central Massachusetts submitted by /u/Prismatic_Pickle [link] [comments]”
“Hey, sorry missed your response here. Here is a Gemini explanation of Mycorrhizal. I buy from local nursery. Can also find in Home Depot or Lowes. Mycorrhizal fungi are beneficial soil organisms that form a symbiotic, mutually supportive partnership with grass roots. Gemini: Once applied to a lawn, these microscopic fungal threads (hyphae) physically attach to and colonize the root system, essentially functioning as a secondary, highly expanded root network that can reach up to a hundred times f”
“Could be grubs, could be fungus, could be other thing. Having good drainage rarely causes problems - it’s poor drainage that causes lots of headaches. If you grab a section of yellowed grass with two hands, does it pull right up and roots separate easily from soil? If yes, that’s likely grubs. If no, it could be fungus or some other ailment.”
“I think my spreader spilled fertilizer in these spots.... temps are 70s in Kansas City metro and i have seeded and my sprinklers are running daily plus the rainy days Should I add more seed or ride it out? submitted by /u/yukonhoneybadger [link] [comments]”
“I'm trying to figure out what are the next steps to identify what the issue is with my grass. Lawn was a disaster a couple of years ago, and I put in a few hundred grass plugs and the lawn was looking acceptable. I followed the Randy Lemon schedule for Houston grass and I have seen a huge improvement. But lately, the grass has been looking sad. I run sprinklers every three days for a half hour, not sure if its overwatering / underwatering. Houston has seen little rain over the last couple of”
“No grubs found in multiple holes but still wondering. Will renovating with a high quality lawn dressing and overseed help? submitted by /u/Various_w0nder [link] [comments]”
“The coating isn't the inert matter, its got fert and other stuff in it. Sticks and rocks are what it refers to . The coating is probably half the weight of the bag.”
“I live in ann arbor, michigan. I have a decent sized lawn (maybe 0.2 acres of grass?). There are some localized patches that are sparse/bare that I'd like to seed. The 5.6 lbs Scotts grass seed is on sale for $21 on amazon. My neighbor has been using greenview product and mentioned he's had success so far. I'm trying to do my own research before figuring out what to purchase. Does anyone here have any recommendations? Also, given it is late september, did I miss the window for seedin”
“KBG lawn with in ground irrigation. Have been good on fertilizer and making sure it didn’t go dormant this year. At the beginning of the year had animals digging in the front yard and treated for grubs then but now I see there’s brown patches and the grass pulls out super easy. I don’t see any animal dig marks so is this grubs or something else like rust? US 6B submitted by /u/JooDood2580 [link] [comments]”
“You might actually have grubs. You could try the pull test. Look for tiny burrow holes, which is from the grubs. It's really easy to avoid this. You just need to apply Chlorantraniliprole once a year at the right time in the spring (like early May).”
“Amateur here, zone 7b. I tilled up a section of my lawn recently. Last week (9/12) threw down some Scott's Sun & Shade seed, and Scott's Triple Action Fertilizer for new lawns. I'm seeing some germination now, which is great. I want to apply a winter fertilizer this year, but I'm worried the lawn is still too new. Will it be safe to do so without hurting anything? Beyond that, will it be safe to apply spring fertilizer and/or a pre emergent this spring? submitted by ”
Any ideas!? submitted by /u/Key-Charge0527 [link] [comments]
“I'm located in SW Wisconsin. I did a reno of elite KBG a decade ago, the seed was from the Super Seed Store. For the most part, the lawn looks fairly good. I have a problem in the front where the grass is thinner. Rest of my lawn is thick and doing well. I pulled soil from 1" to 4" deep from the trouble area and sent it to Logan Labs. Can anyone give me a hint or two of what I can do to improve the soil? I am a bit overwhelmed. TIA submitted by /u/Prestigious-Bell4299 [”
“A few options... one is to use Tenacity, which takes several weeks (month+) and at least 2 applications to kill the bent grass. A faster way is to nuke JUST the bent grass spots with glyphosate. You apply once, and 2 weeks later it's completely dead. Either way, once you kill the bent grass you need to remove all the dead grass material above the soil (I use a weed whacker to grind everything down to the dirt). Then, scarify the surface with a rake or a hand tiller, then seed and apply a thi”
“Definitely possible but that’s not KBG, KBG comes in very slow and short. I seeded a bare area in my yard on Labor Day and I saw tiny grass coming up within 6 days, a lot more noticeable now but it’s still very short.”
“It's time to lay down dithiopyr for Poa and crabgrass, but my dogs continue to kill the grass in spots. What's the best technique for doing both? My thought is to put down the dithiopyr, give it a few days, then dig up the dog spots about 2 to 3 in deep, replace with clean topsoil, seed, then cover with peat moss. submitted by /u/Kuponokai [link] [comments]”
“For my area and the cool season grasses I need, the cultivars that twin city has are newer and performed better in the NTEP trials, so I switched to them for my overseeding. I used GCI in the past and it’s done well. Both are good, but I think twin city has the edge”
“Update to this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/1w5nmhp/provista_kbg_seeding_update_2/ Location: Lancaster County, PA, USA I didn't get any feedback on my last post, so here's what happened. Sept. 1: till, level, spread seed, rake Overnight: light rain, looks good! Sept 2: noon, at work, no time to put straw down, huge rain storm, washout, sadness, :(((( Sept 2: evening, overseed some, then added straw until past dark. I wish I could have gotten this done before the storm”
“I need help figuring out how to get my lawn to green up, I’ve been watering consistently for 2 weeks now and parts are starting to get green but only patches. Should I add fertilizer or just keep waiting? I’m in north Texas and we are still 95+ degrees. submitted by /u/No-Figure-4301 [link] [comments]”
“My newly laid grass is dying So I laid some new turf a couple months back and its starting to die in some spots, its got a good foundation of sandy loam under it and fertiliser but doesn't seem to be taking very well. There is a large pine tree above the yard if that might have ruined the soil before I layed it. It hasn't dropped any pines yet so I don't think that would be it? Any ideas? Or how to help it take? Also I'm in adelaide Australia for context and the lawns kikuyu  ”
“Denver Area. TLDR. What kind of grass is this? Should I use some other herbicide besides/addition to glyphosate? Should I wait a full season to confirm dead before seeding KBG? I am trying to convert back yard to KBG (i have access to ditch water). Most of space was various weeds but 1/4 of yard was this type of grass shown. Last Fall i sprayed glyphosate over whole yard. I think I sprayed too late as this grass was already starting to go dormant. I used weedeater to take everything to dirt and”
“The earlier/warmer you seed the faster you get germination. I’m in the belief that anyone seeding kbg should do it early even if it’s hot and water through it”
“looks like maybe a dog pee spot with that dark center then the ring of dead grass around it. if theres a tree root nearby digging could damage it so maybe try just raking out the dead stuff and reseeding the patch first for california summer grass dying even with water thats rough, might be the grass type going dormant in heat”
“Hello all. I’m needing some help with my yard. I have several different types of grass in my yard. One I know of is kbg. I’d like to continue with that but i’m not sure if it’s the best for me to use. I want to move my yard to a very low style cut. Definitely at 1 inch or under. Some info - my front yard has a big tree in the middle of it. It gets sun, but it’s shaded most of the day. I live in Ohio and do have the means to be able to water it everyday as needed. I’d like to buy my stuff from Tw”
“My lawn (SE Michigan) is about half healthy grass (with a few bare spots) and half patchy and moss covered. I’m planning to rent a slit seeder this weekend to renovate the patchy areas with new seed. My question is, should I also use the slit seeder over the healthy grass (pics attached) to overseed these areas and help fill in bare spots, or would that cause more harm than good? I’ve seen pictures of people who’ve absolutely pulverized their lawns using a slit seeder, and I don’t want to make a”
“Patchy dead spots appearing. Otherwise healthy, we had a bit of drought but watered enough to keep ok. Had some topsoil brought in over the summer to help insulate the trim but spot have been spreading from the front (full sun) to the back (1/2 day sun). I have a pretty standard 7 time fertilization and treatment schedule from a professional company. Located in Michigan. Last photo is the healthy turf… submitted by /u/theworstever96 [link] [comments]”
“I would say soil health is the number one factor. Feed and condition the soil and the micro organisms along with mycelium look after the grass blade infantilely better than we can.”
“I have been trying for 3 years now and have had a reoccurring issue with my lawn. I am in central Saskatchewan Canada, and every year these patches of dead grass pop up. I usually fertilize 3 times a year, water appropriately and mow once every week. We have had more of wet year this year so I haven’t watered as much, but last year was a bit drier and this same issue appeared. I am running out of ideas on how to fix this. submitted by /u/SheepfarmerX [link] [comments]”
“I had my lawn entirely redone last year. It has been struggling hugely. I had my new landscaper dethatch and aerate the lawn today. The amount of thatch and dead patches was incredible. My lawn looks like this now. He suggested the old landscaper used TOO much seed. The denisty of that mat after 1 year was super aggressive. Im top dressing and overseeding this weekend. Based on the photos, what rate do you think is appropriate if using Barenbrug RTF. My research says 8 lbs for 1,000 sq ft for a”
“Has anyone had any success combatting large-scale quack grass infestations by choking it out amongst a healthy surrounding of KBG or other type of turf? I have large areas of my lawn where quack grass is popping up but I don't think it's currently bad/dense enough to justify a full glyphosate treatment and starting over. I would like to think with a thorough plug aeration and KBG reseeding this fall--along with some manual removal of the QG and it's rhizomes here and there--I might b”
“How do I fix these yellow spots? Is this from dog pee or something else? Fungus? Dogs pee everywhere in the backyard but these spots towards the right seem to pop up everywhere. Have 2 male dogs. First time maintaining a small yard. I am in Central California. submitted by /u/Frosty_Attitude1747 [link] [comments]”
“Hi. Hoping for some insight here. My grass is kind of stringy in places that are more damp, less sun, and when I rake or pull up, its just like the roots are not at all grabbing on. Comes up almost like carpet. I've had grub issues, but it doesn't pull up like that. And I dig and see no grubs. Maybe it was the type of grass? Soil not good in these areas? What could I do? What would you do here? I am definitely putting down new grass seed, and a quality seed. Just hope it grows and takes”
“Location: PA, USA Update to this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/comments/1vzwspz/provista_kbg_seeding_update_1/ Need advise on whether to put down more grass seed before strawing. I got a hard rain. I had more rain delays. I left the topsoil as-is/compacted a bit. They spread 50/50 topsoil/mushroom compost via shaking the bucket, so there was not backdragging to compact/level this stuff. We tried back dragging with the teeth of a skeleton bucket to loosen and flatten as we could. I thin”
“When I nuked my entire lawn and cut the dead grass and weeds as short as my mower would go. About an inch. I seeded and put peatmoss on top. It grew in just fine for me. Your milage may vary but in my own case it didn't hurt anything.”
“Any generic starter fert will be good. Anything with a ratio of teens- 20s- single digit would work. Of you find something with soil conditioner or humic acid/ sea kelp that is just bonus points.”
“zone 8a - some brown spots on a new-ish bermuda lawn. New construction, 2 years ago. submitted by /u/LopsidedContact5735 [link] [comments]”
“Also don’t buy seed from a hardware or big box store. Research tall fescue cultivars on the NTEP and buy seed that performs better from an online supplier like Twin City or Hogan.”
“I have a 25x10 dead spot that I seeded last weekend. Been watering 2-3 times a day starting to see small germination. However this week is showing to be low to mid 90s for the next 10 days. Am I screwed? Plan is to water and keep moist submitted by /u/Gneissbrian [link] [comments]”