Big Yellow Areas in front lawn

JST – posted 29 June 2005 15:21

I have maintained my lawn beautifully in the NE for many many years. I think I may have overfertilized in certain sections of my front lawn because I have huge yellow grass patches. This is not a pretty picture. It went from green to aweful in a couple days. We had really hot hot days before it went south. This happened once before and I think I waited, watered and it came back. But this sight is disturbing. I fertilized about a month ago and I was planning on fertilizing with merit for grubs in about 2 weeks. Could this be something else instead of burnout? I’m beside myself. Pretty embarrasing too!

Any comments?

Alex_in_FL – posted 29 June 2005 17:59

It would be easier to make suggestions if we know where you live, what type grass you have and did you use fertilizer or weed and feed?

Alex

JST – posted 30 June 2005 05:39

quote:Originally posted by Alex_in_FL:It would be easier to make suggestions if we know where you live, what type grass you have and did you use fertilizer or weed and feed?

Alex

I live in Massachusetts, I don’t know what kind of grass I have. I used to but I forgot. Not to sound stupid but it’s soft, usually green and the kids can roll in it. Whatever everyone in Mass has.I used high quality weed and feed last time.Thanks for trying to help.

cohiba – posted 30 June 2005 15:07

JST,

I live in NJ and must have a different kind of grass because the dog rolls in it but not the kids.

Anyway…… if the fertilizer application was to blame the damage would have showed up alot sooner than a month later.

I’m stumped………………….

JST – posted 01 July 2005 19:43

Thanks for your reply.

My husband and I watered the yellow spots early evening tonight with two hoses for about 40 minutes. Completely saturated the big yellow spots. Don’t know what else to do. Hope this helps. Any other suggestions?

JST

cohiba – posted 02 July 2005 06:36

Jst,

Keep in mind your basic watering practices for the heat and humidity times of year. Only water from 11:00pm-8:00am.RE: limiting the amount of time the turf is wet will limit disease activity.

Only water if the turf actually needs it. Irrigating 1″ of water per week is plenty for the spring and fall actively growing turf but the summer months turf in the north slows down. It may not need that much water. Especially if humidity is high. It cannot get rid of the water it has, no sence giving it more than it can handle. The best thing to do is take an old knife and cut a 2-3″ triagular piece of turf 2″ deep and test it for moisture. If it is moist wait till it dries out more before watering. Also, smell the soil. If the soil smells like dirt you are OK. Any foul oders means that the turf is having problems exchanging gasses with the atmosphere. The main reason for this is too much water…Let it dry out. In extreme cases a poking with a soil or pitch fork will help speed the process.

Never mow turf that has dried out. When the turf is long and blueish in color it is going into drought stress. Mowing at this time causes the turf to go into dormancy and no amount of watering can bring it out. I have found that only Mother Nature can relieve that stress with lower temps and rain.

If turf has dried out and you must mow. water heavily first, wait till the turf has dried (a few hours)and mow at a higher hieght of cut. after mowing, irrigate heavily again. Keeping in mind that rule about how much water the turf will take. Longer turf hold more water in the leave tissue and will be able to function better at high temps and high humidity.

Disclaimer: the previous is only true for cool season grasses.

Good Luck, I hope it helps………….