bluegrass grows but not thick

BrandonC – posted 12 August 2004 15:17

When I first bought the house, the front yard was dried up and pretty much gone, with a huge maple tree in the middle and roots taking over the lawn like they owned the place. I built a retaining wall around the yard (being that it was at a slope anyway) and filled in a lot of soil to cover the roots and build the foundation up. I layed 250 rolls of sod about four months ago and followed all the recomendations. Well, my grass caught and grows fast (very fast), BUT it is not thick at all. The blades are not strong, they are just limp and I have to water like crazy to keep it green. I have fertilized 2 times since its been down. It seems that my soil is draining to quickly and once dry it gets very very hard. Would it be a good idea to cut it real short and rototill it all under and start over. Or is there something else I can do to create better soil.

tommy – posted 13 August 2004 13:23

Try seeding fine fescue into the area! This will give you better density- shade tolerance- and requires less water. Wait till the weather cools….scalp your exsisting turf- seed and topdress.

cohiba – posted 15 August 2004 11:58

I agree with tommy. Bluegrass and shade are like oil and water. Fine fescue is best for shady areas. Don’t rototill! If you just put the soil in a few months ago, it should not be compacted. Tilling will only bring up weed seeds. Soil test the area to see if you lacking anything crucial and to see about pH.

Hope all goes well………..

BrandonC – posted 16 August 2004 02:52

Thanks for the replies, but there is another problem. One piece of my grass gets sun almost all day and it is the worst looking, very very thin and mostly yellow. I was going to trim my tree enough to let the grass get more sun but if I do then im afraid that the whole yard will turn out like this piece.