brown under growth
dav015 – posted 21 May 2007 08:51
I am having trouble with my front lawn. I seem to be getting brown undergrowth in the front yard. This browning occurred after a 2 week dry period. I did water once in that period, but not for very long. The same thing happened to me last year. The grass in the back yard is looking green from top to bottom. The temperatures were mild during the dry period. I live just south of Pittsburgh.
I use a Scotts 4 step program and laid down step 2 (weed and feed) about 2 weeks ago. I mow at about 3 to 31/2 inches. Prior to this browning I was lush and green from top to bottom. I understand that I have a lot of course grass varieties ( my dad calls quack grass). I had a soil analysis done last year with the following results.pH 6.3Phosphorus 42Potassium 232.
I have not addressed the pH with lime yet.
Any suggestions? Am I cutting to high. It almost seems that grass is to heavy and not sitting up which may causing the brown undergrowth. I do bag my clippings with an occasional mulching but my thatch does not seem too thick and the brown is coming from rooted stems not just thatch.
Also any suggestions on getting rid of the coarse grass
Pictures are posted here. http://photos.yahoo.com/dvaughan15
cohiba – posted 21 May 2007 12:58
pH is perfect, do not adjust with anything. What was the calcium and magnesium numbers?
Mow at about 2-2.5 inches. I suspect the turf is too shaded because of the longer length. I would mow shorter, and by all means use a sharp blade. A lot of those clippings look like you are shredding them instead of clipping them.
Only water about 1″ per week.
Try that first…………..
dav015 – posted 21 May 2007 13:32
Thanks for the reply, I’ll post the other numbers from the soil test today and bring the cut height down.
Is there anything specific to be concerned about with the yellow banding seen in the picture of the coarser grass blades?
dav015 – posted 22 May 2007 06:11
quote:Originally posted by cohiba:pH is perfect, do not adjust with anything. What was the calcium and magnesium numbers?
Mow at about 2-2.5 inches. I suspect the turf is too shaded because of the longer length. I would mow shorter, and by all means use a sharp blade. A lot of those clippings look like you are shredding them instead of clipping them.
Only water about 1″ per week.
Try that first…………..
here are the mg and ca numbers:mg – 3.58 (meq/100g)Ca 18.36 meq/100g
Mg 16.3 % saturationCa 68.3 % saturation
cohiba – posted 22 May 2007 13:43
Ca and Mg look great as well. Is there a lot of organic matter? The soil really looks like nice stuff on paper.
The banding is probably damage from dull mower blades. Did you see how it’s in a straight line? Mother nature make s circles, ie: disease spots, fairy rings, even plants are in circles. Humans make straight lines. ie. fertilizer stripes,ect.
Lowering the HOC will encourage vertical growth and help fill in those thin spots.
I almost forgot Do Not over water. Floratan /Seville all strains of St. Augustine are suseptible to fungus from over…
I am from the north and it has taken me five yrs to learn and undertand seville lawns. No 1…
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