Grass won’t turn Green!

addicted2sp33d – posted 20 July 2005 23:09

New Homeowner here in San Diego, and my front lawn was created by the homebuilder. The lawn was green when I moved-in (May), but it immediately started to turn yellow. I have since adjusted the watering schedule so that it doesn’t turn MORE brown/yellow, but it has stabilized at a very strange stage.

My watering schedule is at 8 minutes at 6:00AM and 8 minutes at 7:00PM every day. I just instituted this about 2 weeks ago, and the lawn has stopped turning yellow and has stabilized (I think).

The grass is mostly green, but it contains a pretty even mixture of yellow (maybe dead?) grass.

The soil here is very poor. Very rocky and is very close in consistency to clay or powder-state concrete. With my sprinkler heads, water is absorbed very fast, and water begins to collect at the surface after about 5 minutes.

I have been polling my neighbors to see what kinds of watering schedules they use. They mostly water using the “default” program in our sprinkler controllers, which is 20 minutes once a day… however their schedules produce A LOT of runoff, and their lawns are all starting to turn yellow too, though at a slower rate, and sometimes with spotting.

I think mine just turned yellow-faster because I was the last one to move in, and they have all fertilized their lawns prior to my moving-in.

Any advice would be appreciated. Really. Any help. I have no idea what I’m doing with this, so I’m just learning what I’m reading. I will not get offended, no matter how basic.

Thanks!Peter

[This message has been edited by addicted2sp33d (edited 20 July 2005).]

[This message has been edited by addicted2sp33d (edited 20 July 2005).]

tommy – posted 22 July 2005 23:49

Turf usually does better if its not watered every day! Every other day will usually work well. Also, Set your controller for 3 start times- 4:00-5:00- and 6:00 am……with 5 minutes of run time,(which would be 15 minutes total). This will help you get deep penetration without run off. You might also try ‘gro power’ fertilizer. Its excellent on poor soils with low organic levels. You can usually find gro power at a full service nursery (like walter andersons) or at Dixieline lumber.

addicted2sp33d – posted 23 July 2005 11:37

Thanks for your reply. I did exactly this after my last post. I found out the species of the grass, Tall Fescue, originally laid down as Marathon III Sod. I adjusted my program to run every other day for 5 minutes, starting at 6:00AM, then 6:30, then 7:00.

It’s been really hot lately, hot to the point where the soil is really dry to the touch, and the grass feels very brittle. Should I add a short cycle just to keep the soil a little moist on these off days?

Thanks,Peter

tommy – posted 23 July 2005 22:07

Yep, i live in the San Diego area also, and it has been hotter than normal……but even with these Temps…..you can usually get by with every other day. However, if you have a real short root system,(which you probably do), it may take a while before the turf grows the roots it needs to with stand periods without water. Your new watering schedule will result in deeper water penetration- thus deeper rooting- and it should happen fairly soon. To make sure you have the soil wet deep down, take one day this week and just soak the holy crap out of it! haha Run your system (at 5 minute run times) over and over again (maybe 5 or 6 times , 25-30 minutes total), over the period of a few hours. You might also want to apply some gypsum to the turf before you start the soaking. The gypsum will open up the soil and allow better water penetration. After this major “soak job”, resume your every other day schedule.