New Home Owner with turf problems

Ski – posted 28 April 2009 17:23

I just moved into a newly built house in November (Melbourne, FL) and the builders planted Floratam sod. The sod was watered way too heavily and and Ive been working on correcting this for some time. (im very new at this)

My grass didnt green like my neighbors did in late feb-early march and I started getting a lot of dollar weed. At the same time, 6 Weeks ago, I used “Scotts weed and feed bonus-s” to get rid of some of the weeds which it did, it also greened my lawn up fairly well. I adjusted my 4 zone sprinkler system to 10 minutes per zone 2 days a week for a week to destroy the dollar weed. I then moved them to 15 minutes twice a week.

This is the 6 week mark and the grass is filling in very nicely and Im getting a nice turf in the front and back. Granted its not completely green but its getting there. For the past 4-5 days Ive had my eye on a spot in my back lawn which was very lush and green for several weeks now start to look dehydrated. We’ve been a bit dry, but I still water 15 minutes in the back and the area seems to be getting enough water.

The tops are darker green, blades are folded and the grass almost seems to lay down. In the image below, you can see the spot. I outlined it in purple.

http://g.imagehost.org/0885/overview.jpg

This is a closeup of the area

http://g.imagehost.org/0401/closeup2.jpg

This is another shot of the area

http://g.imagehost.org/0837/near_house.jpg

This is a shot of my lawn where its growing great and how that dying area used to look. This progression took 4-5 days.

http://g.imagehost.org/0722/healthy.jpg

anyway, like I said im new with this. Ive owned a house before, but it was in Alabama where we had actual soil. Here we have a lot of sand and rock. The drainage in this new house is bad, but I can tell its improving probably due to the root system establishing. Any feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks!

[This message has been edited by Ski (edited 28 April 2009).]

saltcedar – posted 01 May 2009 05:31

Could be Nematode damage. Dig a small area and wash the sand from the roots. If the roots are stubby or knotted you have Nematodes. They are not Chemically treatable by homowners so require professional treatment. You can try a product such as Chitosan, however I have no experience with it on turf grasses.

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 01 May 2009).]

Ski – posted 01 May 2009 06:23

thanks for the reply. I did a quick google on nematode and it appears to be a parasite.

I own 2 dogs who use the backyard regularly, can they contract these parasites? I havnt checked yet for the signs you mentioned, so I dont know yet if this is what im seeing.

saltcedar – posted 01 May 2009 06:44

These Nematodes are Plant Parasites and never infect animals or humans. There are Nematodesthat affect animals but as long as you’re not eating soil or feces you should be safe 🙂

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 01 May 2009).]

Ski – posted 01 May 2009 13:54

well, I checked and to be honest Im not sure what I should be checking for. Howeve, the roots looked normal.. but the ground was pretty dry. I ran the sprinklers this morning too for 25 minutes.

Its in a bad spot that my sprinkler heads arent hitting. do you think this could be deyhydration?

saltcedar – posted 03 May 2009 09:45

When looking for nematode damage essentially you are looking for changes from normal roots. In the case of nematodes on grass they will exhibit knots or short stubby growth or just be much fewer and sparser than normal. Normal would be determined by what your best looking grasses’s roots look like in comparison. Keep an eye out for other things like grubs that can chew off roots. Good that you checked the moisture, you may have a defective or blocked sprinkler in that area.

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 03 May 2009).]

wk2hdwoman – posted 03 May 2009 12:44

You should also call the Brevard County Extension Service, 633-1702 (this is the Cocoa Office-they also have an office in Melbourne). Talk with a Master Gardener and they can give you some “local” insight into your turf situation.

saltcedar – posted 03 May 2009 14:40

http://www.sodsolutions.com/pdf/ftd_trenholm_article_1_06.pdfLocal Turf info’

[This message has been edited by saltcedar (edited 03 May 2009).]

Ski – posted 04 May 2009 20:49

wow.. thanks a lot for the responses you guys

Alex_in_FL – posted 10 May 2009 08:17

I live about 20 miles north of you (Merritt Island).

Most likely problem was/is insufficient water. The Keetch-Byram Drought index (KDI) is in the 600-650 range and it is very, very dry.

Short watering events cause shallow roots – making the problem even worse. You need to get at least 1/2 inch and preferably 3/4 inch water down when you irrigate.

Put out 2-3 pans in a zone, water until they have at least 1/2″ of water, 3/4″ would be better. Then set your timer for that length of time. Also make sure your spinkler head is working in that area (edited to note this based upon a later post).

[This message has been edited by Alex_in_FL (edited 10 May 2009).]

Turfguy_UF – posted 19 May 2009 07:25

Now this could be a shot in the dark, but you gave me a couple of reasons to think this could be something completely different than those suggested…

First you said it was a new house, and second you said it was “very” dry.

Look at the first picture you showed us. It looks almost to perfect of a shape. Normally disease or (especially) insect damage is not that perfect.

I would take a wild guess it might just be a piece of plywood from construction. If you look at the spot of interest it forms almost a perfect “L”. This sadly is not uncommon, along with rocks, and other building materials.

If this is the case just take a long metal rod of some sort and just poke it down 6-12″ and see if you hit something hard. Hopefully you will and you can just simply remove it, and water like normal.

Hope it helps.

Turfguy

Ski – posted 18 June 2009 19:08

just wanted to follow up. Seems that there is a root problem here as well as a few other spots in my lawn. Also ..yes the lawn wasnt getting enough water in the area that died on me.

so now Im watering twice a week but watering heavy in the back yard and its starting to come back. I will say that the ground is very hard in that area, theres a lot of rock. I may have to dump some top soil in several areas or some compost.