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New lawn received too much rain and now has problems.

jameswallace84jameswallace84 Posts: 5
edited July 2020 in Problem solving
Hello

Seeded some Ryegrass at beginning of June. All going good and after just 1 month grass was really high and cut to highest setting.
Since then it’s been rain, rain and more rain.
Soil is now saturated (no standing water though and lawn was levelled and rotorvated before seeding).
problem is parts of the lawn have now gone yellow, a few brown leaves too and small patches of Algae on some of the soil. Even a couple of mushrooms growing!
Guessing too much water and a lack of nitrogen is the issue but whats the fix? 
Do I let it dry and hope for the best , then sort out any damage? Will the grass suffer much more? Or is there something I can do? Guessing a Nitrogen fertiliser (applied with water) isn’t a good idea for a 6 week old lawn that’s saturated?
Luckily no more rain forecast and Sunny from Friday.

Grass is close to a height to be cut again (in a few days) Plan was to reduce by one level. Should I still do this? Or cut a highest level again? Or leave it for a while?

Just to add the soil PH has dropped from 6.5 pre seeding to 5 now.

The soil is 

Soilscape 8: 
Slightly acid loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage

Any advice appreciated.

Thank you

Posts

  • K67K67 Posts: 2,506
    If the amount of rain we have had has affected your lawn what is going to happen in the winter?
    No amount of fertilizing will compensate for poor drainage.
  • NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
    Sounds like you have a lot of knowledge and are in control of the facts.

    Unfortunately you are up against Nature.

    Grass in general is very tough and will, when it can , find a way to win through.

    Its like wearing an Armani suit with shoes that have holes in them. !!

    Good luck.
    Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
  • jameswallace84jameswallace84 Posts: 5
    edited July 2020
    K67 said:
    If the amount of rain we have had has affected your lawn what is going to happen in the winter?
    No amount of fertilizing will compensate for poor drainage.
    Drainage isn’t the issue, excessive amount of  water for a new lawn and humidity are. Plus new grass roots aren’t very deep.
    Be very surprised if 2 out of 3 of those are an issue in the winter.

    We’ve also had flooding in this area, it rained heavily for almost 3 days straight, bear in mind the lawn has been watered daily for weeks as well then I’d be surprised to see that much water in the winter.

    Ultimately i seed a few week too late.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Too much water isn't a problem for grass unless the drainage isn't good enough and leads to puddles/standing water. The picture seems to show parallel lines that look like rows of footprints up and down - so probably something to do with mowing/walking on it, if that's the discolouration you're talking about..
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • gunndabadgunndabad Posts: 35
    I suspect a little nitrogen will fix the colour issues - modern ryegrass cultivars are hungry. I would mow it on the lower setting as you’d intended to do. 

    As an aside, how has the pH changed that much? How are you measuring? If it really is at 5 I’d be looking to amend that a little. 
  • gunndabadgunndabad Posts: 35
    I’ll add that adding nitrogen to new grass is not a problem but you should wash off the leaf immediately after to be safe. 
  • jameswallace84jameswallace84 Posts: 5
    gunndabad said:
    I suspect a little nitrogen will fix the colour issues - modern ryegrass cultivars are hungry. I would mow it on the lower setting as you’d intended to do. 

    As an aside, how has the pH changed that much? How are you measuring? If it really is at 5 I’d be looking to amend that a little. 
    Thanks, it hadn’t rained for almost 2 months before Seeding and then rained a lot in a short period. Guessing that may be the cause? It’s generally on the low side in this area anyway.
  • gunndabadgunndabad Posts: 35
    jameswallace84 said:
    gunndabad said:
    I suspect a little nitrogen will fix the colour issues - modern ryegrass cultivars are hungry. I would mow it on the lower setting as you’d intended to do. 

    As an aside, how has the pH changed that much? How are you measuring? If it really is at 5 I’d be looking to amend that a little. 
    Thanks, it hadn’t rained for almost 2 months before Seeding and then rained a lot in a short period. Guessing that may be the cause? It’s generally on the low side in this area anyway.
    Lots of rain will leach away nutrients so I suspect that’s the cause
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Just leave it be and cut as planned.   Mid summer is not the time to be feeding or weed treating a lawn, let alone a newly sown one.

    Assuming you did all the soil prep properly before sowing there should be no nutrient deficiencies this early on.   Time will tell if drainage is an issue.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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