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Lawn issues
richjamesturner
Posts: 70
Hi there,
I've spent the last two years trying to get my lawn looking good and I keep failing - really hoping someone can tell me what I'm dong wrong.
In spring 2020 I scarified, aerated, top-dressed and over seeded the existing lawn. It looked great for a while but then a lot of it turned brown. I put it down to last year's very hot dry spell.
In the Autumn and Spring this year I repeated the process. In Feb I used The Grass People feed and weed killer, then waited until mid-April to over seed. Again, it grew really well (eventually after the frosts finally stopped!). Mid June I used Miracle Grow slow release fertilizer. A few weeks later I did the first cut and have been cutting weekly or twice weekly since. I've been careful not to break the 1/3 rule and am only cutting at level 5 of 6 on a Hayter mower. However, parts started to turn brown and now there's a lot of brown all over the place. I don't think it's dead, it's almost like there is a brown 'trunk'. The core is still green and green shoots come out of it. Is this normal?
Do I need to get it shorter to get rid of the brown bit and then let it grow out again? Or is there something else I'm doing wrong?
Mower blades are sharp and there's no sign of pests.
Any help would be gratefully received!
Thanks,
Rich
I've spent the last two years trying to get my lawn looking good and I keep failing - really hoping someone can tell me what I'm dong wrong.
In spring 2020 I scarified, aerated, top-dressed and over seeded the existing lawn. It looked great for a while but then a lot of it turned brown. I put it down to last year's very hot dry spell.
In the Autumn and Spring this year I repeated the process. In Feb I used The Grass People feed and weed killer, then waited until mid-April to over seed. Again, it grew really well (eventually after the frosts finally stopped!). Mid June I used Miracle Grow slow release fertilizer. A few weeks later I did the first cut and have been cutting weekly or twice weekly since. I've been careful not to break the 1/3 rule and am only cutting at level 5 of 6 on a Hayter mower. However, parts started to turn brown and now there's a lot of brown all over the place. I don't think it's dead, it's almost like there is a brown 'trunk'. The core is still green and green shoots come out of it. Is this normal?
Do I need to get it shorter to get rid of the brown bit and then let it grow out again? Or is there something else I'm doing wrong?
Mower blades are sharp and there's no sign of pests.
Any help would be gratefully received!
Thanks,
Rich
0
Posts
I think what you have there is just a certain type of grass. I have a fair bit of it in my lawn these days. I think it's an annual grass, maybe what they call meadow grass? It grows slightly differently to 'normal' grass and tends to be thicker and stronger. It also tends to get going a bit earlier than the other grass. Maybe feeding a bit later might help, just so you're feeding the other turf at a point when that is really growing strong, rather than just the meadow grass stuff. The issue is that the problem grass does seem to die off part way through the year and in doing so turns brown.
It also tends to grow horizontal so mowers don't always get it. I try and rake patches so they're lifted up for the blades to catch.
Not sure there's much you can do really. You'll never get rid of it all and even if you did, more would appear next year. The only thing you can do is get the rest of the lawn as thick and green as possible to crowd it out.
Some lawns are made of 100% that stuff. Yours looks lovely.
I read somewhere else about it potentially being a specific type of grass-it certainly sounds feasible. I think the other article said that grass browns up when the weather warms up, that's the same pattern here.
I'm speaking with someone at The Grass People where I bought the seed from, I'll ask them this and see what they say.
Thanks again for your help,
Rich
My lawn hasn't got much better, I think it's prob worse. I've gradually reduced the length to try and reduce the brown stuff. I also lightly scarified using a manual verticutter and raked before mowing to try and cut out the long stuff that was lying flat. There's a lot of brown and i don't know why. It's not in patches - it's fairly evenly spread. I do have some sort of meadow grass but i can't work out if it is just meadow grass or if it is flat leaf meadow grass which I should have as it's in the seed mix.
Can anyone advise me what to do?
Thanks!
Rich