Browning lawn

dandalton111mKDRHivh · July 2021

Dear all

This is my first post on the forum as I am
looking for some advise on my lawn.

In April 2021 laid new Rolawn turf in the garden. For a few weeks the lawn was great and the grass was growing very well.

I then noticed the lawn was starting to be taken over by annual meadow grass and during May/June a lot of the grass has become AMG - ice been managing it first by pulling it out but more recently I’ve used the scarifier on the highest setting as a certified - this has made a but difference in removing the Meadow Grass and lateral growth.

For the last month the grass has gradually turned brown especially in the areas of heavy Annual Meadow grass and quite a few mushrooms!

Could anyone recommend what the brown patches are and suggestion to clear it? E.g dry grass, disease, AMG dying out?

Recently I have been also watering more to try and green up the brown patches but it actually is getting worse!

Any help is much appreciated! Pic is attached (no idea why it’s up side down!)
Dan

Fairygirl · July 2021

It's only been in five minutes

New lawn only needs regular, heavy watering for the first couple of months [depending on climate and time of year etc] and nothing else.
Once established, it needs cutting - but little and often, not scalped, and in hotter, drier spells, it's better to leave it at a slightly longer length, to avoid stressing it. Never take more than about a third of the height off at any time. It looks very short in your pic.

Next year, you can look at scarifying if needed, and weed/feed etc. Doing anything just now isn't a great idea - especially too much raking/scarifying when roots are trying to establish and get down into the ground properly. It's too invasive and will just weaken them.

Don't worry about the pic - there's a real glitch just now. Making the pic smaller often helps

dandalton111mKDRHivh · July 2021

Thanks a lot for the reply FairyGirl!

Yes I guess Ive been a little impatient but I was expecting better results from the turf - I will relax and ensure to cut it regularly and probably on a higher setting.

What do you think about the brown patches?

Dan

Fran IOM · July 2021

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6030279/uploads/editor/gj/fjtisn8zgh5k.jpg

Easier to look at now! If you use a laptop I can explain easiest way to get pics the right way up but otherwise I haven't a clue.

Fairygirl · July 2021

Just keep it really well watered until it greens up again. If you do it at night, that's always better in hot, dry weather. I don't know how much watering you're giving it, but it needs hours of watering for an area that size.
Once you have some regular rain, it'll be fine, and once it's established, it will cope better with dry spells too. Scarifying is really bad for new grass. It just isn't established enough to cope with that, and you're loosening up the roots by doing that, which is the opposite of what it needs.

I think you've just been a bit scissor happy

JennyJ · July 2021

Also if you can, it's probably better to get a sprinkler that you can leave on it. Most people won't have the time or patience to give a new lawn enough water by standing there with the hose. A couple of hours a few times a week is better than a light sprinkle daily. the water needs to get down into the soil to encourage the roots to go deeper.

Fairygirl · July 2021

Indeed @JennyJ. If that lawn was divided roughly into three sections [horizontally] for example, you'd give each area about half to three quarters of an hour with a sprinkler.
If you only have a hose, you can shove a fork into the grass, in the middle of each section, and fix the hose handle through the fork handle to create a sprinkler effect. Then do each side of each section for about twenty minutes approx.
It's a bit of an effort, but still much easier than standing holding it.

dandalton111mKDRHivh · July 2021

Thanks a lot for the comments - I will
focus on watering over the next few weeks and see how it goes 👍

Browning lawn

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