Help with lawn

leeali86 · July 2022

Good evening
I’m hoping for some advice on my lawn…. Over the past couple of weeks the grass has turned brown in large patches. The grass is still rooted so not dead but we have now noticed a couple of cracks in the soil (clay soil) so wondered what the best way to treat this is/how to water to fix the problem? We put a lawn feeder down in May on the older grass and left the new turf as suggested by the group before but it seems to have not worked that well.

Thanks in advance.

AnniD · July 2022

I had a look at your old thread
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1063656/new-lawn#latest

and l'm wondering if it's possibly just down to a lack of water. Depending on whereabouts you are it's been very dry in some areas. Is the problem in the area where you put the feed ?
Is there any chance of a couple of photos tomorrow?

leeali86 · July 2022

AnniD said:

I had a look at your old thread
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1063656/new-lawn#latest

and l'm wondering if it's possibly just down to a lack of water. Depending on whereabouts you are it's been very dry in some areas. Is the problem in the area where you put the feed ?
Is there any chance of a couple of photos tomorrow?

It could well be lack of water but I’m a bit confused as when you Google some say don’t water leave nature take its course and some say water 2/3 times a week it’s clearly struggling in places.

leeali86 · July 2022

leeali86 said:

AnniD said:

I had a look at your old thread
https://forum.gardenersworld.com/discussion/1063656/new-lawn#latest

and l'm wondering if it's possibly just down to a lack of water. Depending on whereabouts you are it's been very dry in some areas. Is the problem in the area where you put the feed ?
Is there any chance of a couple of photos tomorrow?

It could well be lack of water but I’m a bit confused as when you Google some say don’t water leave nature take its course and some say water 2/3 times a week it’s clearly struggling in places.

This is one of the many cracks in soil also

Fairygirl · July 2022

It needs water - gallons and gallons.

leeali86 · July 2022

Fairygirl said:

It needs water - gallons and gallons.

Ok would you suggest everyday watering and is early evening ok to water?

Fairygirl · July 2022

What matters is the amount of water. There's no point watering every day if it's only for half an hour or similar. That does more harm than good as it encourages roots to stay near the surface.

If you consider how much water there would be if you had a couple of hours of rain, that's the sort of quantity you need for that to green up, and then it needs enough moisture to continue thriving. If you don't get regular rain, and therefore limited growth, it's also better not to cut it too much or too short. Keep it longer [once it recovers] during drier spells. Cutting it too short just exacerbates the problem

If you divided that space into about 6, and did each area for an hour, that would be about adequate. If that's done every couple of days, that would help it until you get proper rain.
I'm assuming you don't live in a damper area. Regular rain is what helps grass grow more than anything else.

JennyJ · July 2022

The conflicting advice is probably because an older, established lawn will turn yellow/brown in hot dry weather but will green up again after some decent rain, usually in the autumn, so if you want or need to conserve water the lawn is well down the list of priorities behind plants in containers and relatively newly-planted things in the ground (I say relatively because trees and shrubs need extra water for longer than most perennials, particularly if they were large when planted). My grass turns brown most summers. It only stays green if we are lucky enough to get a wet cool summer, and it's browning earlier than usual this year because we've had a very dry spring and early summer, and the recent hot spells have made it worse. A newly-laid lawn is a different matter and might give up the ghost permanently if it's allowed to dry out before it's got it's roots down into the soil.

Fairygirl · July 2022

I agree @JennyJ. New lawns need thorough , deep watering if there isn't consistent, substantial rainfall, while established ones can cope perfectly well for long periods without any, and revive very quickly once they get some

GardenerSuze · July 2022

@leeali86 I think it is very wrong to pour hundreds of gallons of water on an established lawn. Our tap water is suitable fof drinking and should be regarded as precious. It will soon recover when it rains.

Fairygirl · July 2022

I agree with you @GardenerSuze. Lawns are a bit of a contentious subject these days, although it really just comes down to how they're managed.
Even here, I see people scalping their grass and then using a sprinkler, which is beyond ludicrous. There is no need to water lawns here, and if they're just kept a bit longer during drier spells, they're fine. We now seem to get spells of four or five days without rain [ and much more often than we used to] and all that's required is to cut them less frequently.

A new lawn needs water - but it has to be properly watered, then left to it's own devices once established, which is why spring, or late summer/early autumn, are the best times for laying or seeding as it also means less drain on resources.

Help with lawn

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