Yellow patches on lawn.

Vegemight · August 2015

Still scratching my head over issues with lawn after turfing last autumn, despite moderate doses of water and feed. I didn't help myself by mowing a bit low to start with and have adjusted my mower height up a little but the grass never gets long enough to account for the tendency of some of the grasses to run to seed as early as they do.

The numerous yellow/dieing? patches seem to correspond to the spots where the grass ran to seed. I ran a soil test which didn't seem to show much imbalance but I wonder if there is a specific fertiliser I could apply to target this problem before it gets worse?

Fairygirl · August 2015

It sounds as if the grass has simply not established properly and formed a decent root system. If the roots haven't made proper contact with the soil below they won't grow. What was the ground like before you turfed? The prep is the most important part of grass sowing or turf laying.

Yellow areas can also be down to animal urine. Is that a possibility?

Vegemight · August 2015

Thanks all, I'm certain it's not animals. Watering's a maybe but I don't think so as with the grubs.

I did skimp a bit on the 'treading down' when prepping so if anything it was a little soft when first laid. An issue is a couple of oak trees close by which completely shade until noon and I was concerned over the volume of oak leaves assimilated into the ground for many years.

I've had a little poke around in these patches (which are more light brown and dead than I thought) and it did seem too easy to remove the thatch.As I said, these patches seem to correspond to the growth that flowered early (praps dieing.)

It seems clear that the first cut was far too short....Significant?.....

I'll try to attach a couple of pics, Thanks again.

paulk2 · August 2015

In your first post, you say you have fed it - perhaps you have overfed it or fed it too early leading to scorching? Also what did you feed it with?

You might have to just rake over the areas to remove the dead grass and reseed: September is the ideal time for this.

Dovefromabove · August 2015

Yes, I think paulk2 may well have identified the problem - rake with a hand-lawn rake to remove any thatch and sprinkle grass seed over the patches and then thinly over the rest of the lawn to blend colour.texture of grass. If you do this in September when rain is forecast it should germinate quickly

Don't feed until next spring.

Vegemight · August 2015

Thanks again....Can't remember feed (raked in prior to turfing) but it was a modest amount as I was unsure about the soil make up.Test I carried out since was inconclusive so I might do another inside one of the dying patches. In any case, as suggested, I'll scratch out the thatch and re-sow. Thanks.

Fairygirl · August 2015

Just re read your post and the oak trees could be part of the issue. Roots will cause dry areas as they'll take up a lot of the available moisture. They will also create a lot of shade as you've mentioned. It might be worth reseeding some of the most vulnerable areas with a mix designed for shade to see if that helps.

Dovefromabove · August 2015

If you do as Fairygirl suggests (and I think it's a good suggestion) sprinkle a little of the seed all over the lawn as well as reseeding the thin patches - that'll help any different colour/texture of the grass to blend in with the rest of the lawn.

Zenjeff · August 2015

Laid my lawn with turf last June had yellow patches all over In June this year gave it a good watering with vitax nitrogen feed and also added Epsom salts it worked and haven't had any problems since worth a try !

Vegemight · August 2015

Thanks again again.... The original turf was allegedly a shade tolerant variety as was the seed I used to infill any 'cracks'. I didn't come across many roots when I prepped the ground, and the oaks are set on the downslope towards an adjacent stream so I didn't think they posed a moisture problem? However, after I've scratched and resown, I'll make sure the ground is kept moist and keep my fingers crossed!

You don't think there's any problem relating to the volume of oak leaves rotted into the soil for years when this was rough ground?...or that this was caused by too little rather than too much feed?...Cheers.

Fairygirl · August 2015

Normally you'd feed the ground before laying turf or sowing seed. You'd then delay any further feed for a good 6 months or so as the seed/turf is establishing and getting roots down etc. I doubt the leaves will have anything to do with the issues Vegemight. It may be that you haven't fed enough prior to laying, but that's something you can rectify when you start grass maintenance in spring.

You could apply a liquid seaweed feed just now, or something similar. Do that before you do any new sowing of seed. It's common for any grass to look a bit tired at this time of year - long spells of hot weather create browning, whereas up here, we've had so much rain that any nutrition gets washed out so the grass can look a bit yellow. I don't worry too much about it. I only feed in spring (a weed and feed product) and then mow very regularly - not too short. That keeps it looking decent.

PS Dove was right when she said scatter a bit of grass seed over the whole area so that you don't get two different shades - which doesn't look good!

Yellow patches on lawn.

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