yard work: my lawn is dying a slow death

[gaseousclay]

anyone got any tips on how to revitalize it? a part of my yard has turned brown and no new grass is growing there. do I need to seed it? aerate it? I'd like my lawn to be soft enough for me to walk barefoot in, unfortunately, there are too many dry patches that are tough and bristly.

 

[Austin]

Have you checked for grub worms? They like to eat the roots of grass.

 

[vitaman]

I might be able to help you out. I need to know how your spring and summer climates are, what type of grass you have, what your watering cycle is, are there any slopes, any recent pesticide applications, etc...

 

[_JP_]

Too many unknowns to figure it out from my end without seeing it. You could have problems with shade, soil quality, grubs, moss, fungus, or simply bad karma.

 

[PhoR]

I'd bet on bugs if it's not something immediately noticeable.
(soil far too dry and rocky or standing water, weeds, etc...)

Scott's Turf Builder with summerguard might be an option.

 

[nikkuchan]

When I was young I used to mow lawns around Minneapolis, and I almost never saw a nice looking one. Maybe it's just a bad place to keep a good lawn.

My work also included resodding some dead areas. That would probably work.

 

[mdunn]

I'd bet on bugs if it's not something immediately noticeable.
(soil far too dry and rocky or standing water, weeds, etc...)

Scott's Turf Builder with summerguard might be an option.

yeah. We had army worms for a bit, damn near killed the lawn. Get down on your hands and knees and poke around and see if you can find any critters on the grass or just below the surface.

 

[gaseousclay]

I might be able to help you out. I need to know how your spring and summer climates are, what type of grass you have, what your watering cycle is, are there any slopes, any recent pesticide applications, etc...

i'm in minneapolis so the spring/summer climate here can jump from cold to hot & humid. I have no idea what kind of grass we have, I don't use pesticides, and there are a two sloped areas. I'm not very consistent about watering and tend to let mother nature do her job. most of the yard looks ok but it's mainly the one section that sits in direct sunlight and has a hard time producing new grass.

 

[Jim]

A lawn in not a natural environment, so mother nature will actually work against you. Nature does not like a mono-culture.

A healthy lawn can use an inch of water a week.

The time to seed is in the fall for most turf grasses, so unless you are going to sod and water and feed and use some fast half life pesticides , its more than likely you will not get much better turf.

 

[_JP_]

i'm in minneapolis so the spring/summer climate here can jump from cold to hot & humid. I have no idea what kind of grass we have, I don't use pesticides, and there are a two sloped areas. I'm not very consistent about watering and tend to let mother nature do her job. most of the yard looks ok but it's mainly the one section that sits in direct sunlight and has a hard time producing new grass.

Rough up the soil with a rake, seed, rake in the seed and then water daily for next few weeks. Keep it moist while the new grass sprouts.

 

[sapito318]

Yah, sounds like bugs if it is just a patch. I recently watered mine with an all purpose bug killer that seems to have helped out quite a bit.

 

[highball]

Yah, sounds like bugs if it is just a patch. I recently watered mine with an all purpose bug killer that seems to have helped out quite a bit.

+1 had the same problem last summer

 

[RazorDingo]

If the damage is restricted to just a few places, then it may be due to snow-mold; pet waste damage; rodents; or simply high traffic.

You'll probably know best which of the forgoing is the likely culprit. The good news is that May is not a bad time to sow grass seed - so th patches can be repaired in a relatively short period of time.

Pet waste needs to have the grass "cleaned" with a thorough watering to wash away the toxin. Sprinkle the dead area with grass seed, and rake it into the grass left behind. Water thoroughly as the grass germinates and fills in. Cover the area with clean straw.

If the damage is caused by high-traffic, or animals such as rabbits or voles; then likely the soil underneath is compacted. This needs to be dug up, tilled, fertilized, and new grass sown.

 

[Bulldawg]

anyone got any tips on how to revitalize it? a part of my yard has turned brown and no new grass is growing there. do I need to seed it? aerate it? I'd like my lawn to be soft enough for me to walk barefoot in, unfortunately, there are too many dry patches that are tough and bristly.

May not be the popular answer but I decided to go with Truegreen Chemlawn a couple of years ago after dealing with similar issues. My yard is looking great now. It's not cheap paying $52 every few months but it freed up some of my time. Keep in mind, I don't really enjoy yard work...I prefer to spend my time elsewhere. Cutting the grass every couple/few weeks and leaving the rest to Truegreen works well for me. I've tried them off and on for the past 7 years but found that it takes about a full year for your yard to really reap the benefits of the treatments...good luck.

 

[vitaman]

i'm in minneapolis so the spring/summer climate here can jump from cold to hot & humid. I have no idea what kind of grass we have, I don't use pesticides, and there are a two sloped areas. I'm not very consistent about watering and tend to let mother nature do her job. most of the yard looks ok but it's mainly the one section that sits in direct sunlight and has a hard time producing new grass.

It sounds like you may just simply have a watering issue. Like the other fellas have said, loosen up the area to be seeded (when you go to the hardware store to get some seed, bring a grass leaf w/ you so they can match it) throw some seed down. Cover it w/ seed cover, manure, etc... To find out if it is a watering issue, water the dry areas by hand for about a week in the evenings, if that grass starts to come back, that should be your problem. Good luck! Keep us updated!

 

[moto]

don't mow it too short.