surprised you dont ask i the conifer forum ...

how long have they been there??? .. if well established ... there should be free range ... period ... so all we have to define.. is ESTABLISHED ....

how big where they on planting...

what if any signs do they show of stress ...

if your grass stays that green ... you arent in bad drought.. and the trees.. of which conifers are.. have plenty of roots way out under that lawn ...

i had about 2 years of drought . in a row... most of what i called a lawn... or a mowed meadow.. died... that is drought... i am thinking you might be worrying a bit too much ...

more facts please ...

ken

Guess I didn't ask my question well enough....sorry. I didn't realize there was a conifer forum - I seldom come to this side of the site.

The trees were 6-8' at planting and have now been there 10 years so they're pretty good size. The trees are doing fine and for the most part the lawn is doing fine. It's just the brown areas by the trees that bug me. For example the 3 trees on the right have an area in front of them that's about 20' x 5' that has no grass so it's dusty and weedy .From the small pic it doesn't look like that big of an area. Perhaps I'll have to learn to live with it. It wasn't that way when the trees were smaller, it's just developed over time. Didn't know if there was anything to do to remedy or cover up the situation given the slope involved.

I don't think there's really any remedy. The trees suck all the available moisture not leaving any for lawn. If you really want it gone, you could spray paint it green

It seems a little odd that it is mainly the area on the right that is suffering. You mention that mulch is not a good option, but maybe amending the soil with some compost and replanting the grass
would help.

There are various reasons that grass might not do well but it would be impossible to diagnose based on the picture. If your goal were to regain the lost grass, you probably need someone local to come out and diagnose the conditions. If you're looking to have something, not necessarily grass, there might be some drought tolerant groundcovers that would work. Of course, anything planted would require supplemental water during the establishment period. Do you know for a fact that the irrigation system is well maintained and provides adequate coverage for all grass areas?

It seems a little odd that it is mainly the area on the right that is suffering. You mention that mulch is not a good option, but maybe amending the soil with some compost and replanting the grass
would help.

can we have a better pic of the brown area ...

i saw NONE yesterday.. as i presumed that i was seeing mulch ...

but today.. i think i am seeing what you mean ...

we dont need to see the whole berm .. we need to see the lawn ...

and meanwhile.. have you looked for grubs in the brown patches???

those trees are well established.. they do NOT need water .. IMHO.. ever .. being a collector and all ...

but they may be impacting your lawn.. as noted by others...

but a droughted lawn.. should recover ... in fall .. like the rest of yours did... so that only leaves.. something eating its roots off ...

there is also a lawn forum .. skip the conifer forum.. unless you want or need an ID of the plants ... they dont know anything about lawn.. lol.. except how to get rid of it.. to plant more conifers... lol...

ken

I'll take a pic tomorrow. Grubs may be a strong possibility. The food chain is an interesting thing. We have a lot of wildlife on our 4 acres including mice, snakes, rabbits, skunks, possum, raccoon, deer and just the other day a coyote crossed my lawn. We've had many, many large holes which some say may be badgers, although I've never seen one here. The mounds of dirt are large, but that's mostly in our outlying brome area. Here's the most recent dirt pile. There's constantly new digging going on.

This post was edited by hilltop on Tue, Oct 21, 14 at 22:31

Here's pic 1 with a closeup view

Here's another view. I don't see any digging going on - either from below ground (ie grubs) or above ground (critters trying to get at grubs). It's almost like the soil died or doesn't have anything to support grass growth.

From a distance this looks like chinch bug damage. It is a bit late in the year to identify them but....at high noon and in blazing sunlight, on knees looking carefully down, parting the remaining grass leaves, search for tiny black bugs which move rather quickly. July and August is when they are at their height of activity. You may not see them until next summer. If this is the problem your local nursery can explain treatment.

Thanks - I'll check in to that. I found an article on chinch bugs that said to...
"try the tin-can method. Cut out both ends of a tin can, making a tube. Push one end of your tube into the ground. Then pour water into the can and keep it filled for 10 minutes. I you have chinch bugs, they'll start floating up to the surface. You may also see chinch-bug nymphs, which range from pink to red and have a white stripe across their middles."
Might not work this time of year, but I'll do a little investigating.