Formerly Gorgeous Lawn Now Looking Sad

10 years ago

For years I've had the most beautiful lawn on the block after following the advice found in this forum, but unfortunately, my lawn is now in a sad state. Due to the drought out here in California, last year we were forced to cut down to watering lawns once a week, and for only ten minutes at a time. My lawn survived, but barely.

Fast forward several months: Spring has arrived, we've had a good amount of rain, the hot temperatures have not kicked in yet, but my lawn looks as bad as it did last summer. Typically this time of year is when it looks its best -- lush and green and thick. But this year it looks sad, with a great deal of dead, brown blades. We did get an initial period of lush-looking lawn about six weeks ago, when the lawn started growing again. But it quickly returned to last year's nearly dead look.

Did it fade so quickly due to last year's stress? Is there a way to return it to its former glory?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (3)

akarinz
10 years ago
I don't think the dead areas will come back to life. What kind of grass is it?
kimmq
10 years ago
Most all grasses go dormant (a survival technique) when growth conditions fall below the minimum needed to keep the grass growing. Lack of adequate amounts of water is one of those conditions, along with temperatures too high and lack of proper nutrition. When we are limited in applying water to our lawns we would be much better off to stop watering altogether and let the grass go dormant.

To get that grass back requires 1) adequate water, and 2) proper feeding. Do those and the grass will respond with lush green growth. However, if you will not be able to maintain that all during the growing season do not start.

kimmq is kimmsr
Related Professionals
St. Louis Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Muncie Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Canton Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Dallas Landscape Contractors · Rockford Landscape Contractors · Flint Landscape Contractors · Winona Landscape Contractors · Grand Forks Landscape Contractors · Hilo Landscape Contractors · Houma Flooring Contractors · Muncie Flooring Contractors · Alpena Flooring Contractors · Saint Cloud Flooring Contractors · Elmira Flooring Contractors · Rochester Flooring Contractors
raymondo17
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the input.

Akarinz, it's a tall fescue blend.

Kimmq, it would pain me to just let my lawn go dormant entirely, so I sure hope I can save it. We've had a fair amount of rain this spring, and there's talk about relaxing the restrictions a bit. I'll make a call and see if I can't get back to watering at least twice a week.