"As for man, his days are like grass." I have read that the average lifespan of a single blade of grass is 40 days. When grass is growing it is sending out new tillers to replace the dying blades. I would not be concerned about a few dead blades. But when whole areas die or become diseased (they will die soon) or there is no new growth at a time grass should be growing (don't expect much growth in summer for cool season grass), then start worrying.

Do these pics help at all?

Might be a disease. You could use this tool to see if you can identify anything: disease id

I wanted to follow-up as my lawn continues to not do well. I assume now that we're also getting into the heat of summer which isn't helping (here in Southwestern CT), but I wanted to ask about this; I've noticed that the 'base' of my grass continues to be brown/brownish, but the top (i.e. as it grows) is pretty green. As an example, I cut it a little lower than normal the other day (still using 2nd highest setting on my mower) and the lawn looked dreadful. The entire thing looked brown, especially compared to my green neighbors who don't do anything to their lawns. This was 4 days ago. This morning I noticed that it looked vastly better, as the tips of the grass are growing and are a decent shade of green. But next time I cut it it's going to cut off the green tips leaving the brown base. Is this normal? I know it's not good to cut too short, but I almost feel like if I cut it really short, everything that would then grow would be green...

Thanks for any thoughts/comments/suggestions.

It grows from the base. What height are you cutting? How hot. is it? I would be inclined to leave it high while the weather is hot. How often are you mowing now?

I'm cutting it at probably 3-4 inches. I normally cut at the highest setting my mower will go, but this time (as a test) I cut on the 2nd highest (still high though). It hasn't even been that hot lately, mostly 80s, but pretty dry (but I have been watering along with the rain to try and get 1" a week). Was mowing once a week when it was green and growing fast, now I'm waiting a bit longer.

Try aerating in spring or fall, (if the lawn feels "spongy" when you walk on it, try dethatching) then reseed with grass for your climate. (or just reseed) When you mow, make sure you have sharp blades, (prevents disease) and raise the mower to leave the grass 2 1/2"-3" long, this will shade out weeds. Leave the clippings on the lawn- they won't build up, but will feed the lawn with free nitrogen. You shouldn't "scalp" your lawn, it can start more problems. Use organic lawn fertilizer, according to directions, in spring and fall. Don't over fertilize, even with organics.

I suggest leaving it high for now and gradually bringing it down to 3 inches by late August. If you are overseeding (which you might do if you have TTTF, unlikely to do with KBG),, you would lower it to the lowest level (gradually) just before seeding.

Where do you live?

What is your watering schedule? How often and for how long do you water? And I realize you've had rain, but you still water even with rain, so I'm trying to get a handle on your watering.

I have what looks like the same problem on my kbg lawn. Im in Mass so the tempuratures are fairly close and I cut mine on the second highest setting, which is fairly high. It looks good from a distance but up close you can see the problem, especially when its mowed. I have tried numerous fungicides with no results. Insecticide has been applied so Im sure its not an insect issue. I tried ironite yesterday, now just waiting to see what happens. If that fails I am going to send in a sample to Umass for disease testing and see what they say. If you would like I can update you with my results, and hopefully it will help you as well. Here is a pic of mine, notice the dead pile on top? That's from a 4x4 area with a dethatching rake.

Thanks so much for the info and please do keep me posted, as it sounds like exactly what I'm going through...

The usual 1" per week recommendation is not adequate in the summer. Most people simply do not water what is needed (or have the budget) to keep their lawns looking lush in the heat. Besides that, common kbg just does not do well in the heat. The pics posted in this thread do not look bad at all. Quit dumping a bunch of pesticides when there is probably nothing out of the norm here at all.

jlf Foe-- From what I can see in the pic, it may be that your mower needs sharpening. And I agree with mishmosh about watering & pesticides. We use too much of both. Pesticides and herbicides end up in everyones drinking water.

Thanks for the advice. A lot of other people have been telling me the same that it's just summer and that's how it is but I'm not really convinced..... I'll freely admit I'm obsessed I'm like the female version of Hank from King of the Hill. Mishmosh mentioned watering may be an issue but I actually water it every other day which I know isn't great but the heat of the summer makes me nervous. I'm so insane I actually pulled a few pieces out and took a close up and just based on a Google search it looks like leaf spot. It doesn't want to go away and I feel like I am spreading it by mowing. Op if you pull out a few pieces does it look similar to the spots on these pieces?

Does the dead parts show any sign of a circle? With a lot of moisture and low temps at night around 68-70 degrees the fungus Rhizoctina species thrives causing brown patch. This is a common problem with cool season grasses. Could be in the beginning stages so you might want to monitor it the next couple of weeks. I would cut back on the watering for that time frame and see what happens. If it rains, it rains but irrigation may be over doing it especially in temps as mild the 80's. There are a few fungicides to choose from but just see what happens over the next couple of weeks. Hope this helps.

www.lawncaremadeeasy.com

There's definitely no circle or pattern of any type. There's no actual dead patches either. Believe it or not there's not even any weeds in the yard and I have not used any weed killer. It's very consistent throughout where it looks nice and green but when you get up close you can see brown blades of grass everywhere except a couple of spots that have newer sod within the last couple months. If I pull some up some of its brown and still feels normal but some of it feels like straw. This actually started mid to late spring and it's at its worst right now. In the spring I stopped watering until the point where it started to look grayish and needed water but that didn't seem to help either. In early April I rented a power rake and pulled up quite a bit of thatch. Now when I take a manual dethatching rake I can pull up huge piles from everywhere in the lawn. I don't understand why there is so much especially considering the lawn was brand new sodded in September 2015..... maybe it's normal and I just don't realize. One thing I did notice when using that dethatching rake is that it's almost impossible to get the rake through it. I have to do each section four different ways for it to actually rake through. Its way thicker than new sod would be. The only thing I can compare it to is either a guy or a girl with long hair not using conditioner trying to comb their hair, you have to get the tangles out to be able to comb it. Obviously I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jen