Lawn Repairs...

9 years ago

Hi,

I am hoping you can help me with my lawn restoration. I made a few bad mistakes this year, so it is in pretty rough shape. I am in lower NY and am guessing my grass is primarily Rye. Perhaps some KBG mixed in. Sorry, I do not remember specific blends.

Usually in late August, I scalp my existing lawn. I then thatch, aerate and seed (Lesco ryegrass blend past few years). By late September, the grass is beautiful and it returns in perfect shape in early spring. Unfortunately, it has become a pattern where I see fungus impact the grass by mid-late spring, showing streaky yellowing/orange of blades and then eventual dead stalks. Being Ryegrass, I expect it to brown in summer heat or drought, but this fungus has bothered me. To control weeds, I usually spot spray. I fertilize with Milorganite, but this year I made the mistake of using scotts and also GrubEx. This seemed to strain the grass. When I spot sprayed weeds around a month ago with select weed killer, it literally killed everything I sprayed. The unfortunate thing is that this year in particular has been very forgiven for lawns in our area, as it has not been too hot or dry. I try to mow at 4"+ for most of the season.

As I go ahead to begin my restoration this year, your advice is very much appreciated. I am not too thrilled with the ryegrass I am using. Any suggestions on specific varierties or strains I should be looking at instead? Since I "renovate" the grass yearly and will continue to do so, it is not so important that I have something that spreads over time like KBG can do. More so, I want something more durable to fungus, heat and drought. Perhaps some types of fuscue?

Thank you so much for all of your input!

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Comments (6)

Joe BigBlue
9 years ago
Patrick-

I'm in NNJ so not too far from you.

Can I start with a question: why do you seed with rye if you have to replace it each year? Seems costly and a lot of work.

I don't have any specific suggestions on grass, but would recommend reading this thread on fungicide:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1503615/how-often-to-apply-fungicide-for-prevention
Patrick B.
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi Joe,

Thanks for linking that other article. It seems a strong school of thought is to use no fungicides (which I haven't) and also also no chemical fertilizer, which I am guilty of. For a few years we did use Gardens Alive corn gluten meal, which I did like, but it became too costly after a while. And I still had the burn out issue and fungus to an extent. I see people give advice to get this corn gluten from a feed or farm supply store, but in my area I really don't see that possibility. Even if available, they would jack up the prices because of location.

I forgot to mention that my lawn receives 100% full sun. I am sure that is pretty important. So usually by the end of August, I am happy to do my restoration and reseed. You are right that it is a lot of work, but it is not a huge area and usually takes me around a day with a $75-$100 bag of Lesco seed. By scalping the existing grass and reseeding, from my experience I see the new seed come up nice and the scalped grass come up fresh and green.
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Joe BigBlue
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Yes, my front lawn is full sun also. I use a mix of KBG, rye, and fescue.

If you search the lawn forum you'll see probably a couple dozen threads about fungus issues this summer in the northeast. We had a ton of rain early and then a heat wave. That will bring the fungus.

I personally did apply fungicides twice just to stop the spread and save my lawn. Now I'll have patches to fill in September.
mishmosh
9 years ago
i think you would be better served with TTTF with a little KBG. it would be much more persistent imho
Joe BigBlue
9 years ago
Mishmosh-

Me or Patrick, or both lol?
Patrick B.
Original Author
9 years ago
I will look at some tall fescues..Thanks! I think by searching I should be able to find good blends and such.

Yes, definitely a wet spring, even into summer. In my area, I'd say temps have been seasonal with no extreme heat though (just the long periods of 80's and humid, but nothing into the 90's overall). Most lawns in my area look very nice now, especially for the time of year.

To give more detaul, it looks like it suffers from brown/ ascochyta blight almost yearly. No patches or circles, all uniform in the overall grass. Just so frustrating when it looks so nice early on and then I get that fungus.

I am hoping I find some nice fescue mixture that may be more resistant to that. Just to confirm: TTTF = Turf type tall fescue? Thanks again!