Green grass- all brown underneath. What’s going on?

6 years ago

Hello, my grass was brown inthe winter in CO and has started coming back the past few weeks. My back lawn is all green but my front is coming in very weirdly. It looks green from afar

but the entire underneath is still brown and that part is kind of matted. This didn’t happen last year. So for example if I mow on a high setting it still looks green, a low setting all the brown comes out (I did that by mistake in 1 little area).

I started watering last week Mornings 20 min per section 4x per week. I fertilized about 2 weeks ago. The brown doesn’t seem to be going away at all. is This something I can fix or is it a waiting game? I’ve attached pictures. Thank you!!!

Featured Answer

Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado

6 years ago

I think your grass looks wonderful, Beth! The blades of grass that turned brown when they went dormant over winter will never "get green again," it's just a matter of the "new grass" growing out to make it look green again--just like yours looks. In a few weeks you shouldn't notice the "old grass" underneath. If you really "want to do something" to "help" it, you could consider doing a dethatching (or a power raking) to sort of "lift up" the "old grass" to make it able to mow at least some of "the brown" off when you mow it, but I think it looks just like it should! Will be interesting to see if somebody else disagrees with that!

One other thing while I'm posting, with established grass you really shouldn't need to be watering four times a week. If you water "deeply," usually considered to be at least an inch, but less frequently, the roots grow deeper and make it more "drought resistant" for if you're ever unable to water for some reason. Watering every other day constantly keeps the surface wet, so if the roots always have water right on the surface, they never "need" to go "looking deeper down in the soil" for moisture, so you wind up with very shallow roots that cause the grass to die very easily if several waterings are missed! (I know that because I witnessed it back in the 70s during Denver's "first" watering restrictions! We lived in Park Hill and many of the people watered every or every other day, and when rationing suddenly restricted them to watering only twice a week, about half the lawns on our block DIED! They weren't dormant, they were dead!) Grass with deep roots will keep drawing on the "deeper" moisture, and is then much more likely to start to go dormant rather than quickly dying if watering is restricted. I recommend increasing the amount of time you water--which you might need to break up into two or three sections with clay soil, to keep it from running off, and then, at first switch to watering twice a week, and after a few weeks of doing that, go to watering deeply just once a week. Others might disagree, but if you are truly watering deeply you shouldn't see much difference from what you have now once the plants have those deep roots to rely on, and it saves you--and the planet--water!

Skybird

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Comments (7)

Beth D.
Original Author
6 years ago
Hi Skybird! Wow AWESOME detailed answer as usual from you, THANK YOU!!!!!! That makes me feel better!!! I’ll be careful about watering too. I was going to have the front and back aerated on the 18th, do you think that’s necessary at this point? I’ll also make sure I follow your advice on watering! What’s considered a “deep” watering? Like half hour per sprinkler section or more? Thank you so so much again!!!!!
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Skybird - z5, Denver, Colorado
6 years ago

Hi Beth,

There's no way to know "how long" to leave a sprinkler running for an inch of water without measuring it! They're all different! Get a rain gauge, or, in a pinch, set a "tuna can" out there, about "halfway" out from the sprinkler head, and wait for an inch, or for the can to get full and see how long it takes. But, like I said above, with clay soil--which I'm assuming you have--the water will soak in the most deeply, if you turn the sprinklers on for ten or fifteen minutes and then turn them off for an hour, and then back on again--until you get to AT LEAST an inch. Clay soil is made up of "flat" particles (like mica), so the water quickly runs off without soaking in if you put down too much, too fast. If you water a lot but it all runs off into the gutter it's not helping the grass at all. It's just a matter of trying the "timing" and seeing what will work for your conditions to get the water deeply into the soil.

Skybird

P.S. This it just totally my personal opinion, but I don't think plugging the soil does that much good "out here." Again, just my opinion, but I think dethatching or power raking (which I'm considering) would be more effective in "our climate!" Try different things and see which one(s) give you results. (I see neighbors, every year, "being sold" aeration, and I can't see any difference at all in their lawns after it's done!)
Laura (Z5a Fort Collins, Colorado)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I second what Skybird says: your grass looks normal for this time of year, and aeration doesn't seem to make much of a difference (at least in our yard. Your mileage may vary).

We have a mix of fescue and native grasses which takes waaaay longer than the more popular Kentucky bluegrass to perk up in the spring. However during the droughts and corresponding water restrictions of 2002 and 2013, many of our neighbors had to re-sod their entire yards, but our grass pulled through just fine.
Beth D.
Original Author
6 years ago
Got it! Thanks!!!! I’ll definitely be following all of your advice!!
Jerry (Broomfield CO 5)
6 years ago
I like to mow one or two notches lower early on to clear out the brown grass to a lower level making it easier for the green grass to take over visually.
Beth D.
Original Author
6 years ago
Ok, thanks Jerry!