Can I save my dying new grass?

6 years ago

I planted new grass from seed this spring. I was watering regularly and it grew in well. I was away on vacation and came home to dry yellow grass patches, some bigger than others. It was a very hot time I was gone, which was just over a week. And my whole lawn has started to brown a little, but nothing like these patches. Some parts of my new lawn are yellow & some are green, which I imagine might be due to shade.

can this new grass be saved with water or nitrogen or iron or other?

Featured Answer

User

6 years ago

Water would be the only thing I'd add now. I don't see your location, so I can't see the grass type, but don't feed. You did the right thing six weeks ago, but right now, the grass doesn't want dinner. It already had a nice lunch and dinner is some time away yet.

Spring seedings on northern lawns are very difficult and it looks like you did the best job possible. Unfortunately, that hot week did damage.

Right now, water. Water. Water. If it doesn't rain, water every other day or every third day...ridiculous under any other circumstance, but in this case, required. And do it in the morning so the grass' blades are dry by nightfall. You want the soil damp but not soaking wet at any time, so that schedule may need to change depending on your sprinkler and the circumstances and location in the lawn--it's just a guideline and I'm also not specifying a time period of watering for that reason.

The goal, ultimately, would be about an inch of water a week regardless of how you put it down. For reference, a tuna can is just about an inch deep.

If anything is going to bring it back, that will. And unfortunately, once back, you're going to have to keep up the watering until the weather cools off.

Now that was for northern grass. If you have a southern grass like Bermuda, please let us know and I'll delete what I just said because it's not as proper as it should be. :-)

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Comments (8)

Neal Rich
Original Author
6 years ago
if it matters, I added Milorganite granular fertilizer about 6 weeks ago. That was added to the entire yard though.
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Neal Rich
Original Author
6 years ago
I live in the northeast. The grass seed was a mixture of rye, fescue and KBG.

i’ll water every other day in the mornings, as best I can. For days I can’t, how problematic would a 4:30 watering be in the month of july?

would daily watering be better?

roughly how long do you think it might take until I’d begin to see any results and know if the watering schedule is working?

thank you for helping
Neal Rich
Original Author
6 years ago
When is the dinner fertilizer? Labor Day?
User
6 years ago
The early supper is Labor Day. :-) Second course is October first.

If you do your last mow after November first, feed a third time if you can, and if the grass is still green. If you miss this one, in your locale that's not a major issue, but this is really helpful.

Grasses are heavy fall feeders. Growth is much slower than in spring, they're busily storing energy to survive winter, and feeding at this point increases their health, their storage of sugars, and helps them spread and stitch together. You'll also notice they green up earlier in spring (as early as they can), grow better in spring, and that winter survival is better if they were fed well in fall.

Conversely, they don't feed much in spring. Feed once on Memorial Day, after the major growth flush is well over, to get them through summer. That's all they need. Kind of like me, they really only eat once a day.
Donna Borland
6 years ago
What would you use to feed?
User
6 years ago
Variable. Personally? Soybean meal most years, but this whole virus thing has totally kicked my normal supply lines in the butt, which is more my ability and willingness to get it than actual soy supply, which is normal, or cost, which is way down.

Milorganite is fine. Most other higher-protein nitrogen fertilizers are just fine.

I have no objection to synthetic high-nitrogen fertilizers. They work fine, even though they don't supply anything but the nitrogen. In this case, make sure to always mulch mow, mow in your fall leaves, and so on, to try to keep up the organic matter levels in the soil.
danielj_2009
6 years ago
It should be said, in case you weren't sure, that seeding should be done in the fall whenever possible. New seedlings often fail in the summer heat. If there are still dead spots in late August I would reseed those areas.