Give a wider grass free area and mulch it. Probably also needs to be fertilized with a nitrogen source - mulching with composted manure might kill two birds with one stone.

is nitro ok in fall.. in the PNW?

are the spots in the lawn.. dog related???

ken

Our grass is dormant this time of year, so the green parts are only green because of catching water from watering the styrax.

I'm wondering if it could just be sun exposure. The styrax is listed as a full sun plant, but the tree gets sun for 10+ hours a day.

Will try some composted manure.

I'll take your word that it is a Styrax japonicus but it doesn't look like 99% of the styrax I am familiar with......leaves look more like S. obassia.

It could be that 10+ hours is a bit strong for a new and smallish plant. Styrax will take a fair amount of shade. But I'd suspect lack of sufficient watering to be a primary cause. And it will require a lot more than the nearby pitt.

Timing of significant amounts of new stem growth of cold climate adapted plants is regulated by more than whether or not somebody fertilizes them.