help, why is the grass dying?

fifib

new lawn was put down last October and got first cut in April. we had great growth and gorgeous green grass until a few weeks ago. now its all dying off. I got a landscaper in to cut it end of may as growth was so rapid it was up to knees in less than two weeks. he gave it a high/rough cut and few days later my husband did it again with manual lawnmower. we then got a ride-on ourselves and have been using mulcher but grass is dying off now. would this be as a result of the mulching?
in pics can see dark greenpatch in middle, this is what it was like and surrounding it is all dying and hardly any growth in last few weeks.
we got front/side lawn put down few months ago and its good now but afraid same it will start to happen again
any advice?

looksee

It has probably something to do with the underlying soil, was it rotavated or similar when the land was prepared? Could be that the sub soil was brought up, which would be less fertile. Is there a bit of a dip in the middle, does it hold water? What are the few dark spots at the front? Maybe feed it and see how it goes.

magicbastarder

is it actually dying, or maybe just yellowing?

seamus

^^
Yeah, is the ground potentially just very dry? Aside from a couple of days of rain, we've had a number of exceptionally dry and hot weeks. If the grass was cut quite short at the start of July then that might explain the yellowing.

The further half of the garden also appears to be on a downslope slightly running away from the house, so water will naturally drain away from this area.

Maybe get a couple of sprinklers that can be wheeled out during the summer to keep the grass hydrated, and go up a setting on the mower to give the grass another couple of mm.

fifib

dark spots at the front are the dogs wee wee patches! no dip in the middle but it does slope off a bit on the sides and to back. theres alot of soil gone into it. we literally had a mount of topsoil as high as a bungalow dug out from foundations of the house. we tried selling it but decided to raise the garden up in the end so it all got spread out. its weird the dark green patch that still has great growth is actually where the mound of earth was for 2 years. they used a digger to spread it all out then.

its very course and almost crunchy to walk on which led me to think it was dead/burnt grass.
we cut/mulch it at the highest setting on the ride-on but i know when we did first few cuts with push lawnmower we couldnt adjust the height (old lawnmower on last legs!) maybe we cut it to low back then and the dry spell we got then is causing all this.

ShiverinEskimo

Water it and spread grass fertiliser. Let it grow a bit higher for a few weeks after you fertilise and then keep cutting it high enough for a while until it thickens and recovers. Maybe next year you can aim for a tighter cut if that's what you're after.

The second year of my new lawn was similar. Went yellow and had barely any growth in large sections. This year it's like a rainforest with all the sun and rain.

griffzinho

Judging from the dog pee patches it responds well to a bit of fertilizer and will green up accordingly. The time will be soon for an application of low nitrogen feed and then next March fertilize it with a high nitrogen feed.

What is key in my opinion if that you maintain a stricter mowing regime. Letting it grow long then hacking it to the ground in a tight cut is a disaster. You should never cut grass be more than 1/3 height if you want to maintain a good lush lawn. More regular light mowing is far better.

In fact be prepared for a lot of mowing if you want a nice lawn. Grass responds will to a light cut and it will grow a lot faster following an application of nitrogen feed in March so will need cutting nearly twice a week for April-July.

NIMAN

seamus wrote: »

^^
Yeah, is the ground potentially just very dry? Aside from a couple of days of rain, we've had a number of exceptionally dry and hot weeks. If the grass was cut quite short at the start of July then that might explain the yellowing.

I must be living in a different country to you.

invicta

griffzinho wrote: »

Judging from the dog pee patches it responds well to a bit of fertilizer and will green up accordingly. The time will be soon for an application of low nitrogen feed and then next March fertilize it with a high nitrogen feed.

What is key in my opinion if that you maintain a stricter mowing regime. Letting it grow long then hacking it to the ground in a tight cut is a disaster. You should never cut grass be more than 1/3 height if you want to maintain a good lush lawn. More regular light mowing is far better.

In fact be prepared for a lot of mowing if you want a nice lawn. Grass responds will to a light cut and it will grow a lot faster following an application of nitrogen feed in March so will need cutting nearly twice a week for April-July.

Agree fully with you, only to add, what is the situation regards lime?(the most important nutrient.)
Was lime applied at time of sowing, or since?