Poor lawn condition

shane b

Hi
I checked various other threads but cant seem to a similar problem.
I got a lawn sowed in late August 2015 and is now covered in white dead grass. I got good quality screened topsoil prior to the lawn being sowed. I got the landscaper back in May 2016 as I wasn't happy about how the lawn was progressing. He told me not to worry and good slow release fertiliser would sort it out. The fertiliser was quite high in nitrogen and it worked for about 8 week  which covered most of the summer since then growth has been poor and the dead grass is quite visible when the lawn is mowed. The grass is also kinda rough in places.
Any idea want may have caused this and possible remedies. Would scarfing remove the dead grass? I also read the thread on the effect of leatherjackets has my lawn fallen fowl of them too. Thanks for any insight.

Nobbies

I doubt you have any trouble with leatherjackets there.they eat it at the roots and would look worse than your pics.grass seed quality maybe?

shane b

Ok thanks for that confirmation. It was supposed to be no.2 lawn seed that was used when sowed. And i dont think fertiliser is going help hugely either.

Water John

Scarifying certainly won't do it any harm. I think it needs to be cut shorter.
Feed it with a low nitrogen feed.

macsauce

Hey Shane b, wondering if you solved your lawn problem and, if so, how did you do it? I also have a patchy lawn with what appears to be a white mould or fungus at the roots of the grass.

shane b

For me it turns out the biggest issue was that I was cutting the lawn too high. I was cutting at 3 inches whereas I should have been cutting at 1.5 - 2 inches. Reducing the cut height helped bring life into the "white" dead grass.
I also applied a lowish nitrogen fertiliser at the same time.