Grass scorched from walking on

paddylonglegs

Hello,

we’ve recently moved to a new house, the lawn looks like it has been well cared for.

my 3 small boys have done lots of running around on it and I’m seeing footprint shaped scorch marks where they have been running. It’s happened in mid January and it had been cold at that time. The site is slightly exposed so Iv noticed the grass quite dewey/wet in the mornings

I wonder is the grass stressed from the weight on it? Should I be sowing a sturdier grass seed for the likes of play/football?

i would expect it will grow back ok but just wondering do I need to take action so this doesn’t continue? (Never an option to keep them off the grass!)

looksee

footprint shaped scorch marks

Have you or anyone been spraying weedkiller at any time? Has there been any kind of chemical activity around - even (if unlikely) re-tarmacing of roads? This seems much more likely than individual prints showing as scorch marks from pressure. Over use of the grass might produce generalised wear evidence, especially if the ground was wet but not individual footprints. In the unlikely event that the grass was bruised from walking on when frozen it will soon restore itself.

Not an expert but all grass is a bit worse for wear after winter.

Give it a while and see what happens.

I doubt you would need to reseed, you'd have to keep the boys off for an extended period anyways.

The Continental Op

Sounds to me that the grass was walked on when it had frost on it. Bad move that damages the grass and it goes yellow. Easy answer keep of the grass until the ground has thawed out.

I was wondering about the footprints, are you sure they’re prints? Any chance neighbouring pets might get in to the lawn? Our dogs have discoloured parts of ours…

The Continental Op

https://www.lawn-tech.co.uk/lawn-care-guide/frost-snow-waterlogging/will-frost-damage-lawn/

Frost damage on lawn

looksee

Heavens! I have never seen frost damage on grass as distinct as that. (not saying it wouldn't happen, just never seen it)

Jim_Hodge

I have it here too. It's just from waking on frozen grass. It'll come back when growth speeds up. The crunch you hear when walking in frozen (so brittle) grass is the stems braking.

walterking

It will grow back perfectly. Don't be stressed about it and let the kids enjoy themselves.

CalamariFritti

Thats why they close golf courses when there's frost on it. You'd destroy the place especially the greens.

The Continental Op

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200900#Comment_120200900

Depends on the grass type some are more directly affected than others. The better the lawn the more obvious the marks.

paddylonglegs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120200866#Comment_120200866

This is exactly the same scene, I wasn’t able to post a photo earlier.

thanks for all the responses, and yes I understand it’s from frozen grass. This would have definitely happened in the last few weeks as they were mad to get out.