[adamlantelme]

Hey there,

My name's Adam Lantelme, I live in Denver and am just stepping into the lawn beautification game. And by that I mean I'm on a journey to getting a great looking lawn.

This may be long, but the most important question I have is what kind of grass do I have? I believe I have Kentucky Bluegrass but am not entirely sure.

For reference -- I'm going to include a YouTube link and some screenshots that will detail what I'm about to ask, but I'll also leave this in text format too.

====

I purchased my home (first home) in Dec 2016 which had sod freshly laid in November.

Last summer I didn't do much with it since the lawn looked great. I watered generously every day.

As you'll see in the video, this year it's starting to bite the dust. In March all the grass next to the sidewalk died. Even though it snows I don't get plows in my neighborhood so I doubt it's got anything to do with road salt.

In April and May I put turf builder down on it (even spilled some which you'll see in the video) took thatch out by hand as best I could several times, had it aerated, power raked, fertilized and I mow it every 10 days without taking much off the top. I've been following a lot of Lawn Care Nuts advice if anyone knows about him.

Since then I've watered the entire lawn for about 8 minutes (I have a full coverage inground sprinkler system) every single day since May 20.

I want to reseed the dead and dying areas and then get a protocol going to keep it nice.

So, if anyone can tell me what kind of grass I have, that'd be awesome. If you have other feedback about the lawn I'm open to hearing it, but I just need to attack my biggest problem today.

*** I said fungicide - I meant fungus.

 

[Schaef]

Looks like a regular cool season mix

 

[gm560]

Tough to tell what type of grass. I am guessing its KBG and PRG mix. If that is the case, you could overseed it with PRG in the fall.

Or, have you fertilized? Put down some milo and give some good water. If it is KBG is should fill in.

I would also adjust your watering schedule. Watering everyday isn't the best unless it is brand new. You should switch to a good soak (1 inch total ideally, either from your sprinklers or mother nature. You can measure with a rain gauge or some tuna cans) once a week. This will cause your roots to grow deeper in search of water. Every day babies it and its much more likely to be less resilient.

You also might want to check the soil by the road/sidewalk. In Denver I am assuming you get some snow/road salt dumped there that has lead to the dying grass. Might be a good idea to figure out if there is an issue and amend before you try to plant anything there.

 

[g-man]

Welcome to TLF. Looks like a nomix. I echo most of the previous comments. Have you given the Cool season guide a read?

 

[adamlantelme]

Tough to tell what type of grass. I am guessing its KBG and PRG mix. If that is the case, you could overseed it with PRG in the fall.

Or, have you fertilized? Put down some milo and give some good water. If it is KBG is should fill in.

I would also adjust your watering schedule. Watering everyday isn't the best unless it is brand new. You should switch to a good soak (1 inch total ideally, either from your sprinklers or mother nature. You can measure with a rain gauge or some tuna cans) once a week. This will cause your roots to grow deeper in search of water. Every day babies it and its much more likely to be less resilient.

You also might want to check the soil by the road/sidewalk. In Denver I am assuming you get some snow/road salt dumped there that has lead to the dying grass. Might be a good idea to figure out if there is an issue and amend before you try to plant anything there.

Hey, thanks so much for the reply.

Yeah, I did fertilize, back in April. Not sure what kind was used and not sure that it matters.

I've heard about that kind of a watering schedule so I think I'll adjust over to that. It's been abnormally hot here (103 yesterday) so would that still be a good idea on once a week?

Regarding the grass against the sidewalk, I'm not sure that's the issue for me. We don't get salt/plows where I live, and last summer the grass was fine there. Plus, most people on my street don't have the issue.

Since it's a bit hard to tell if it's PRG or KBG, would do a mixture and seeding in the fall be a worthwhile pursuit?

 

[adamlantelme]

Welcome to TLF. Looks like a nomix. I echo most of the previous comments. Have you given the Cool season guide a read?

Thank you.

I'll check that guide out right away.

And a quick Google search seems to indicate nomix is mix of PRG KBG and some other kinds? I think that's what I was able to tell nomix = Northern mix?

 

[g-man]

Yes, nomix, northern mix, are terms that means a lawn of perrenial ryegrass, Kentucky blue grass and tall fescue.

 

[adamlantelme]

Great, thanks!

I'll get some seed and come up with a protocol for fall.

 

[NoslracNevok]

I had dead/bad areas along my sidewalk as well. If your going to reno, check to see if concrete went below the forms when the sidewalk was poured.

 

[chrisben]

A screwdriver test can tell that too, somewhat. @G-man has a thread around here about dealing with sub-teranian surprises the builder left behind, but I can't find it at present...

 

[gm560]

Tough to tell what type of grass. I am guessing its KBG and PRG mix. If that is the case, you could overseed it with PRG in the fall.

Or, have you fertilized? Put down some milo and give some good water. If it is KBG is should fill in.

I would also adjust your watering schedule. Watering everyday isn't the best unless it is brand new. You should switch to a good soak (1 inch total ideally, either from your sprinklers or mother nature. You can measure with a rain gauge or some tuna cans) once a week. This will cause your roots to grow deeper in search of water. Every day babies it and its much more likely to be less resilient.

You also might want to check the soil by the road/sidewalk. In Denver I am assuming you get some snow/road salt dumped there that has lead to the dying grass. Might be a good idea to figure out if there is an issue and amend before you try to plant anything there.

Hey, thanks so much for the reply.

Yeah, I did fertilize, back in April. Not sure what kind was used and not sure that it matters.

I've heard about that kind of a watering schedule so I think I'll adjust over to that. It's been abnormally hot here (103 yesterday) so would that still be a good idea on once a week?

Regarding the grass against the sidewalk, I'm not sure that's the issue for me. We don't get salt/plows where I live, and last summer the grass was fine there. Plus, most people on my street don't have the issue.

Since it's a bit hard to tell if it's PRG or KBG, would do a mixture and seeding in the fall be a worthwhile pursuit?

I think you could cut that weekly 1 inch into biweekly half inch. If the lawn looks stressed you could give it another drink.

Yea I think overseeding in the fall would be worthwhile. The one thing I would say is do your best to figure out why you have dead spots before throwing more seed at it. If there is something like buried concrete as other members have mentioned or large rocks under the soil and you don't fix the underlying problem, whatever you plant there will probably die, too. The aforementioned screw driver test is a good idea.

 

[adamlantelme]

Thanks, I'll be testing out 1" tomorrow.

Btw, what doe reno mean?

I've searched the glossaries and a bunch of threads but can't find the definition.

 

[g-man]

Reno = renovate = kill your grass and start over from bare dirt and seeds. I don't recommend you doing that.

 

[adamlantelme]

Gotcha.

And no, I don't think I need to at all. Just some touch up.

 

[adamlantelme]

I performed the screwdriver test and there doesn't seem to be anything significant under the dirt. I did run across stones quite frequently, but if I moved the screwdriver a teeny bit it passed right through.

What I'm noticing is these dead spots are expanding.

The grass next to the sidewalk sloughs right off and the dirt underneath is turning to dust.

The same is true of dead spots in the middle of the yard?

+++
EDIT I found the turfgrass disease ID threat from NC state. If the lawn is nomix which ones should I select?

 

[g-man]

For the NC State, use perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, fine and tall fescue.

I watched your video and got dizzy. Between seconds 0:01 to 0:09, there are three different areas. On the top near the house, at the bottom a dark/black area and towards the edge of the sidewalk. Which one are you concern the most?

The first thing to check is your irrigation. You mentioned 8min cycles and that's seems short. Do the tuna/straight wall container test and check 1) how long to get 1/2in full and 2) even coverage (do multiple containers all get 1/2in?.

Which area is expanding? Could you post some images of the edge between green and expanding?

Are you watering in the am only?

Have you noticed an increase in bugs when you mow? Did you applied a grub control this year?

It seems that I have more questions than answers at this point.

 

[adamlantelme]

For the NC State, use perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, fine and tall fescue.

I watched your video and got dizzy. Between seconds 0:01 to 0:09, there are three different areas. On the top near the house, at the bottom a dark/black area and towards the edge of the sidewalk. Which one are you concern the most?

The first thing to check is your irrigation. You mentioned 8min cycles and that's seems short. Do the tuna/straight wall container test and check 1) how long to get 1/2in full and 2) even coverage (do multiple containers all get 1/2in?.

Which area is expanding? Could you post some images of the edge between green and expanding?

Are you watering in the am only?

Have you noticed an increase in bugs when you mow? Did you applied a grub control this year?

It seems that I have more questions than answers at this point.

Hey g-man,
Sorry about the bad video, I've made a new, less frenetic one.

I'll do the tuna test tomorrow and I'll set up 10-12 containers to check coverage. We've had quite a bit of rain over the past few days which is why I held off. And yes, I was only watering in the am.

Regarding grubs/bugs. I see very few bugs or traces of bugs in my yard at all.

 

[chrisben]

I'm not an expert here, but that looks dry as all get-out. Watering deeper, and less frequent encourages the plant roots to drive into the soil deeper, so as to better tolerate drought stress. Pretty sure the 8 minutes every day was for getting your new sod roots to begin establishing, after a bit, that's supposed to get longer, and less frequent. There's several recomendations in this thread for 1" of water, applied weekly, and it sounds like you're on the right path to that with the tuna can test. (as an idea, In my yard, decent pressure city water with above ground gear drive sprinklers, it takes me about 2 hours in each location I move the sprinklers to put down an inch of water.)
With regards to seeding dead/thin spots, like the area along the side walk, make sure to break up that soil with a garden weasal or something before re-seeding it this fall. (do you use a snow blower? be sure to put up markers along the driveway and sidewalk over the winter to prevent the traffic of your blower over the frozen grass, that's real tough on your sidewalk edging)

 

[g-man]

So I see 3 possibilities. 1 )You have Poor irrigation qty or evenness. 2) you had grubs or 3) you had a fungus.
I used past tense in two of those since they are no longer active or at play.

I think you really need to ensure your irrigation/watering is correct first. The video shows too many dry areas and I see one head (1:47) that looks green around it but not 1ft in front. That's indicative of no head to head coverage. Nozzles are bad at spray water near them, but good at spraying at a distance. The head to head concept is that another nozzle sprays the area around the initial one. For example in your video, the nozzle at 1:47 should get water from the nozzle at the left corner. If you turn on the irrigation and dont see water landing on top of that nozzle, then that's a problem.

My current assumption is that the nitrogen you applied was at a high rate. That force the need for more water, but the water as not even/uniform so you see areas that are very green and full (the got water), but not everywhere. Lets focus on water/irrigation for now and make sure it is right before we work on other areas.

 

[adamlantelme]

Thanks g-man and chrisben.

Performing the tuna can test with around 20 some cans tomorrow.

Will have results in a little bit more video to help illustrate what's happening with irrigation.