sharpen blades , mow and bag
color clouded , some yellowing. pick up disease ex
don't over water , water deep. check coverage

overall looks good . it has been a hot year

 

What is color clouded? Also, what would you consider to be over watering?

 

I agree that fungicide is needed as soon as possible to prevent fungal issues from spreading. As for watering, damp leaves at nighttime contribute to fungus. Do your watering very early in the morning. Deep and infrequently promotes deeper roots but with new sod you'd better play it by ear. Water when the grass starts to change color or footprints don't spring back up. If the leaves roll up, get some water on there immediately. How much water are you putting down when you irrigate? Generally you want 1 inch a week in growing season, but in such hot weather as we have, 1.5 could be a better target. What height are you cutting? It looks a little floppy to me. You can get better air flow with shorter grass than what you're doing. I'm using Scott's Disease Ex and it has prevented brown patch. You want to use the curative rate. You should be able to find it at big box stores or hardware stores.

 

I agree that fungicide is needed as soon as possible to prevent fungal issues from spreading. As for watering, damp leaves at nighttime contribute to fungus. Do your watering very early in the morning. Deep and infrequently promotes deeper roots but with new sod you'd better play it by ear. Water when the grass starts to change color or footprints don't spring back up. If the leaves roll up, get some water on there immediately. How much water are you putting down when you irrigate? Generally you want 1 inch a week in growing season, but in such hot weather as we have, 1.5 could be a better target. What height are you cutting? It looks a little floppy to me. You can get better air flow with shorter grass than what you're doing. I'm using Scott's Disease Ex and it has prevented brown patch. You want to use the curative rate. You should be able to find it at big box stores or hardware stores.

I've probably been doing .5 inches every other day. I just bought a rain gauge, so that I can have a better idea of how much I am irrigating. I find it so hard to know 1 inch a week without it. I went to a hardware store today and the guy mentioned that a remedy could just be to rake the brown spots and continue water schedule. What do you think about that as opposed to fungus?

 

You can use tuna fish or cat food cans to measure irrigation. Set them in various parts of the lawn to see how well your system (are you using a sprinkler?) reaches the grass. They can also let you measure rainfall.

The lesions are troubling and indicate fungus. Fungus can spread and it kills grass. Did you get fungicide at the store? Use it. For years I have avoided using fungicide because fungi are so important in the soil. But each year brown patch devastated the lawn. This year I decided to use fungicide (two kinds) as a preventative and I have no brown patch. If I can keep it watered I may be able to get through August with most of the grass still living.

 

Thanks. I am headed to the store today to get some Scott's Disease Ex. Is that the best move in your opinion?

 

Yes

 

I took a rake to the grass this morning to attempt to minimize thatching. Could there be an issue with the root being able to establish deep enough in the soil. Check out these pictures:

 

You have new sod, laid in April, so it hasn't had time to develop deep roots. But check with a screwdriver to see if there are rocks or anything in the soil that is preventing root penetration. Call the company that laid the sod and get them to check out your situation. They can probably help diagnose what's going on. Fescue usually doesn't produce thatch.

 

Here are a few more pics in the heat wave