[ccm241]

Hello,

First post here!

Looking to get some advice on my lawn. In December of this year, I ripped out most of a large pinestraw bed that had a large mature tree in it. After removing the tree, I had the stump thoroughly ground, with as much stump material removed as possible. In early April, I brought in a dump truck load of good quality top soil the seeded with new fescue (not exactly sure of species type but yard guy said it was same).

Grass came in thick and looked great. Once established, I was watering every day for several months (8 min or so at each of three zones at around 5:30 am). We had a pretty wet summer here in Charlotte, so I typically turned of sprinklers after big rains.

Put down some Milorganite end of June to green things up and it did the trick. Yard looks pretty decent for a while aside from grab grass starting to appear. Looked like this on June 8th:



At some point in June yard guy said he put down the crab grass granules, but I noticed no change and grab grass starting coming in like crazy. By mid July, yard was beginning to decline and really thin out in spots. Crab grass was still coming in like crazy as well. Around this time I dialed back watering to three times a week. About two-three weeks ago, yard guy use a crab grass spray (attached to garden house - not sure what brand). Some of crabgrass started dying but have still seen alot of new. Starting about two weeks ago I am not watering at all anymore (have still had plenty of rain) and grass looks pretty much dead and matted in certain areas. We have had alot of rain recently as well.

This is what it looks like as of today:



I the pic below I outline the area of the old bed in red. The yellow circle indicates the location of the old tree. The blue lines outline the areas where the old grass has remained. Lawn gets partial sun (through trees) in morning then full sun in afternoon.

I bought a soil test device from Lowes the other day and it says that basically all of the front yard is still really wet and registering around 7-8 on the pH Scale in various locations. Some areas of front yard always seem to be wet over last couple months and I've noticed areas where it looks like pooled up Milorganite (black slimy patches) where crabgrass goes nuts.

Aside from large sections of my yard looking totally dead, it also seems evident that the seed my guy put down is a different species from what I had before. The blades seem thinner than the older established grass and have never been as green.

I am open to any and all suggestions as I dont understand how lawn went so bad in 2 months. Let me know if I need to provide more information.

-C

 

[social port]

Very difficult to say...
My recommendations are general. From now until early September, only water if your lawn gets less than one inch of rain per week. I would be surprised if you made it through summer without getting some kind of fungus.
Ditch the soil test kit from Lowes. They are not valid. Sending samples off to a lab is worth the cost if you want to learn about your soil.
Your yard guy should be able to give you answers that are satisfying. If he can't, then that's a problem. Also, I'm really surprised that a turf pro would use a hose-end sprayer. Could you find an alternative yard guy or gal?
Once temps cool and the lawn is getting one inch of water a week, you may see some recovery. In other words, September may be kind to your lawn..
If you have fescue, you'll likely want to reseed this fall. As I have recently learned, seeding fescue in spring is not optimal: your grass simply may not have been strong enough to survive the summer.

And welcome to TLF!

 

[j4c11]

Very hard to seed a fescue lawn in the spring in this area and have it survive the summer. Weeds, heat and fungus will wipe it out in no time. I'd say your lawn looks about right for this time of year given the way it was established. The best course of action at this point it to prepare to renovate mid-September. Here's more info on renovation:

http://lawniac.com/lawn-renovation

 

[g-man]

At some point in June yard guy said he put down the crab grass granules, but I noticed no change and grab grass starting coming in like crazy. By mid July, yard was beginning to decline and really thin out in spots. Crab grass was still coming in like crazy as well. Around this time I dialed back watering to three times a week. About two-three weeks ago, yard guy use a crab grass spray (attached to garden house - not sure what brand). Some of crabgrass started dying but have still seen alot of new. Starting about two weeks ago I am not watering at all anymore (have still had plenty of rain) and grass looks pretty much dead and matted in certain areas. We have had alot of rain recently as well.

I second j4c11 opinion. If the guy can't tell you what he used and why, then get another guy. I apply crabgrass preventer in March to prevent it from showing up. In your weather it should be sooner. June is too late to prevent it.

So, weed b gon plus crabgrass preventer as soon as the temperature drops to the safe limit from the product label (~85-90F).

Some areas of front yard always seem to be wet over last couple months and I've noticed areas where it looks like pooled up Milorganite (black slimy patches) where crabgrass goes nuts.

Aside from large sections of my yard looking totally dead, it also seems evident that the seed my guy put down is a different species from what I had before. The blades seem thinner than the older established grass and have never been as green.

Again, the guy should be able to tell you what he used. I fear he went with the cheapest possible. But like other said, summer survival of young grass is really hard. Overseed now in September.

Now the part that worries me - black slimy patches. Could you describe the location? Is it in the new topsoil area? Do you see it the older areas? How would you describe the soil in the older area? If the soil structure is too different being the new area and the old, it might create a basin to hold water (a bowl) with all the rains. This could lead to a fungus problem that shows a black slimy patches (two come to mind: Pythium root rot, summer patch). The univerity of NC has a great online resource around fungus (http://turfdiseaseid.ncsu.edu/).

 

[ccm241]

Thanks for comments.

We are definitely planning to seed again in Sept and he did say when we were seeding in Spring that my yard probably wont look great until Fall (after we seed again). He is a young guy and is trying to manage too much work himself (he has one helper) but overall his communication is pretty good and he is out there hustling so that is why I gave him a shot. My last crew was very professional (in and out in 20 min or less) and took care of everything but they did not communicate issues/ suggestions at all.

To be honest, I am thinking about ditching yard guy and doing it all myself anyway. The statement "if you want it done right, do it yourself" seems to very much apply when it comes to lawns.

If I decide to take it on myself (back yard has its own problems), is this the best resource for my area in regards to scheduling/ planning: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/tall-fescue-lawn-maintenance-calendar ?

 

[g-man]

I quickly read thru the link you provided. I think it reflect the best practices for your transition zone. I would follow it.