[brownthumb]

I have absolutely no idea what happened to the grass in our backyard since last year.

We had it aerated and power raked last month and then all of a sudden this huge patch just dried out. I tried raking all the dead grass away, and thought I could just seed and water it, but it's just getting worse.

Please help!! :|

 

[Turfguy93]

Snow mold maybe?? What has your weather been like?

 

[g-man]

We will need more background. It is interesting that you could see the tire tracks in with grass. What chemicals/fertilizers have you applied? Do you have previous images from this year?

 

[brownthumb]

Pretty bad winter. Cold and dry.

My neighbors don't have any dead patches at all though.

 

[Wolverine]

Probably too early for grub damage?

 

[brownthumb]

We will need more background. It is interesting that you could see the tire tracks in with grass. What chemicals/fertilizers have you applied? Do you have previous images from this year?

Grass is long. Haven't mowed in about 2 weeks. Tire tracks are from my lawn mower- mowed the front yard yesterday. We store it in the shed.

Applied CIL Golfgreen Gold Lawn Fertilizer 26-0-6 about 4 weeks ago.

Two weeks ago I raked, covered the area with top soil and then seeded the with Scott's Turf Builder Grass Seed - Sunny Areas Mix.

We've had a lot of rain over the past few days and more rain this coming weekend.

No before pictures.

 

[chrisben]

From the times you list, sounds like this happened around the same time of the fert appliation, the next question is going to be how much did you throw down? over how large of an area? Was this your first application for the year?
Did you water it in? how much water was applied afeter? Are these lowspots?

With poorly draining soils and lowspots, it can cause burning if water is applied to the point of pooling, then the places the water pools gets a more concentrated app.

 

[Delmarva Keith]

The pattern looks like either a chemical reaction (like fert burn) or pythium blight or an outrageously bad grub infestation. Not much else that makes any sense will take out that much turf, that fast, that completely dead.

You said it keeps getting worse as the weeks go by, it's likely not fert burn. That should not get much worse over time plus there is some living grass among the dead and it looks healthy enough so combined, just doesn't look like a chemical issue to me.

If it keeps getting worse and it is very dry, it's likely not pythium. When you say "dried out" you mean the soil has been relatively dry or the dead grass blades just died and dried out? Is that area generally constantly moist and humid? How often and how much do you water?

Can you check for grub damage - try to lift a section of the dead turf. If it has basically no roots, it's likely grubs. They emerge from the soil as beetles right around this time of year so you might not see any actual grubs anymore, but you can see the root damage they did all Spring. That does get worse as the weather starts to heat up.

 

[brownthumb]

Can you check for grub damage - try to lift a section of the dead turf. If it has basically no roots, it's likely grubs. They emerge from the soil as beetles right around this time of year so you might not see any actual grubs anymore, but you can see the root damage they did all Spring. That does get worse as the weather starts to heat up.

Was away on holidays, but it definitely seems like something was attacking the roots and killing the grass, so I'm thinking grubs. I raked the entire area a few weeks ago, dumped a bunch of soil, mixed it with a generous amount of EZ seed and spread it. Growing back now. Watered it every morning for about 30-40 minutes.

Just noticed that other areas of our lawn have started to turn brown and disintegrate. Not dry, as it's been raining quite a bit over the past two weeks.

Someone told me that I should try treating the grubs with beneficial nematodes.

 

[JohnP]

I wouldn't do nematodes. I would do something that had a 24hr knockdown for grubs.

 

[Greendoc]

Canada. Cannot use Dylox. That is what I apply for rapid knockdown of insect pests feeding on grass. Must be combined with or followed up with Imidacloprid for residual control. Dylox works and then breaks down in a couple of days.

 

[JohnP]

Oh dang, I didn't see the Canada part. Paging @Sinclair he's the guy I know has been through the Canada 'cide restriction stuff.

 

[Sinclair]

Oh dang, I didn't see the Canada part. Paging @Sinclair he's the guy I know has been through the Canada 'cide restriction stuff.

I've never used any grub control, and luckily haven't needed to.

I should maybe get on the nematode program now while I don't have a problem.

 

[JohnP]

I could be wrong, but I thought nematodes can cause other issues that are harder to solve?

 

[Greendoc]

Canada allows insect parasitic nematodes to be used for pest control in lawns. They are like tapeworms infesting grubs. The other kind of nematodes you are thinking of are parasites of grass and plant roots. Those can be very bad.

 

[Sinclair]

I could be wrong, but I thought nematodes can cause other issues that are harder to solve?

There are many types of nematodes. The ones that kill grubs aren't the ones that cause root knot. That's the premise of nematode grub control, at least. I have no experience with this.

 

[g-man]

I think it is best not to assume grubs. Take a shovel to the area going from dead to green and dig a shallow 1sqft (0.1sqm). Look for grubs.

If you don't find them, then you could have a fungus.

 

[Delmarva Keith]

I think it is best not to assume grubs. Take a shovel to the area going from dead to green and dig a shallow 1sqft (0.1sqm). Look for grubs.

If you don't find them, then you could have a fungus.

G-man, it's early July. Do you think grubs would still be there? I've seen several cicada's still in the ground lately but not a grub to be found.

 

[g-man]

I don't think there would be grubs at this time, but it is Canada and I'm not familiar with Calgary weather. Hence why I suggested to check. I'm assuming there will be no grubs. Since problem is expanding with a rainy weather, it is likely a fungus.