[CTJomh]

New member here looking for advice.

I live in Omaha Nebraksa and am looking to improve my lawn. I am striving for a dark green color. The house we have was sod a few years ago with a unknown *** variety that I dislike. Tall growing and much lighter green than I desire. The property didn't have an irrigation system until this year. The heat and lack of water during summer caused many spots to become thin. I also have a slight quackgrass problem. Quackgrass is killing me. I can't seem to figure out how to beat it. Last year I tried several spot apps of roundup but think because of drought the quackgrass was dormant and came back up in the fall. I overseeded the dead areas with KBG 2 years ago and TTTF last year. Those few spots look nice except for the quackgrass that remains. Always before overseeding I had the lawn plug aerated. The spots that were cleared with roundup took to the overseeding. the rest of the lawn I can't tell if any of the new grass came up, it all looks like the old light colored grass. How do I get the majority of the grass to be the newer variety without killing the whole lawn? I do feel like the irrigation system will help a lot with germination and keeping the grass alive before the heat comes.

 

[g-man]

Welcome.

For quack, you have to use round up when is it growing. It is the most effective way to get rid of it. Carefully paint the quack leaves.

If you want only a new variety of grass to grow, then you will need do a reno.

 

[zeus201]

Welcome!

Couple easier ways to temporarily improve color is using foliar iron spray and Milorganite as iron helps "darken" the turf.

Here is a link on FAS:

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=211

Start there and see what you think.

 

[Sinclair]

Just strictly answering the title of the thread; the quickest way to improve your colour is to spray ferrous ammonium sulfate, or if you're coming into hot weather, just chelated iron to avoid pushing nitrogen. Of course, it will be up to the genetic potential of your current grass as to how much the colour can be improved. You likely cant make everything catch up with the dark patches.

Stop aerating while you have quack, as you are coring out pieces of rhizomes and distributing them around your lawn.

If quack is a problem, and you really don't like the current cultivar of grass, you're looking at a full reno as @g-man said.