the good …

 

the bad and ugly problem areas

 

possibly watering consistency. Do you have sprinklers and have you checked the amount of water they are putting down in those areas compared to the rest?

The patch in the middle almost looks like its over something burried. I have a lot of boulders in my yard that have grass like that in the limited soil on top of them. Not sure how much topsoil you put down but I'd poke it with an extra long screwdriver and see if there is something under it.

 

Won’t believe this - I remembered that a previous own (likely back in the 80s or earlier) put an asphalt parking pad there. When we bought this place a few years ago there was an old rotting cabana sitting here just taking up space. Anyway. In the fall of 22 and again this past October I trucked in a lot of soil - 10 cubic yards this past October. That said, I was assuming if there was an anything in the ground it was covered by that dirt. This morning I went out there and hit a few of these thin areas with a pick axe. I kept hitting rocks - mostly old broken down asphalt.

So - you appear to have been correct in your assumption. If there is broken asphalt 6” down, how do I remedy this? How much dirt does the lawn need to really thrive

 

I think that grass is just "behind" and not fully out of dormancy. I have a few areas like that but as it gets warmer the areas are shrinking. (I used super turf 1 - pretty sure it's same mix minus kbg) My grass never went fully dormant. Some (in warm places near the house grew all winter, some yellowed a little and stopped growing at the end of fall but none went really "brown".

I've been comparing to my mother's lawn which is also tttf but doesn't get as much sun as mine. Most of hers looks like this except the few areas that get sun all day.

I feel like my areas are places it is a little lower and also places where it didn't get as much time to grow last fall. They are also areas that had struggled to establish in the fall (I have one section that was very far behind due to some weird incident before seed down)

They are not bare spots... There is thick coverage but it's still very short and not as green.

This is just my personal observation but I've been watching closely for months now.

All that to say, I think they are just behind in waking up and they'll be fine.

I think it's worth keeping an eye on those areas or remembering where they were in case the reason they are behind is something you (we) can fix like a watering issue or something buried below.

Like, in my 12k project area, some of the places that are behind have known reasons - one stripe that I know has pea gravel and a pvc pipe below, one section that was sprayed with something that should have been gly but apparently wasn't, one section that is shaded by a house in the morning and a detached garage later in the day. Then a few "spots" that are unknown causes, maybe not good sprinkler coverage, compacted soil, longer time with some frost so the grass was more dormant than other areas.

I hope that makes sense.

 

How much Nitrogen did you apply last fall, and this spring?

New grass is hungry grass.

 

I had a similar issue. 6in is not enough. Once the summer heat comes, the rocks will get warm and keep the area dry. The roots just fry in those conditions. 12in or more be ok in my opinion.

 

I have the same In my front lawn. I was worried too my first spring after fall seeding. Some areas just take longer to come out of dormancy. Just throw down some nitrogen and mow. When it gets warm enough to water make sure you're doing that and it will be fine. I'm in year 3 and grass is one of the best in my neighborhood. If you're really worried about some areas, use a plugger and move some healthier grass to the weaker spots. The KBG will do the rest. I honestly have been thinking about nuking it and starting over. I layed down some snapback in my backyard and it gets dark and I can mow low down to 1.5 inches!!!!!. looks amazing lmaoooo😅