I know now, that I was far from doing the right thing. I should have watered deep ounce a week. I should not have been doing the Tru-green. As a result my yard is thick and brown. It feels like a crunchy carpet. The Thatch is so thick I have to rip the "yard rug" up to see the soil. I really have not seen it this bad on this site.

Mid spring 2008 I realized what I had done. I began reading this website as well as researching my problem. I went cold turkey on the chemical treatment. I used two applications of soybean meal that year. Things were really never as green. The yard was so thick with thatch I couldnt see any soil. I used a rental aerator and made several passes. The plugs were 70% thatch and 30% soil, not cool. I tried a dethatcher as well. It almost rolled the sod back up. Mind you, it has been two years since the sod was laid, and the roots are weak and no deeper than the thatch. I reseeded the spots where the sod totally came up.

My yard is the last in the neighborhood to green up. I cut the lawn short.I put down a treatment of soybean meal last week. The truth is, I dont know hom much of the grain even penetrated the grass to the soil. Its that bad. Below ive pulled up some of the grass to see the soil.

What should I expect? I am at a loss. I hope the grass comes up. Although it seems it will be choked out like the weeds.

This is all I can think of. I hope I didnt miss anything. Any thoughts, comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks

Brandon

It looks like the grass is really short. It will be healthier if you mow it tall. I keep my mower deck at the highest setting unless I'm scalping to overseed.

A certain amount of thatch can be good, but if it's more than 1/2 inch thick, it can be a problem. You can do one of two things to get rid of thick thatch. You can either dethatch it with a dethatching rake or you can core aerate the lawn. If you dethatch, you remove all the thatch completely. If you core aerate, you basically punch through it and give it a chance to decompose. I prefer the core aeration because my soil is so low in organic matter that I hate the idea of removing any organic matter.

The key to getting a lawn to green up earlier is to get the grass to have deep healthy roots. You already know that you need to water less often and you're working on the thatch. The next step is to make sure it goes into winter with plenty of fertilizer. With a synthetic program, that would entail hitting it with fast release nitrogen after the top growth stops. With an organic program, it just means making sure you give it plenty of food (SBM, UCG, etc) from the time the summer heat breaks until it gets too cold for the soil microbes to be active.

I've used both approaches and my lawn usually stays green all winter. It's a little trickier with organics, but it can be done.

Get back to basics. Don't water unless your lawn needs it. Water deeply and infrequently. Aerate twice a year....do not Dethatch mechanically. Begin using organic methods and products to drastically improve your soil. Many organic soil conditioners will begin to break down the thatch layer turning the thatch into usable nutrients. Soil test for pH levels.

The only way you will get that sleeping bluegrass to jump out of dormancy immediately is to blast it with nitrogen and that will help for the month of April but begin the vicious cycle of chemical addiction that will only complicate things for the rest of the year. Be patient and adjust your expectations.....your not in an easy situation.

I am going to do the tea and molasses as suggested.

3. Do I need to time the tea brewing to when I spray it? do I brew one day and prepare to spray it the next?
4. Where is the molasses purchased?
5. How is it spread?

I have a very helpful local lawn store nearby. I can buy some seed to fill in the bare spots from last years dethatching.
6. What type of seed is suggested for my zone and situation?

I plan to just be patient and do the above suggested applications.

Thanks again

I am going to do the tea and molasses as suggested.

3. Do I need to time the tea brewing to when I spray it? do I brew one day and prepare to spray it the next?
4. Where is the molasses purchased?
5. How is it spread?

I have a very helpful local lawn store nearby. I can buy some seed to fill in the bare spots from last years dethatching.
6. What type of seed is suggested for my zone and situation?

I plan to just be patient and do the above suggested applications.

Thanks again ,
Brandon

A link to my local lawn store.

I use 2-3 oz of molasses per 1000 sq ft. You may be able to get horticultural grade molasses cheaper, but good ol' "Grandma's Molasses" from the grocery store is fine, although more expensive. I put the molasses and some hot water into a hose-end sprayer and go to town with it - the amount of dilution isn't all that important when you spray it as long as you get the entire 1000 sq ft. You'll be an expert by the end of the summer!

Compost tea does require a few items and a little planning. You'll need an aquarium air pump and a "bubble stone" to keep it aerobic, and you'll have to keep it aerobic (leave the air pump on the remainder while you're applying some). A bit of molasses in the compost tea maker will charge the microbes up but they'll eat it all if you wait too long. Look on this site or just google "compost tea maker" for more details.

You're doing good with the soybean meal, just give it time. But you need to do more IMHO.

In autumn, gather as many bags of curbside leaves and mulch mow them into your lawn each and every year. Just when you think that your lawn can't take anymore mulched leaves DO IT SOMEMORE!! LOL.

If you have the energy, buy some compost in bulk and rake in about 1/4 inch over the lawn and sprinkle in. (Same for spreading those large bales of Canadian peat lightly over the lawn.) You can do the compost or Canadian peat addition right now or anytime during the season before the ground freezes.

I use molasses alot and make compost tea a couple times a year for the lawn. Not sure it is even necessary any longer because I've built up alot of organic matter but it's fun for me to use that stuff in a sprayer.

If your neighbors put their grass clippings out for curbside pick up - STEAL them!! Spread them out over your lawn and mulch mow them in as often as you can. (This is where the molasses spray will help with healthy decomposition IMHO.)

My lawn was just like yours 22 years ago when we built our home. It ain't like that anymore!! It just takes time and diligence on your part. Plus, you'll find it is alot of fun to improve the lawn.

It will take time but you will get there. Good luck!!

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00001565.html

It's the compaction, which can be alleviated by adding large amounts of organic matter and by core aeration.

I disagree with several parts of the MSU suggestions. Core aerating might have some benefit if you water heavily and apply compost at the same time.

Top dressing with soil must be something that's done in certain regions like burning off the lawn in Iowa. The rest of the world top dresses with organic material to avoid getting the build up of soil that sometimes towers 8 inches above the surrounding concrete sidewalks (I have pictures).

The power rake should work if the grass has established roots in the soil. The OP has already tried raking and pulled up the turf so that's not an option.

The MSU site does not mention compaction. I would not think compaction would be an issue under a lot of thatch because the thatch would act like a mulch on top of the soil.

I just use organic matter to mainly keep thatch under control but apparently MSU doesn't think my way is the best?

I've got one of those hand held aerators I use on the dog paths but have never aerated my lawn and I have no thatch to speak of. So, for me, topdressing with organics, mulching leaves, etc., works.

http://web1.msue.msu.edu/msue/iac/greentip/gt1144.pdf

Hard soil should not be so impervious that roots cannot penetrate. There are other issues there. However, the core aeration should alleviate them if you follow up with puh-LENTY of deep watering. The idea is to get the roots back down into the soil. That is done with deep watering, not daily watering.