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jacob_poly

why does my grass look like this?

jacob_poly
16 years ago

This is my first post on this forum. I live in Utah and had my lawn sodded last year. However, I have been disappointed with how my lawn turned out. Esentially, theres a thin blade grass that grows like crazy but is very sparse. But the rest of the grass is almost not growing and almost looking brown. Any ideas? I water my lawn three times a week for about 20 minutes a station. Did I just get a bad batch of sod? Do I have to overseed my lawn to fix this issue? Please advice....

Going to try and post some pictures if I can find a link to upload.

Thanks,

Jacob.

Comments (7)

  • jacob_poly
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    ok...not sure how to post a picture here....:(

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    Here is a thread on the Rocky Mountain forum with lots of good information on how to post a picture.

    Here is a more concise thread from this forum.

    Where in Utah are you? Conditions (and probably grass choice) would be very different in St George from the Salt Lake area.

    What kind of soil do you have? Most of the soil around the Salt Lake valley is heavy clay, but there are areas that are very sandy. Watering needs for these types of soil are quite different.

    When last year did you sod? What, if any, fertilizer have you put down, and when? How high do you mow the grass?

    Have you ever measured how much water you are putting down when you water? If not, save some tuna cans and spread them around the lawn next time you water. Put some in different areas of the lawn to see what kind of coverage the sprinklers provide.

    I don't water as much as most of my neighbors, so I didn't sign up for secondary water. My sprinklers probably put out about half the water my neighbors with secondary water get. Different types of sprinkler heads put out different amounts of water, also. I actually vary the amount each station runs.

    If you have clay soil, does the soil absorb all the water in the 20 minutes it runs? My soil is heavy clay, and I used to water three times a week. I now water every week. What I do now is I water each station for X amount of time. I repeat the cycle at 1 AM, 2:10 AM and 3:20 AM. That way, I get the water to penetrate deeply into the soil rather than just in the top couple of inches. My goal is to apply an inch each time I water, but I don't think I get that much.

    A picture would probably help, if you can post after reading those other threads.

    If you need to reseed, this is probably the worst time, unless you're in southern Utah and planting a warm season grass.

  • jacob_poly
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    k...first...let me try and post an image...then will follow up with some answers to the questions asked

  • jacob_poly
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    In the picture you will see the green areas that are growing too fast (bad grass????) and the grass in between those which is slow growing and not as green.

    Located in Clearfield, Utah.

    I think I have clay soil underneath. But I did top it with about 3 truckloads of sandy-loamy soil and about a truckload of ordinary topsoil. This was on about 3300 sq. ft.

    Sod was put in at the end of May last year.

    I have Scotts putting in the fertilizer. They've already done 2 so far this year. They usually use slow release fertilizer.

    This year I also spread about 75 lbs of gypsum on the lawn and plan on putting a little bit of humus as well. Also did aerate in April. Idea is to increase water, air and fertilizer penetration as much as possible and get roots to go deeper.

    At present, I am mowing at the highest level on the mower

    I have not measured the water at different spots though. After reading another post on this forum, for about the last 3 weeks, I have been working on the split sprinkling...1/3rd the water at each sprinking....1AM, 3AM, 5 AM. I am averaging at 6-7 minutes each cycle. So thats 18-21 minutes per station on nights that I water. That is at the moment on Mon, Wed and Fri (3 times a week).

    Also, If I do reseed in the fall - what seed mixture should I get? And whats the grass composition in that?

    Please advice.

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    I wrote a detailed reply last night, but I must have closed without sending it.

    My first piece of advice would be to skip the gypsum in the future. It doesn't hurt anything, but it only helps certain kinds of clay, and the clay we have is not the kind that it helps.

    Watering with the split sprinkling helps to get the water deeper into the soil. You probably have no problem getting the top part of the soil to absorb water, since it's sandy loam/topsoil (how deep does this go?). Ideally, you'll want to penetrate into the clay as well, to encourage roots to go as deep as possible. It can be more difficult to get clay to absorb water, but once it's there, it retains water very well.

    I would also cut back to watering twice a week right away, increasing the times slightly (maybe not the full 50% to provide the same amount of water--I think we can use less water if we water less often, since we lose less to evaporation). After a few weeks of that, switch to watering once a week, applying double the amount you're applying now. If this works, you're using 2/3 the water you used to use.

    I'm not sure you want to ask me about seed mixtures. I'm cutting back on my watering and gradually replacing my KBG/fescue lawn with a low water lawn consisting of several natives and a few low water introduced species. I'm using streambank wheatgrass, western wheatgrass, crested wheatgrass and sheep fescue. My goal is to get to the point where I can have a green lawn if I water every other week.

    One drawback to my approach is that these grasses aren't as dark green as KBG. My main concern is reducing water use. If you're more interested in a dark green lawn, I would suggest asking for mix advice on the lawn care forum. There are some very knowledgeable people there who can make good recommendations.

  • jacob_poly
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    Thanks for your advice. Since you are gradually replacing your grass mixture.

    1) Where do you get the mixture of grass seeds of the ones you talked about?
    2) Any idea about this seed variety? I am including it as a link (Turf Alive) http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=8852

    Thanks,
    Jacob

    Here is a link that might be useful: Turf Alive

  • bpgreen
    16 years ago

    I just buy the individual seeds. I've bought most of my seeds from Round Butte Seed Growers. I think I'm going to buy streambank wheatgrass at Mountain Valley Seed the next time I plant some. Especially if I get into Salt Lake during the week so I can pick it up and save shipping.

    I'm not really sure what's in that Turf Alive blend, so I can't say whether it would be any good or not.

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