Where at in Utah do you live? Summers here can be very hot and dry. Mulch the ground around your plants water as needed. The yellow my be from lack of iron as the alkali in the soil locks up the other neutrents. We also have more than one zone here. 6 in southern Utah and 3 in northern and the high mountain valleys and 4 midstate. Please give more info please.

We don't live in daybreak, but we did just move into a new development. The soils where we are at are very heavy clay, and hold water, so is it possible that your plants are drowning?

Before you water, make sure the soil is not still wet from the last watering. There are other things you can do to help break up the clay, we brought in compost before we planted, but I'm sure other more experienced gardeners will have suggestions.

For the front beds that don't get a lot of water, you might consider planting low water perennials if you don't want to dig up the lines to add more sprinklers.

As already noted, the yellow leaves can be a sign of iron deficiency. That's tough to combat in a lawn because adding iron doesn't help and it's difficult to lower the pH significantly. I would add organic matter. If you can get a cubic yard of compost at a reasonable rate, that would help, but it can be difficult to spread. If there's a Starbucks near you or on the way to anywhere you shop, stop by when you pass and ask if they have any grounds (you don't need to buy anything--you're doing them a favor and saving them money). Spread those on the ground by just tossing them around. If you're not a coffee drinker, you might want to wear gloves. I've never noticed any effect, but others have said that they feel caffeine effects when they use their bare hands. You don't want the grounds to be more than 1/4-1/2 inch deep. Don't save them up. Just trhow them around until they run out and next time, pick up where you left off. When you've covered the whole lawn, start over.

The yellow grass may be a sign that you're over watering. If you're under watering, it usually turns brown. Test how much you're putting down by putting empty tuna cans around the lawn. You should be putting down 1-1.5 inches a week, and you should really be doing it in two days.

Trees need to be watered differently from the lawn, especially if they're new. Trees need deep watering and more water than lawns, so Take a hose out by the dripline (an imaginary line on the ground that is right under the outside reaches of the branches). Turn it on so the water is coming out fairly slowly (you want to give it a chance to soak in) and let it run for about 15-20 minutes. Then move it about halfway around the tree and repeat. Do that in 2-4 spots around the tree depending on the size. If this is the first year, do that once every two weeks. The second and following years, do it once a month.

If your lawn is established, watering less often will force the roots to grow deeper, and you should have a greener and healthier lawn. I live near Logan, and granted, it is cooler than the Salt Lake Valley, I only water my lawn once a week, or maybe every 5 days in the hottest part of the Summer, and my lawn is green and lush. I would suggest that when you water, water long enough to completely saturate the soil, but don't water again for another 5-7 days, unless your soil is very rocky or sandy. Overwatering can leach out the fertilizer and other nutrients for both lawn and trees. During the hottest part of Summer, lawns can loose some of the lush green color. When that happens, I have had success putting some "Ironite" on the lawn, which will help green it up again. It sounds like maybe the squash is getting too much water as well, if they are yellow.

my in-laws moved to daybreak, and are having the same problems as you. one thing i saw wrong with the way that the development planted the trees, is that there was mulch up the base of the trees (quite a few inches up....i tried to pull it away, and i still couldn't find the base of the tree)- probably planted to deep, and i doubt that they fixed the roots before plopping the trees in the ground.

if you look down the streets at daybreak it seems that half the trees are dead or will be dead by the end of season.

the soil out there needs a lot of organic matter added - it is a new development :)

if you want to do a veggie garden, i would suggest using a raised bed - at least until you get better soil by amending it.

i am also new to gardening. i just happen to have visited daybreak and you're not the only one there having these same issues.

good luck.

In case I wasn't convincing on the Starbucks coffee grounds thing, although I do drink coffee and buy coffee at Starbucks if I'm there early in the day, I don't drink coffee in the evenings, but I was next door to a Starbucks this evening and stopped by.

The barrista started toward the counter, but I waved and said I was just looking for grounds and walked to the bucket where they put them out (sometimes they're right next to the door). I could see that the bucket was overflowing, but I asked if they had any more behind the counter. They said they did, so I said I'd be back in in a few minutes (as I carted two bags to the car). I was lifting the second one into the trunk, one of the workers came out lugging the bag from behind hte counter (and I could tell it was heavy). I have a plastic bin so I don't get coffee all over the trunk, even though the bags rarely leak.

Since I buy coffee during the day and stopped there in the evening, these guys wouldn't see me buying coffee, just getting grounds, but they still helped carry them to the car. My wife doesn't like the smell when I spread them on the lawn in the heat of the summer, so these are destined for the compost. If you can handle the smell (doesn't bother me, but I have hayfever and can't smell much anyway), I would spread them directly on the lawn, as long as you don't get them more than 1/2 inch deep. I don't bother breaking up the "hockey pucks" either (if you get some grounds, you'll see what I mean--some of the grounds come out of an espresso machine and are pressed tightly together and resemble hockey pucks).

You have some great answers here. It might be helpful if you find out what kind of soil you have deep down. Dig down about a foot and see what is there. If it is sand then you want organic matter that will break down at fast and medium rates. If you have clay you may want medium and long term decay rates possibly with some sand. The coffee that was mentioned is great. Alfalfa will break down quickly and may be used with coffee or by itself. I spread them by hand on my lawn about twice a year. If you have sand then I highly recommend alfalfa.

Hi!
Master Gardener checking in.

Ok.... Your Lawn is getting over watered.
You need to actually cut back significantly.
Water three times a day for perhaps 5 minute intervals for a total of 20 minutes each watering day.
Some when to water tips.... If you can see foot prints on the lawn, it needs to be watered.
ONLY water in the early morning,this helps to reduce water loss, and if you water too late, the grass could get diseased or pest from too much moisture.
Mushroom and snails could become a problem.
Take a screwdriver.... put it into the ground, if it is hard to get in, the roots are dry, if it goes in easy, your roots are wet.... kind of simple to gauge how much water the roots are getting.
If they get too much,several things do on.... the roots will drowned, they need oxygen....also killing the earthworms and not allowing you lawn to aerate.
Walking on a soggy lawn will also compact it mere.
Also, you are probably watering with high alkaline water, thus perpetuating the high alkinanity in the soils which will not allow nutrients to uptake into the plants....
Your trees are probably in the lawn, and they need far less water than you lawn does,
Japanese maples traditionally do not do well here in Utah... I am aware of some exceptions..... all are NOT in the lawn, nor are they even near the lawn.
I would replace your maples with something that is native to the area or tolerant of being in a lawn area, or better yet, consider not having a tree or trees in the lawn.
If you feel you mush have trees, you might want to think about several dwarf fruit trees, so not only will they provide some shade and character, but also some fruit!

I do not know what your front beds look like, but I do know that the yards in DayBreak are VERY tiny, so it might be a good idea to forget the tree in the lawn altogether and add shrubs, trellises and vines along the house that are drought tolerant for Shade" and character.
Lavender is a great smelling, pretty drought tolerant shrub.
True morning glory and clematis are good vines... Truen morning glory is an annual and would need to be replanted, but clematis is perennial, if the roots are well covered in the winter.
You can have pretty things in the yard, without it looking like a spiny desert or a weed patch, which is what most drought tolerant landscapes look like to me.
There are planty of plants that are gorgeous and will thrive under the desert conditions here in Utah.
Drip irrigation might be a smart way to go than adding a new sprinkler.

The right plants, with the right conditions will thrive here.

I do not have enough information about your squash plants to tell you what is wrong, but the first thing that came to mind, is that they might have been planted directly into the clay soil and not into soil that has been amended.
If the roots can not spread out in the clay, it will not grow.
It is like they are "baked" into a form and can not spread out.
If I were you, I would take this year to amend the soil, build a compost pile and get you yard ready for next season, which is right around the corner with the cool season veggies in the Fall.... lettuce, brocolli, califlower, etc.
Continue to improve your soil this year, and next Spring, you will have a yard full of veggies that will feed your family and then some.
If you really want a garden now, you will have a lot of work to do, getting the soil ready, you could plant starts now, but there is no guarantees that the sun will not fry the tender plants.
Make sure that the roots are shaded during the heat of the saywith a layer of mulch.
You could also do container gardening.

Good luck to you.... I hope that I have answered some of your questions/concerns.

I am curious, where back east did you move from?

Songbird, you said, "If you feel you must have trees..." Ouch! Don't we ALL need trees? :-) (Well, I'm the guy who planted 42 of them when I moved in!)

Even little yards need trees. Smaller trees, yes, but something for sure! Your suggestion of fruit trees is good. One of the downsides about Utah is too many new neighborhoods with no trees or just skinny little wispy trees that will take a long time to grow.

One of my favorite garden quotes is "He that plants a tree loves others beside himself."

Anyway, my hunch is that this lot probably does have soil problems, like many new developments. It's probably clayish, less-fertile subsoil (we really have no topsoil here) that has been compacted by heavy equipment, making it even worse for drainage. You need to create your own topsoil by adding compost and all the other things mentioned above. It's a bit of work, but it's probably necessary.