You should re-title your post. "I turned my lawn to hay."

Classic fertilizer burn.

Water an inch a week for the next few weeks--split into two applications of a half-inch at at time. Hope for a lot of rain. If the lawn doesn't come back by September 1, it's dead. Zone 5 cool-season grasses should look wonderful in fall.

If it is dead, reseding's going to be necessary.

Would a soil sample tell me if I applied WAY too much fertlizer?

Probably not. Nitrogen isn't often tested and washes out fairly fast.

rdaystrom,

Actually, it is very possible that the summer application of fertilizer had a part to do with the lawn going brown.

Yes, it is possible that he burnt it. Yes it is possible it is just dormant from lack of water.

But several of those pictures look to me like a fungal/disease pattern. A few others look like basic drought stress.

Based on his description of how he cared for it, it is hard to say for sure what caused the problem.

But I can suggest that going forward he forget about using any of these step lawncare programs.

Many of lawn care companies would have you believe that these products -- solutions in a bag, if you will, are just the thing to give you a great lawn.

It's my opinion that these kind of programs have more to do with flattening out a company's revenue than improving someone's lawn.

(It seems to me that these programs are designed to ensure financial peaks and valleys are eliminated from their quarterly earnings by spreading out the revenue from purchases of the fertilizer over most of the year, rather than peaks in spring and fall and very little summer sales revenue. You'll note that most of the plans correspond quite nicely with the quarterly earnings periods, except for some of the fourth steps which can be applied August through Novenber -- which of course is partly in the fourth financial quarter.)

I know the summer application steps are slow-released products. But it still seems that the product is artificially creating a way to apply fertilizer when really none is really needed by the homeowner.

That's just my two cents. But I can say that high fertility rates and moisture are a big factors in many diseases. I do not know how much rainfall his area has had, so that variable is hard to determine.

But we do know he's fertilized. What concerns me is how some of those brown patches seem to flow like they followed a drainage pattern (picture 0581).

Pythium blight is one disease that is known to do that. It's a real bad disease -- one capable of killing your whole yard practically overnight.

But in either case, my advice is to stop looking for a lawncare solution in a bag. Cultural practices (how he cuts, waters and otherwise cares for his grass) will do more to improve his lawn than any product he can purchase in a store.

There are some pretty terrific folks here on this board. I'd pay attention to their advice.

As for his lawn, there's a chance it may come back in the fall (but not if it was burnt).

If I wanted to rent an overseeder and use that, when is the best time to do it in CT. I had heard around Labor Day. Is that about right?

I can't water that much as we have well water not city water.

Does "burnt" actually mean dead or does it mean the existing grass is damaged and when the existing grass grows back it will grown back green?

I don't see it as a fungus problem, but I do see it as a problem with 'poa annua'. It's also called 'annual bluegrass'. (Which is quite different from Kentucky Bluegrass).

Poa (that's what everbody calls it. You don't need to throw in the 'annua', if you just say POA, everybody will know what you're talking about) will green up very nicely in the spring. In fact, it will keep other, more desirable grasses from spreading out, like they should. And, of course, those other grasses do not spread. The poa thrives.

Then here comes the second week in July: the poa now is dying, and you get splotches, and patches, and general bloo-hooie. You will wonder: What on earth is the matter with this grass? Too late, dude. You are going to have splotches, and patches, and bloo-hooie.

You can treat for fungus. Great.
You can treat for diseases, like brown spot, pink spot, red thread, Green something-or-other, and Black Velvet (actually, Black Velvet is a whiskey. You mix it with Diet Coke, and go work on the lawn).
You will spend a month or two doing this-or-that (more Black Velvet, please....) and then autumn will be here. The season is over.

Next spring: the lawn will come in wonderfully. Like gangbusters. Green, filled in, spreading, and not much room for weeds. It looks very nice.

Until the second week in July. At that point, it will all start dying again. No way around it. That's the grass, or type of grass, that's growing, in certain places, in your lawn.

Look up 'poa annua' or 'annual bluegrass' on this forum, and on Google. There are plenty of articles, and the problem is quite common. There are pictures you can look at. There are fingers you can point. None of it will help.

The only way to get rid of Poa is to kill it, with RoundUp. And then re-seed. And then (and this is the most important part) to spread a pre-emergent in both the fall and the spring. One hopes that that will kill the seeds, because poa comes back from seeds each year.

Then, next spring, the lawn will come in thick, and green, and spreading, and looking great.

Until the second week in July.

"I can't water that much as we have well water not city water. "

That's prolly part of the problem there. Dry summers will do this. Add some over cutting and voila, dead grass. If you can't water your grass 2-3 times a week then you're destined to have summer dead grass.

Thanks Philes21
The thing is, when I originally looked at the house in mid August last year and again in early September of last year, the lawn was beautiful. Thick, lush and green.

Perhaps the previous owner was bending the rules and watering more frequently. How much water can you put down per week? Are you able to water once very deeply (about an inch)? If so, start with that and see if it comes back. I wouldn't worry about diseases and POA if you haven't ruled out drought stress. Give that a try for a couple weeks and then post some pictures to this forum. I think, with that out of the way, people will be able to help more.

dschribs,

You really don't want to put nitrogen on your cool season lawn during hot weather. I wouldn't do it in Conn. after April 1st. In NC, NCSU in Raleigh advises not to use nitrogen after March 1st. It doesn't apply to me since I use soy bean meal, but that's what they advise for synthetics.

The thing is, when I originally looked at the house in mid August last year and again in early September of last year, the lawn was beautiful. Thick, lush and green.

Sounds like it might be Realtors or Contractor trick by planting rye grass just before the 4-SALE sign goes up. Rye grass is dirt cheap, comes up fast, and dissapears after closing like the contractor and realtor.

Either that or you burned it by fertilizing a cool season grass in the dead heat of summer.

Just curious: Where did you live before? South of CT?

Seems the general consensus is that fertilizing requires watering. I agree, without water, the ferts can KILL the grass.

I use Ryegrass to green up the lawn near sales time. However, I also mix in Bermuda so that there's something permanent in place.

Why can't you water because of the well? We all have wells in my neighborhood. About half of us have sprinkler systems, the other half drags the hoses around. Is the pump on your well bad? Is your well drying up?

I don't have the lawn care knowledge of others but do have experience with the well. You should be able to give your lawn enough water to at least supplement rain, except maybe in drought conditions.

Gryd, good call on the Poa trivialis. I kept looking at his picks and ruled it out because it doesn't really look like trivialis when it's dead. Too much of his is still long and thick. The areas that do resemble it were already thin and mowed, so they naturally would. Plus, there is just sooo much of it and as Turf Toes stated, there are areas that follow mow/drain patterns. Finally, the lawn began to turn brown way too early for trivialis. Still, trivialis is a very real possibility. Perhaps not all of it but some at least.

Dschribs, one good way to guess is if you notice discolorations throughout the lawn before it began turning brown. Poa trivialis would be distintively lighter colored than the rest of the grass and you'd notice patches of this lighter color.

The way to find out if the lawn is diseased or trivialis is to take samples with roots to your nearest
UCONN Cooperative Extension Service. The diagnose/identify it for you.

Well, it looks like you accidentally discovered a lawncare rule - it is best not to fertilize a cool season lawn in summer. It might not burn it outright, but it makes damage much more likely - especially if it is dry.

Mostly, the lawn looks like it is under drought stress. Combine that with a heavy fertilization and you have a bad combo. If you can water now, that will help it recover better. In the future, if you can't water regularly, avoid fertilizing in summer and make sure you are mowing at the highest setting. Leaving it longer helps shade the soil and slows evaporation.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I'm going to post a pic of a piece of dead/burnt "grass" tonight if I can. Maybe someone could ID it from a pic. The make up of it is kind of strange looking and I'm beginning to wonder if I might have this POA stuff all over my lawn. The way it's clumps up and lays over on itself is unlike any grass I've ever seen before so maybe this is what I have

Here's what is all over my "lawn".
Is this dead POA?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:105027}}

Another pic...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:105028}}

Don't blame SCOTTS, blame yourself. I use scotts and I have gorgeous thick dark green lawn in the middle of July!

I used Scott's and have brown dead grass in the middle of July. I certainly do blame Scott's.

Grass alive before Scotts - grass dead after Scott's.
Seems to me it's pretty clear where to place the blame.

Sounds like operator's error to me. Write it off as experience and don't make the same mistake twice. Also, read the bag before applying.

After applying Scotts in Mid July.
{{gwi:105029}}

Scott's is selling fertilizer and herbicide. They will have you believe that solution in a bag is 'one size fits all'. Generic fertilizer is exactly the same as Scott's.
The concept of a winterizer for lawns is a good place to start on timing of fertilizer applications.
Contrary to Scott's generated conventional wisdom spring is the absolute worst time to fertilize and before the dieback you didn't need pre-emergence to control weeds. May have been cut a little high, but photos are hard to tell.

dschribs:

I too live in CT, used the same products you did, and have the same results after applying plus 2. Some parts of the lawn look great, others brown and dying. I used a rotary spreader, cutting the application rate in half and applying in one direction and then another.

Since you already have pictures, how about emailing Scotts for their analysis?...I would be interested in what their take is.

FCarp

Wouldn't be so quick to blame Scott's or anyone else because your grass is looking like hay. If you burned it with too much fertilizer it now seems easier to blame Scott's. If you have a bluegrass lawn and it looks like hay now and your rainfall has been very dry this year like mine is, your bluegrass is dormant. According to your pictures it looks dormant to me. In my neighborhood anyone with bluegrass has a lawn that looks just like yours. It's appearance last year means nothing. If it is dry , no amount of fertilizer is going to help you, your supposed to know a little something about your lawn. Scotts is in business to sell a service. You need to tell them no in July.They can't spoon feed every customer they have. I am in no way affiliated with Scott's but can't understand the beating they take from unknowing customers. I am willing to bet if you power rake your lawn right now in your zone ,clean up the debris and wait for end of aug or september and then aerate and reseed, your lawn will respond with a healthy outburst of growth. Wait for the cooler wetter weather with shorter days and you will be fine. Do nothing but blame someone else and your in for trouble next from bugs etc in the thatch that is certain to build up from the hay as you call it. Do positive stuff and forget the carping. Having a nice lawn isn't that hard to do.

Good product, bad application schedule.