Indiana Lawn Damage / Disease

13 years ago

Two problem patches of grass...

1. On each side of the driveway Has grub damage. I peeled back the sod and saw some. IÂm not sure if all the damage is from grubs or also disease. I have applied some Sevin for grubs and other bugs and watered it in.

2. The other patch in the backyard is a mystery to me. I have peeled back several sections. No grubs, but often lots of small ants, some with wings. They donÂt look like fire ants though. I find it strange the length of the dead withered grass in clumps.

Here are helpful background details on my lawn.

Location: Northern Indiana

Grass: Kentucky Bluegrass, Ryegrass, Fescue

Recent events: In early August my wife cut the lawn on 2 on our riding mower. It didnÂt scalp the grass, but the extreme heat and lack of rain definitely stressed the grass. Almost the entire yard went yellow while all the neighbors were fairly green, even ones without sprinkling systems. I did apply a little summer fertilizer after that and most of the yard sprung back within a week or so. I did notice the driveway areas did have some blades with dollar spot, but that went away with the fertilizer.

Watering: I water each area of the yard 2-3 times a week with a self-propelled water tractor or stationary sprinkler. Mid to late Summer has been extremely dry.

Lawn history: The lawn is 7 years old on mostly sandy soil. We probably didn't have enough fill dirt brought in. I have overseeded several areas in the past. I normally mow on 3 on my riding mower and keep my blades sharp. I do have an explosion of weeds right now which is not unusual for late Summer, but that is a separate issue. My guess is that is because I just can't get enough water on it without a sprinkling system and so the grass dies and weeds take over.

1. What are my grass issues here?

2. Should I rely on insecticide, fungicide, or both? Any recommendations for items I can get from Lowe's?

3. Will I need to reseed both areas and if so should I wait till Spring?

4. If I do need to reseed is anything from Lowe's decent enough. I have bought more expensive seed in the past, but have been unemployed for a while so can't afford to sink $$$ into this.

Thanks so much! I've worked so hard on this lawn and hate to see it fall apart.

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Comments (6)

indianahome
Original Author
13 years ago
Anyone? I was hoping the pictures would really help. I really could use the expert advice before I try to fix this situation. I hate to waste the money if I should wait till Spring to re-seed. Thanks.
dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
I think I have read all the rest of your posts. Too bad this forum has slowed down so much. I'll try to summarize some points for you.

Grubs are done feeding. Killing them now is a waste of poison, time, and money. Spreading Sevin willy-nilly is part of the problem with home owners and possibly one reason they took it off the market.

The nature of the "trails" in your first photo make me think you have a disease that only affected the Kentucky bluegrass in your lawn. What is left is clumps of fescue. At least you have something left. The reason for mixing fescue and KBG is just in case of something like this.

One problem is your are watering waaaaaay to frequently. In the hottest heat of summer I water once a week. Of course sometimes I water for 7 hours to get a full inch of water, but usually, even in San Antonio, I water 3/8 inch, once a week. With my watering system it takes 3 hours to water 3/8 inch, so take your water pressure into consideration. Use cat food cans to measure how long it takes to get an inch of water. I can almost promise that you will be surprised. Deep infrequent watering for turf has been the rule forever. I'm nearly convinced it is the inexperienced or unknowledgeable sprinkler installers who set up demonstrations who are responsible for the trend in brief frequent watering.

Getting to the reason for your weeds, reread the paragraph above. Brief frequent watering is what weed seeds need to germinate. That is exactly what you are doing now. If you can give the surface time to dry out between watering, those weed seeds will not germinate. Of course Mother Nature has Her own ideas about when to water, so keep that in mind when deciding when you water.

Can't you stretch a hose out with an oscillator sprinkler and water the grass? My father had an in ground system and I was the repair guy. I hate them. How much area are we talking about?

I think if you overseed with Kentucky bluegrass and follow the suggestions about watering, your problems will go away next season.
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I did some digging 2x2 and about a foot down and I only found 1 adult grub, and 2-3 small baby ones. I read that some grubs are healthy but if you find more than 5 per area (can't recall the dimensions) treatment is needed. I also raked all the dead grass and didn't come across any other grubs even though they're supposed to be close to the surface this time of year so I don't think they're grubs. I'm now suspecting it might because of my neighbour's pool which you can sort of see in the picture. They have one of those above ground inflatable pools that they put up in July (which is when the yellowing started) and take down end of September. And now that I think about it, my grass has turned yellow like this the last 2 summers I've been here (3 summers in total so far), but this summer seems to be exceptional prominent. Also, the ground on my side where their pools is so soft and mushy, there's also a lot of moss in that area. Lastly, the brown/yellow grass is roughly the width of the pool but this year it's come all the way to my deck. I'm pretty sure they use chlorine. I'm thinking that might be the culprit which is sort of good news. I do have a good relationship with my neighbour so I'm going to talk to them about it to see if perhaps there's a leak and if they would consider moving the pump to the other side of the pool next year. A short of that, is there anything I can do if they're not willing to adjust their setup? I'm not going to jeopardize my relationship with them for grass - I've heard/read of horror stories about neighbours feuding and I'm not willing to risk that as I value peace over a nice looking lawn.
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1) The feeding schedule is pretty inflexible from the Texas-Oklahoma border to the Maine-Canada border (northern lawns, so to say). For pre-emergent application, it does change year to year and locale to locale. We usually say to drop pre-emergent for crabgrass and spring weeds when the forsythia (that yellow spring shrub) blooms. That'll be as soil temperatures are rising past fifty--although it's a rough estimate at best. Personally, I use a different chemistry and different timing, but there are multiple ways of doing things, multiple types of weeds, and multiple times of application depending on what you want. I'm giving you the spring/early summer coverage. 2) Most big box stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, but it's going to depend on what's local to you in your area...Tractor Supply for some folks, too, and I'm not very familiar with a lot of midwestern stores). And use it when those forsythia blossom in spring, or, really, any time in spring. Later application can be useful to suppress summer crabgrass, or you can use it when the forsythia blossom (probably around April 10 for you) and again around June 10 to cover the crabgrass. Using it twice a season should be OK, but check the bag. No number) Yes, raking out the dead lower grasses and watering will bring the lawn back and force the issue. It forces the lawn back out of its summer slowdown and natural slump to repair the root and crown damage that was just done. Seriously, lawns want to slow down during summer. Where they're native, the high plains, they turn into brown, blasted stands of what looks like wheat. Which is unsurprising as wheat is related. I don't think I posted this...er, these...photos. From last week, the absolute end of what I always call High Summer, and today, really into Solar Fall (which started August 5th) and the point where our summer turns to Late Summer. Temperatures begin to fall off their highs, rainfall increases, and we turn back to the temperate rainforest we seem to want to become lately. At my feet there's the blasted area (the southwest of the lawn). It hasn't rained in two weeks at this point, with little rain for the two weeks before then. The month before that wasn't rainy either The gardens look OK because they're irrigated. The lawn is on its own as I don't water it ever. You can see the spotty dormant areas to the right as well, where the house reflects sunlight, and the deeper greens to the left where the Thuja shadow the grasses. Two weeks and nine inches of rainfall later (a tropical storm, two days of thunderstorms...) Lower temperatures as well, in the eighties. The blasted area hasn't woken up and won't until September when temperatures fall further and it's certain that dry weather won't return--dormancy costs a ton of energy. Doing it twice can be fatal. The gardens are hitting their peak for the year, which is not spectacular in any sense.
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indianahome
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks so much. So should I buy a mix of KBG and fescue or just KBG?

I will water less frequently but more densely. I am also planning on dethatching.
jlm41
13 years ago
dchall_san_antonio,

How much is your water bill? I water about 1 hour every week and my water bill goes up by $80 every month. It will cost me hundreds of dollars to water 7 hours.

Indianahome,
Where are you located? If you are in Fort wayne or close to Fort Wayne then I can suggest some places where you can buy your over seed supplies for cheap.
indianahome
Original Author
13 years ago
Re: Watering.

My little automated lawn tractors that follow the hose and the stationary sprinklers don't put down that much water, plus I'm on a well so I just pay for electricity.

Per d_chall's advice though I think what I'll do is water each section of the lawn well once a week (if no rain) instead of watering each section a few times lightly each week. Sounds like that was just feeding the weeds.

I went ahead and bought a grass mix yesterday from Lowes and some mulching granuals with starter fertilizer. Hopefully that will do the trick. All money back guaranteed. I'm going to dethatch first and cart way the thatch. Hopefully I'm not too late in the planting season.

Thanks everyone for posting.
dchall_san_antonio
13 years ago
Our water is much cheaper than yours, jlm41. I used to live in Dayton (city water) and it was a nightmare.

The idea is to apply an inch of water per week in the summer heat. I find I can get by on 3/8 inch per week most of the year. How much you water depends on your grass, grass coverage, soil, heat, sunlight/clouds/shade, humidity, and wind. When we have a dry wind from the west for several days, we have to water longer. Our normal wind brings lots of humidity from the Gulf of Mexico and we can go with much less irrigation. You have to start somewhere, watch carefully, and pay attention to the environmental conditions that affect irrigation.

Indiana Lawn Damage / Disease

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