Dear Blumz

Thank you very much for your inquiry. I am sorry for your troubles. I have some questions as the answer here is not readily apparent. First, is the brown grass pattern in a shape or random? Is there green tissue at the base of the plant? Can you get a few pictures, both close up and far to put things into perspective? What state do you live in?

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com

Sorry that the holiday kept me from getting back sooner. We live in Central Alabama. Zone 8a. We had regular good rain up until about 2 weeks ago, but our irrigation system seems to be keeping most of the lawn looking good. However, this very large area, which is continually growing, looks as if it is not being watered. I convinced my husband to use a garden tool to lift a section of the sod and I discovered that the soil in the original sod, which is very thick, is moist; however the soil underneath it is so dry, it appears that it hasn't received a drop of water in months. We then went to other places in the lawn that appeared to be in the beginning stages of the same thing .... lifted sections of sod and found the same thing.
The side yard where the problems are is on a slope, so you'd think the water would be running down and the lawn at the bottom would be in the best condition. However, the problem areas are at the bottom of the slope.

So apparently, lack of water is the problem, brought on by a soil problem. I don't know how were going to replace the soil in an entire lawn.

Dear Blumz,

Thank you very much for your inquiry. I am confused. If you have rooting and then dry areas then I would check irrigation coverage. There may be some gaps you are not aware of and do not present themselves until there is a dry period.

If there is little rooting, then there is a soil compatibility issue. The soil in your yard does not match the soil brought in with the sod. The soil on the sod will hold water and stay wet, it will not move easily into the original soil. This will hamper rooting and drainage.

The remedy for this is to have the soils not incompatible. Core cultivation is the answer. This will help the soils to be compatible. This should be done now and go over the yard at least two directions.

Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more.

Respectfully

Trey Rogers, The Briggs & Stratton Yard Doctor, YardDoctor.com

Thank you for your response. For the past several days we have hand watered the problem area, in addition to the regular watering with the irrigation system. It appears to be improving with the additional water. Our builder has offered to have an additional sprinkler head installed that will better cover this area.

But even at that, there is obviously a problem with the two soils. The roots should have been able to establish themselves down into the existing soil in almost 10 months. What is core cultivation?

I would suggest laying down some fine-screened compost in those areas then watering it in. Do it again in about 2 weeks. It will build up the soil there and help retain water, too. Then, add it each year to the whole lawn.

We have zoysia (Empire) for 3 years now, but are totally organic. It always greens up before the St. Aug. around us and tolerates drought and heat superbly.

Quit pulling it up, though. Unlike other grasses, zoysia goes dormant in a drought (like it's experiencing in your case, it sounds like). It does not die out like St. Aug. would. Good luck.

Hello, I live in San Antonio Texas. We have put down a total of 45 pallets of Zoysia grass. The front was put in over a year ago and is established but the back was only put in 3 weeks ago. We are now going through a drought and are limited to watering. At this time we can only water once a week and as of next week it will change to every other week. We have been having temperatures up to 103 degrees. Our grass was a beautiful green and is now turning yellowish brown and some gray looking areas. I guess my question is without enough water will the Zoysia die or go dormant?

Thanks so much!

Why does my grass have brown patches. Half the lawn is very green healthy grass I've used the correct fertilizer and pest control. I water everyday. We live in Tampa Bay, Florida so the weather is good, we get enough rain and heat. So everything should be good. What is the problem? Can you please advise me what to do?

- Joe