Thin compacted lawn, poa annua, bare patches

5 years ago

Purchased a house 2 years ago with what I think was a lawn in fairly decent shape. I've been doing my own lawn mowing and fertilizer/weed control, but have come to realize I didn't really understand the basics and how quickly I could ruin a lawn - we were very likely cutting lawn too low and not often enough, not watering often enough, and not applying weed control enough and at the right times of season. Lawn is now failing. I live in Chicago. I don't know what the base grass is - kentucky blue grass? I have not aerated since I moved in. Lawn get a lot of shade. See pictures from around the property - much of the lawn is thin/bare, compacted and has what I think is poa annua throughout lawn, but I included pics of other more healthy areas.

I believe my issues are:

Thin, compacted lawn. Some of patches of actual grass are not growing, which suggests a very shallow root system?
Poa annua all over
Some broad leaf weeds - I now have a service doing 6 fertilizer/weed control applications throughout the season (they have only applied 1 thus far this season)
Completely bare patches
Some apparently thriving grass patches next to bare spots - not sure if these are two different types of grass or bare patches were affected by weeds

My plan is the following:

Have lawn service complete fertilizer/weed applications this summer. The fall application should help poa annua from seeding this winter?
Have lawn service aerate and slit seed in fall - I understand that hot summers are not the best for overseeding with cold weather grass and seed will have a tough time growing with weed applications

Is there anything else I could be doing? In addition to slit seeding, should I apply top soil or manure when that is done? Could I try overseeding some now to try my luck and should I be putting down soil/manure with those applications?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

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Comments (4)

j4c11
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
The grass appears to be Kentucky Bluegrass(KBG). KBG will spread on its own via rhizomes if provided with the conditions it needs to thrive. From the pictures, it does not appear that it is necessary or desirable for you to seed. Overseeding KBG is often a futile endeavor, as it takes long to germinate (up to 3 weeks) and it has a hard time competing with the already established grass. Also, Poa A germinates about the same time as KBG (they are in the same family after all), and so it will be tough to control the Poa A since it will germinate right along with the bluegrass.

Plan of action:

- Do nothing but weed control via spot-spraying until mid-August.

- Fertilize mid-August using a nitrogen rich fertilizer at a rate of 1 lb N/thousand sq ft.

- Apply pre-emergent early September to stop the Poa Annua. You may need to re-apply late fall, read the bag instructions.

- Apply 1 lb N/thousand sq ft mid-September and mid-October.

- Apply 2 lbs urea/thousand sq ft mid-November as winterizer.

- Mow the bluegrass as high as your mower will go until summer is done.

- Drop your height of cut to 2.5"-3" in the fall to encourage spreading.

- At the beginning of fall, pull plugs of grass from healthy areas and transplant them into the bare spots. They will spread and fill in.

This should get your lawn in good shape by next spring.

I hope dchall comes along with the watering mantra, you will need that as well.

Uh, I just noticed you used the S word. What are we talking as far as direct sun, how many hours a day? KBG likes full sun.
Max Fischer
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks very much for the quick and thorough response - great information.

Different parts of front and back get different sunlight, but average is maybe 5-6 hours of direct sunlight.

I wasn't aware of the plugging technique. Having googled it now, would you recommend plugging from sod, or only directly from my lawn. There aren't that many healthy areas on my yard I can pull from.

Thanks
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Lawn care doesn't really need to be complicated. You'll get a lot of really good advice on these boards. You'll get a lot of really bad advice, too. You'll also get advice that falls somewhere in between. I'm probably somewhere in between. I'll try to give you my take on lawncare, most of it gleaned from here. I've never considered it the consensus that lawns shouldn't be fertilized in spring. The consensus I've gathered is that they shouldn't be seeded in the spring or fertilized in the summer. Here's what I do: Mow high (around 3.5-4 inches). It may take some getting used to, but it helps the lawn Mulch mow, unless there is a fungus or other disease issue. Spread Starbucks grounds during the spring and fall. Water deeply and infrequently (I try for an inch a week, all in one day). Apply some source of fast release N after the topgrowth has stopped but while the grass is still green. If your soil is sandy, use a slow release N source, but one that doesn't require microbial activity (something like sulfur coated urea for example). Use a Weed Hound for most weed control and spot spray what that doesn't take care of. If I'm going to seed, it's in the fall Mow progressively shorter until it's as low as I can stand Core aerate to expose more soil Seed Water several times a day until it sprouts Avoid mowing until the new grass is tall enough to mow If I feel I need a spring seeding, I do a modified dormant seeding and seed in the late winter or early spring. That's it. I don't do anything special. I don't do anything complicated. My only wrinkle is that I'm purposely stressing my lawn in order to try to get a nontraditional lawn of native grasses in the hopes that I can go from watering once a week to watering once a month.
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KBG takes 2-3 weeks or more to germinate, fescue takes 1-2 weeks. Since you're seeding into an existing lawn, I say go for fescue or use your same mix if you have it. KBG will be outcompeted by the existing grass before it can get established. Next year if you want all KBG, plan to kill everything and fallow for a few weeks before planting. Back to Tenacity: if you find yourself running out of water part of the way, you can adjust the dosage per gallon, multiplying the .55 teaspoon by whatever percentage you covered with your practice try. It comes with a syringe to measure. Next year if you have poa annua despite pre-emergents you can use Tenacity at a lower dosage (2 oz per acre) for a few applications. The bottle doesn't say it controls mature poa annua but people have had success with it.
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Well since I posted a little over two months ago I have done the following. I applied alfalfa meal twice (10 pounds per 1000 and 15 per 1000 the second time), I have been watering only once a week deeply. I applied ortho weed b gone and the Bayer's with crab grass killer back in late May. On a positive the grass has stayed green as many others have somewhat yellowed. It's been hot summer here this year. The clover is gone and some weeds are as well but the last few weeks the Crabgrass is here. So my question is two things here. 1) Should I wait a week or two before applying the Bayer's http://m.homedepot.com/p/Bayer-Advanced-32-oz-Ready-to-Spray-All-in-One-Lawn-Weed-and-Crabgrass-Killer-704080/202019073?, 2) would it hurt to fertilize with Scotts as well or is no need or benefits of this. Still not growing that great or filling in KBG. Reason I ask is because probably weekend after labour day I want to reseed/overseed my thin lawn and bare spots. Thanks
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This was a chart before: Sorry it did not transmit correctly. Go to Nebraska site.
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j4c11
5 years ago
I wouldn't recommend plugging from sod, because it may not match what you already have. You may end up with a splotchy lawn if the cultivars have significantly different genetic color. Also, some cultivars grow faster/slower than others, so it could just lead to all sorts of unevenness.

If you don't have a lot of good areas to plug from, give it some time in the fall and as the grass gets healthier and healthier it will spread and give you more area to plug from. In the pictures you posted, the grass actually looks pretty good, treat it well and it will fill in.

5-6 hours of direct sun should be fine. Areas that get much less than that will probably struggle.
mishmosh
5 years ago
Pics could just be KBG seeding. If I were you, j4c11's plan sounds good. I would not seed in the fall. You'd be surprised how well a cool-season lawn takes to liberal fall fertilization.

Thin compacted lawn, poa annua, bare patches

Comments (4)

j4c11

Max Fischer
Original Author

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mishmosh

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Thin compacted lawn, poa annua, bare patches

Comments (4)

j4c11

Max FischerOriginal Author

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j4c11

mishmosh

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GET HELP

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Max Fischer
Original Author