On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:50:38 GMT, blueman wrote:
Kay Lancaster writes:

Hmmmm, well the patches are irregularly shaped and randomly scattered
with each alive and dead area maybe only about a couple square
feet. Even the live areas aren't exactly lush (they still are thinned
out and have brown within them, just not all dead). And btw, we don't
have a dog or anything like that...


That's exactly what I'd expect of a lawn with a disease, weed or insect
problem, especially one that's stressed from being in shade.


Second, because of the near constant May/June rains, the initial grass
grew pretty lushly to about 6-8 inches high before I had a chance to
cut it. I then cut it back to the medium setting on my mower/mulcher
so I don't know if I "shocked" the lawn too much. This tends to leave
about 2-3 inches of lawn.

I don't know the correct mowing height for your lawn, as you don't tell us
what species you're growing. But yes, this could contribute to your
problems. So could OD'ing on the fertilizer/weedkiller combination.


Regarding thatch, what I mean is that there is dead grass that is
lying in a light mat on the ground, particularly in the dead areas --
most likely representing a combination of grass that died and the
longer grass that I cut earlier in the season during the rains.

That's not thatch. Thatch is almost impenetrable by water, thick, spongy
and undecayed. You've just got some duff.

You have an excellent extension service in Texas; they can help you
identify the species of grass you've got, do a soil test, make fertilization
recommendations, and tell you what diseases or cultural problems they see
in samples you submit. Now that I know you're in Houston (I thought
your original post's headers indicated a yankee lawn g), a fungal
disease is a whole lot more likely. Or you may have a lawn with species
poorly chosen for your growing conditions. Or you may have an insect
problem despite your earlier application of grub control.

Here's a start for you from the TX extension website:
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/p...turf/turf.html but I think
you'd probably be best served by picking up the phone and dialing your
area extension office (I know there's one in Dickinson, and I'm pretty
sure there's a Harris County office, too. Ask how to submit samples for
analysis and disease inspection.

The key to having a lawn that looks good without killing yourself is to
choose the species you're growing to match soil and water and sun conditions,
fertilize and lime properly, mow at the correct height and correct time,
and keep those mower blades sharp. Ragged cuts are open invitations to
diseases. With the proper selection of species and cultivars (varieties)
and good mowing practices, you'll spend less time on the lawn, and need
far fewer treatments of one sort or another.

Kay's rules for sanity in lawn ca
-- choose your species well
-- know your soil
-- mow properly
-- treat the problems you've actually got, not the problems you might have.



Kay, who spent more than enough time in Houston in August vbg