"nightrider.36" wrote in message
...
On Jun 17, 5:15 pm, "HOPKINS, DAVE"
wrote:
Hi,

I moved to a house a few years ago and decided to try my hand at making a
lawn. Got some reading material and when I thought I undersoood how (big
mistake) started. I put down approx 5 or 6" of double mix topsoil and
toped
it off with 2" of triple mix soil. I used a starter fertilizer and lime
and
seed mixture gaurenteed (probably another mistake) to grow in local
conditions.

Anyway the first year the lawn was impressive but it didn't overwinter
very
well and by the fall I could tell it was in trouble. I tried fertilizer
and
lime with no apparent results. The following spring the lawn was almost
completely dead. I searched for the cause and found an abundance of crane
fly larva in the lawn. Got a soil test done and results showed the ph was
very low 4.6. I applied the recommended lime and fertilizer, sprayed to
kill
the crane fly larva and reseeded the lawn. After reseeding the weather
turned cold but after a few weeks delay the seeds germinated although
there
was a high kill rate. Again the lawn grew well at first but by the fall I
knew it was again in trouble.

This spring approx 30% was dead. I collected soil for another soil test
and
the results shocked me. The ph was 4.2, and while I wasn't expecting it
to
be where I wanted, I didn't expect it to go down. I again applied the
recommended lime and fertilizer. It's been 6 weeks now and the lawn isn't
responding very well at all. Diging into the lawn didn't reveal any
insects
or larva but I noticed that the roots aren't very deep into the soil.

Any suggestions... things to look for ... anything would be a help and
greatly appriciated.

Thanks
Dave

My brother in law maintains golf courses. Let me share a few things
and see if any of this helps.

They water heavily (about 30 - 45 minutes) twice a week. Fertilize
every two weeks and mow the lawn to about three inches. I tried this
and got great results. The heavy watering and fertilization schedule
gave me deep roots and eventually choked out almost all the weeds. I
still have some oxalis growing here and there but for the most part,
my lawn is looking pretty decent.

Also, I had TruGreen inspect my lawn and tell me if I had any fungus
growing. It's a decent little report they run for free while they're
trying to sell your their service.

Thanks for the advice, but I've ruled out lack of water as a problem. I do
water regularly and we've had a very wet spring here. Th lawn didn't get a
chance to dry out. Now fungus is a possibility. How can you tell? Can fungus
cause the expensive problems that I have?