Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

If this will help, the lawn is fairly new--it was installed last
August. The developer had the sprinkler system set up so the lawn got
watered twice a day (7 minutes each time), 3-4 times a week. After we
got our water bill, we quickly put a stop to that and watered it once
a day for 7 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Then in the fall, we noticed
that the grass was getting yellow or brown, and since our summers are
hot--it was 80-90 in the afternoon into October, we decided to water
the lawn everyday for 7 minutes. The brown didn't bother us since
it's winter.

Now that spring is here, the grass is still yellow or brown while
everyone else's lawn is gettin green. Does the lawn need fertilizer?
Is it being overwatered?

Thanks in advance.

Lil

Lil wrote:

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

If this will help, the lawn is fairly new--it was installed last
August. The developer had the sprinkler system set up so the lawn got
watered twice a day (7 minutes each time), 3-4 times a week. After we
got our water bill, we quickly put a stop to that and watered it once
a day for 7 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Then in the fall, we noticed
that the grass was getting yellow or brown, and since our summers are
hot--it was 80-90 in the afternoon into October, we decided to water
the lawn everyday for 7 minutes. The brown didn't bother us since
it's winter.

Now that spring is here, the grass is still yellow or brown while
everyone else's lawn is gettin green. Does the lawn need fertilizer?
Is it being overwatered?


Your watering was too frequent, and not long enough. Most of the water
likely evaporated. What didn't evaporate didn't soak in far, and shallow
roots were encouraged.

Dethatch, aerate, and reseed with grass appropriate for your area.
(Check with your local extension office or a good nursery. Don't just
buy what Home Depot has on the shelves.) Until the seed germinates, your
previous watering schedule may be okay, but after that, you will want to
water less often, but for longer.

Set some tin cans out on the lawn, and set the sprinklers to run for
awhile... maybe 45 minutes. If you've dethatched and aerated, you
probably won't have to worry about the water running off. Then check the
cans. If they have about an inch of water in them, you've found the
right amount of time. Adjust plus or minus from there, and do this only
once per week.

Normally the best time to fertilize is in the fall so the grass can
build-up better root structures over the winter months, but since you're
reseeding now, some fertilizer will help. Do *not* use a "weed and feed"
fertilizer, or one with any other junk in it. A "starter" fertilizer is
best. Do not over apply. It's better to spread it lighter (up to half of
what the package recommends) than it is to spread it too heavy.

Remember that a lawn is probably one of the highest maintenance elements
you'll find in the landscape -- especially in hot and dry areas. You can
reduce the amount of work you'll need to do in the future if you
tear-out as much lawn as you can, and replace it with something else,
like drought-tolerant perennials. Your water bill will also be
considerably lower.

The most important part of all of this is to stop the short, frequent
watering. Not having seen the lawn, I'll concede that you might be able
to bring it back with nothing more than a realistic watering regimen of
an inch a week applied as quickly as it can be absorbed. If it doesn't
come back, you can always dethatch and aerate in the fall, which is
actually the best time to do it anyway.

Whatever you try, if it doesn't come back by summer, give up until fall.
About the only thing you could do in the middle of summer is tear it all
out, and put in new sod. But to tell you the truth, I wouldn't want to
do that until summer is almost over, either. And you'll still need to
move to a better watering regimen, or that lawn will be toast, too.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.

Its all because you have bad juju!!!!


What kind of grass do you have?

Zoysia normally turns brown over the winter.


Lil wrote in message
m...
Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

If this will help, the lawn is fairly new--it was installed last
August. The developer had the sprinkler system set up so the lawn got
watered twice a day (7 minutes each time), 3-4 times a week. After we
got our water bill, we quickly put a stop to that and watered it once
a day for 7 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Then in the fall, we noticed
that the grass was getting yellow or brown, and since our summers are
hot--it was 80-90 in the afternoon into October, we decided to water
the lawn everyday for 7 minutes. The brown didn't bother us since
it's winter.

Now that spring is here, the grass is still yellow or brown while
everyone else's lawn is gettin green. Does the lawn need fertilizer?
Is it being overwatered?

Thanks in advance.

Lil

(Lil) wrote in message om...
Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

Before you do anything absurd (like ripping out your lawn), I
recommend that you simply go buy a nice big bag of Ironite and put it
down. Grass lawns (in fact, MANY plants) do suffer from chlorosis if
they are overwatered, especially with tapwater. I'll bet a $10 bag of
Ironite will solve your problem.

Ironite is good stuff. It doesn't burn, so you don't have to worry
about over-applying it. I'm a big fan of Ironite, and no, I don't work
for them!

That should solve the yellow problem. The brown problem? Those
portions are dead. Could be bugs eating the grass, could be a disease,
could be something as simple as your dog peeing on the same spot every
day.

Its hard to say, but one thing I found in valuable was a good lawn program
..Most companies can do a better job for less money than I can spend and I
just enjoy.I found that A lawn on a program always greens before one that's
not on one because the lawn companies apply pre. treatments in the fall for
spring growth best regards Tom






"Lil" wrote in message
m...
Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

If this will help, the lawn is fairly new--it was installed last
August. The developer had the sprinkler system set up so the lawn got
watered twice a day (7 minutes each time), 3-4 times a week. After we
got our water bill, we quickly put a stop to that and watered it once
a day for 7 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Then in the fall, we noticed
that the grass was getting yellow or brown, and since our summers are
hot--it was 80-90 in the afternoon into October, we decided to water
the lawn everyday for 7 minutes. The brown didn't bother us since
it's winter.

Now that spring is here, the grass is still yellow or brown while
everyone else's lawn is gettin green. Does the lawn need fertilizer?
Is it being overwatered?

Thanks in advance.

Lil

(Lil) wrote in message om...
Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

If this will help, the lawn is fairly new--it was installed last
August. The developer had the sprinkler system set up so the lawn got
watered twice a day (7 minutes each time), 3-4 times a week. After we
got our water bill, we quickly put a stop to that and watered it once
a day for 7 minutes, 3-4 times a week. Then in the fall, we noticed
that the grass was getting yellow or brown, and since our summers are
hot--it was 80-90 in the afternoon into October, we decided to water
the lawn everyday for 7 minutes.

Oops. I should have noticed this. 7 minutes is not long enough to
water your lawn. Your developer is on crack for setting the sprinkler
at 7 minutes. In fact, the sod may be dead from lack of water. A new
lawn needs deep watering once a day for the first few weeks, then deep
watering every few days. If your water bill is too much at that point,
you probably shouldn't have a lawn. Try to xeriscape your property
instead.

Yes I agree you should water a new lawn frequently when first put in I
water everyday on a system for 15 minutes twice a day.Although I also have a
lot of gardens



"Lou Minatti" wrote in message
om...
(Lil) wrote in message
om...
Hi!

Our lawn is yellow or brown, not green like many of our neighbors.
What is the cause of this?

Before you do anything absurd (like ripping out your lawn), I
recommend that you simply go buy a nice big bag of Ironite and put it
down. Grass lawns (in fact, MANY plants) do suffer from chlorosis if
they are overwatered, especially with tapwater. I'll bet a $10 bag of
Ironite will solve your problem.

Ironite is good stuff. It doesn't burn, so you don't have to worry
about over-applying it. I'm a big fan of Ironite, and no, I don't work
for them!

That should solve the yellow problem. The brown problem? Those
portions are dead. Could be bugs eating the grass, could be a disease,
could be something as simple as your dog peeing on the same spot every
day.