blueman wrote in
:

I have a relatively small lawn (maybe 5 thousand square feet spread
across a couple of patches) that has developed seemingly more brown
than green spots, including a bit of a mat of dead grass.

I know I need to do something to condition the soil and re-seed this
fall.

I am considering aerating, dethatching, and then overseeding. I am
confused about which of these tasks requires a power machine (and
hence rental) vs. the ability to do by hand.

If the marginal benefit is not too great, I would prefer not to have
to rent 3 separate machines.

- My understanding is that aeration requires a power machine to do it
right, so presumably I need to rent an aerator.

- Do I need a dethatcher or could I do just as good a job with a
special
dethatching rake?

- Do I need an overseeder machine or can I do almost as good a job
with a
standard Scott's broadcast spreader?

- If I rent an overseeder, do I still need an aerator or will the
overseeder do a reasonably good job of opening up the soil?

- Finally, is this the right order of operations:
Aerate
Dethatch
Fertilize/lime
Seed/overseed
Water
Water
Water...

Thanks


Have you considered the possibility of disease or bugs?

Brown areas can be caused by this. For instance, grubs will chow on the
roots and create brown spots. You can usually grab the brown turf and
pull up a patch because they have destroyed the roots. Or if you go cut
down at the edge of the brown and pull up the edge you will actually see
the grubs. A prime indicator of grubs is skunks that dig in your yard.
People want to shoot the skunks not realizing they are doing them a
favor by digging a relatively small hole to eat their delicasy food,
grubs.

Disease is another story. Gotta ID it.

Bottom line whether it's bad mowing or someone spraying Triox on your
lawn at night, you gotta ID the root cause and not just throw stuff at
it like a jackpot.

Al Bundy writes:
Have you considered the possibility of disease or bugs?

Brown areas can be caused by this. For instance, grubs will chow on the
roots and create brown spots. You can usually grab the brown turf and
pull up a patch because they have destroyed the roots. Or if you go cut
down at the edge of the brown and pull up the edge you will actually see
the grubs. A prime indicator of grubs is skunks that dig in your yard.
People want to shoot the skunks not realizing they are doing them a
favor by digging a relatively small hole to eat their delicasy food,
grubs.

Disease is another story. Gotta ID it.

Bottom line whether it's bad mowing or someone spraying Triox on your
lawn at night, you gotta ID the root cause and not just throw stuff at
it like a jackpot.

Agree.

Not grubs cuz I applied Grub Ex in April. We also have had grubs
previously and this is nothing like it (no holes from squirrels, no
turf picking up).

Could be other disease but don't know how to identify.
Also, as mentioned in a reply to another poster, the whole lawn seems
to have been "shocked" into slow and anemic growth -- with some areas
growing very, very slowly (doesn't need mowing even after 3 weeks),
other areas thinned or admixed with brown strands of grass, and other
small scattered patches just all dead.

Any suggestions on how to ID disease or do you need to send a sample
to some "expert" somewhere?

blueman wrote in
:

Al Bundy writes:
Have you considered the possibility of disease or bugs?

Brown areas can be caused by this. For instance, grubs will chow on
the roots and create brown spots. You can usually grab the brown turf
and pull up a patch because they have destroyed the roots. Or if you
go cut down at the edge of the brown and pull up the edge you will
actually see the grubs. A prime indicator of grubs is skunks that dig
in your yard. People want to shoot the skunks not realizing they are
doing them a favor by digging a relatively small hole to eat their
delicasy food, grubs.

Disease is another story. Gotta ID it.

Bottom line whether it's bad mowing or someone spraying Triox on your
lawn at night, you gotta ID the root cause and not just throw stuff
at it like a jackpot.

Agree.

Not grubs cuz I applied Grub Ex in April. We also have had grubs
previously and this is nothing like it (no holes from squirrels, no
turf picking up).

Could be other disease but don't know how to identify.
Also, as mentioned in a reply to another poster, the whole lawn seems
to have been "shocked" into slow and anemic growth -- with some areas
growing very, very slowly (doesn't need mowing even after 3 weeks),
other areas thinned or admixed with brown strands of grass, and other
small scattered patches just all dead.

Any suggestions on how to ID disease or do you need to send a sample
to some "expert" somewhere?


Those lawn service franchises will ID and treat it as part of the
periodic fertilizing fee. They do charge extra for things like aerating,
lime, soil testing, etc. They advertise if you are not happy between
feedings with progress they will come back at no charge. When you have a
problem as you do, in the long run it will cost less then guessing ,
buying and applying on your own. When they get it straightend out just
cancel it.

Just a possible approach.