Dead Grass solutions?

[gildo]

As a part of the deal through our home builder the home came full landscaped & fenced. After a wet summer of 2010 they completed the landscaping job in October. Looked great at the time and once we have thawed out after a snowy winter we noticed that there is quite a bit of brown and dead grass in areas, any suggestions or ideas of how to make it green again with grass! Any companies that might be able to help? Thanks so much.

[Boblobla]

Have you tried looking at your lawn from the other side of the fence?

[Kybosh]

My house has a pretty big front/back yard with some similar issues. I'm trying to use Scott's turf builder this year to make some of it grow again. Apparently you apply it a few times throughout the season then reapply once or twice each successive season. I just made my first application, so there has not been any change yet but keep it in mind as an option.

[Rathji]

If it is still brown now, but the rest of the lawn is greening up, then you will need to get your builder to replace the sod. I would guess that it might have been dead or dying when they put it in. - Edit: Post a pic if you want my opinion on this. It isn't uncommon especially at the end of the season like that.

If it isnt enough to bother with contacting the builder, (like < 1 sq yard) just go to Home Depot and buy a roll or 2 of sod. Even if they rip you off it shouldn't be more than $2-3 a peice - 1sq yard.

Then just cut around the old grass with a utility knife and it should pull right out since I doubt it rooted. Then cut a peice of the sod to fit the hole. I actually would do it backwards - ie cut the sod peice to a nice square shape of the right size and then cut around the patch on your lawn and take the whole chunk out. Remember that a small peice of sod as a patch probbaly wont survive, so make sure you are patching in 4-5 inch squares at minimum.


Chances are you will need to dig a little dirt out to get it level with the rest of your lawn. Make sure the edges are even especially because if the edge of the sod is above the existing grass it has a larger chance of drying out.

Then take a hose and soak it really good 2-3 times a day for a week and you should be fine.

edit: If you suspect it might be dog urine damage, then you need to treat the soil with something before you place the sod. (I am sure Google can hekp you out with this, as I dont recall specifically)

[Sliver]

+1 to Rathji. Don't screw around with turf builder. New sod is the only solution to do this right and it's an easy job.

[Kybosh]

I'll add that my lawn isn't a newly sodded yard. The lawn is pretty well developed, but I'm trying to thicken it up over the next couple of years.

[Canada 02]

I'd recommend a starter fertilizer, high in phosphorus (a high middle number) to get the roots to grow

[Buff]

What about grass seed? At what point do you choose sod over seed or vice versa?

I recently seeded an area in my back yard and thanks to lack of sun over the past few weeks, it is slow to grow.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Rathji

If it isnt enough to bother with contacting the builder, (like < 1 sq yard) just go to Home Depot and buy a roll or 2 of sod. Even if they rip you off it shouldn't be more than $2-3 a peice - 1sq yard.

Solid post; a couple of additional points:

- Sod seems to be going for $4 for a 2x5 foot roll at most stores.
- I would also add some fetilizer under the new sod; like Scott's turf builder.

And as Rathji said; water, water, and then more water. Until the sod's roots take hold it is relying on water from above to survive.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

Have you tried looking at your lawn from the other side of the fence?

Holy crap this made me laugh...well done.

[Northendzone]

if you don't want to get some new chunks of sod - I have had some sucess by doing the following:

1. rake the heck out of the areas with the brown spots
2. get a bag of grass seed and cover the brown patch with a fair amount of grass seed
3. cover the seeds with peat moss or peat moss with some soil on top
4. try and keep the area moist for about 10 days and you should see some shoots of grass growing

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

if you don't want to get some new chunks of sod - I have had some sucess by doing the following:

1. rake the heck out of the areas with the brown spots
2. get a bag of grass seed and cover the brown patch with a fair amount of grass seed
3. cover the seeds with peat moss or peat moss with some soil on top
4. try and keep the area moist for about 10 days and you should see some shoots of grass growing

While this might work, if your seeds decide to not get disturbed or blown away, the almost equivalent cost and effort of putting sod in for almost instant results is well worth it.

Unless you have a bunch of seed already, it isn't worth the time or money you would put into it.

[Envitro]

For this little patch of grass, sure yeah sod is cheap as you only need 1 roll at most. As an aside, comparing the cost of a 6000 sqft lawn I need 2 bags of Scott's grass seed ($60) and some peat moss, plus maybe 1 hour of my time, as opposed to maybe $1000 worth of sod and a day or so to get it all laid down seeding wins hands down IMHO.

Of course, sod is instant-lawn, but I could afford to wait for the grass to grow in as I wasn't in a rush (no kids or pets, for now). However, with seed I did have some issues with channeling due to the heavy rain in the fall and this spring so I'll be fixing that up with a roll or two of sod and some extra soil that I have.

Back to your question, I would just put sod down if it's an issue of the sod being of poor quality or not taking root properly.

However, if they are pet-related grass patches then I would put down dolemite lime to counteract the acidity of pet urine. It'll balance out the PH levels in the soil and the grass comes back even better.

[burn_baby_burn]

Originally Posted by Buff

I recently seeded an area in my back yard and thanks to lack of sun over the past few weeks, it is slow to grow.

How did you seed it? Did you mix the seed with soil? How often do you water it?

If you just put the seed on top and never water it. It will never grow.

[Sr. Mints]

When seeding, would baking soda work (mixed in with replacement soil), after removing 1" of urine-ruinied grass instead of dolemite?

[Envitro]

Apparently not. You can try it but I've been told that baking soda is good for liquids (i.e. water) but not treating soil, that's what dolemite is for

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by Envitro

Apparently not. You can try it but I've been told that baking soda is good for liquids (i.e. water) but not treating soil, that's what dolemite is for

Well, dammit. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Reaper]

Man, I am so glad that my neighbor's in-laws own a golf course. With the wholsesale account I was able to put Kentucky Blue Grass in my front lawn for $160 a pallet.

[Barnes]

Dog urine does not burn grass because it is acidic (it's pretty much neutral anyways). It is very high in nitrogen and burns your grass the same way dumping a pile of fertilizer would. It essentially over fertilizes the grass.

[red sky]

What is the best way to remove older mature dead grass?