Help trying to ID lawn problem, rare ?

[Mower For Less]

Hi,

I have seen the same problem twice this year so far, and was wondering what it was or if any of you had encountered similar problems? In both yards there are tree's. The grass has died completely in the shadow of the tree (a very large portion of the lawn), literally shriveled up into brown a brown hay thatch mat. It almost appears that it was sprayed with roundup, but nothing else is growing. A couple sparse weeds here or there, but for the most part nothing. The tree's have leaves and appear to be in ok health. Then, as if nothing were a problem, just outside the shadow of the tree the grass is green and healthy. I planted a small 1x1 square test plot of seed in the 1st yard and it grew and established and help all summer and is still doing fine. I am about ready to reseed the entire lawn, when I meet the second customer with a near identical problem who says he has re-sodded his lawn twice, and both times it died off the same way. Got me worrying about the 1st, which is why I am trying to look into it now. Now it has me rethinking what this problem is/was. Anybody ever seen anything like it? I can take a pic, but it probably wont be until this weekend.

Kevin

[upidstay]

The only thing I can think of is a fungus. It was in shadow, so would have stayed wet longer than the sunny areas. Leaf wetness can lead to disease, particularly dewy grass. The shady areas would be dewy longer, so more likely to become infected (?). This is more of a shot in the dark, but seems plausible.

[Mower For Less]

Are there any types of soil tests that will reveal soil contamination of presence of disease or fungus?

[TURFLORD]

Has there been a drought in your area? The canopy of the trees will deflect most of the water from a heavy Summer shower, so this might be a problem of lack of water. Include somne pics.

[rusty2]

It could be Green Bugs. They are little aphids that suck the juice out of the leaves. You will find them in the shadow of the tree. To check for them go to the actively infected lawn and place a piece of paper on the grass. Run your hand over the grass around the paper. The bugs will be visible on the paper.
Good Luck.
Rusty

[Mower For Less]

Alright, here is a picture of the one lawn. The small green sqaure of grass was a test plot I did in the spring. It survived all summer, and a very hot summer, without losing its green, and with virtually no watering once it was established, and no additional fert past the initial starter app. (If your interested, I used Lebanon's Winning Colors Blend TTTF). I did this test as a way of trying to determine if something was wrong with the soil. I half expected it to be dead by now, but I am actually surprised it still looks good, so I overseeded the rest of the lawn, and have to assume it will turn out the same way. My problem is I still dont know what caused it to begin with.

My deductions are these:

1. I highly doubt it was drought, becase of the definite line between good grass and dead grass, and the survival of the newly seeded grass.

2. It may have been some type of fungus or disease, but I am not sure how to identify it this far into it, it looks like it could have been anything.

Kevin

[LIBERTYLANDSCAPING]

What time of the year did lawn start dying out? Was it in the late summer/early fall? It's hard to tell after lawn is already dead, but if it happened late in season it could be grubs. Iv'e seen a lot of grub damage that looked similar. Looks like patchy drought stricken turf, as the roots have been chewed off. Try pulling up some of dead area and seeing if it has much root mass left.

[dcgreenspro]

I agree w/ Liberty on this one. You might have had an outstanding pop of grubs that just ate you out of house and home. Also, what kind of soil is that lawn made up of? I have seen trees do that to small lawns where the tree has an extensive root system running underneath. If you are growing it back in successfully, then all is well. gl

[Az Gardener]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this and maybe its because we are in different parts of the country with different turf types. Turf is a full sun plant it needs full sun, it will survive for a time in shade using stored sugars and starches from previous seasons but it needs energy from the sun to do its thing. Take away the power source and eventually the batteries go dead. It is a very common problem out here. I have two huge pine trees in my front yard I have to re sod every other year if I want to keep a decent lawn. I think it is a low light condition.

[dcgreenspro]

If that were the case, how could the grass have germinated???????and remained healthy???????

[LIBERTYLANDSCAPING]

I can't believe no one has mentioned this and maybe its because we are in different parts of the country with different turf types. Turf is a full sun plant it needs full sun, it will survive for a time in shade using stored sugars and starches from previous seasons but it needs energy from the sun to do its thing. Take away the power source and eventually the batteries go dead. It is a very common problem out here. I have two huge pine trees in my front yard I have to re sod every other year if I want to keep a decent lawn. I think it is a low light condition.

I know what you are saying about this- In extreme shaded areas grass will germinate & live off energy stored in seed, until it runs out and then die. I have seen this with northern climate grasses, but dead area is not so defined. The areas I have seen that happen in were in very extreme shade. The more I look at it, the more I think grub control.

[Az Gardener]

Grubs don't usually stay within boundaries like shady areas or out of the neighbors yard etc. Not saying there are not grubs their but plant problems are rarely are caused by a single factor.

[Mower For Less]

OK, When I first seen the lawn this spring, it was already as dead as it looks in the picture taken last week. So I am not sure how fast it died, or how it really progressed. However, one of the first things I did was to pull on the matted grass thinking grubs, but it was still firmly rooted, and the ground was solid. It was not consistent with grub damage.

The soil type is a fairly good sandy loam. It is pretty typical for the area, and its consitency does not appear to be a problem.

The street that this house is on runs East-West. The house faces North. The lawn recieves pretty even amounts of sun and shade throughout the day as the sun passes over. As you can see in the pic, which is even taken on an overcast day, the lawn recieves plenty of light to support grass growth. It is not overly shaded. In fact the areas that are near the house that are still thriving recieve less sunlight due to the additional shading of the house and shrubs, and the growth of the tree up to the house creating a nearly solid canopy over some spots. Also the dead area on the curb is out of the shade and in full sunlight, yet is also dead, adding further discredit to the sun/shade theory.

I am still leaning more heavily toward some type of fungus or disease, although like I said, am not sure how to test for it or prove it this late in the game, or it its even possible.

Kevin

[TURFLORD]

If you look at the pattern of dieback, it's not consistent with insect or fungus damage. I'm going with mechanical injury on this one. My guess is someone applied to much of something and killed the lawn. The squared off area by the driveway and the round areas by the front door kind of give it away.

[hughmcjr]

This is definitely nothing to do with shade. Shade may thin grass and certain conifers shade and needles may kill grass, but this looks like a crane fly or grub problem. If anything in a hot, dry summer the shaded areas under the tree stay greener.

Grubs and cranefly larvae love healthy well maintained lawns, but they many pests move in when disease is present and then they finish off the job. Nature's way if you will.

[RABBITMAN11]

Maybe Phytium

[Hissing Cobra]

Have you checked for Chinch Bugs or Bill Bugs? To me, it looks like OLD insect damage, either grubs, billbugs or chinchbugs. If it was grubs, you'd be hard pressed to find them as there's no food source available to them in the damaged areas (they eat the grass' roots and judging by the picture, it looks like the soil is showing).

Pull on the green grassy areas and check for grubs. If they're not found, look for chinch bugs (along the green grass/dead area's edges.) If you don't find those, look for bill bugs. If something is found, apply the proper insecticide and reseed. Good luck!

[Mower For Less]

Well, if it was insect or disease, its hard to say at this point, as both are so far in the past that there is really little evidence to support either besides dead grass. For all I know he could have ticked somebody off and been the victim to a cruel Round-Up revenge. Not really sure how you would know the difference over a year later. At any rate, this is the lawn 2 weeks after overseeding the entire thing with Lebanon's Winning Colors TTTF Blend. (overseeded 9-10-06, follow up picture taken 9-25-06). It will still fill in a little more, as there are still some seedlings popping, but I think its looking pretty good now. Just gotta keep an eye on it to make sure the mystery death syndrome does not reapear. If it does, at least I will be fertilizing it from now on so I should be able to have more insight as to its progress and cause.

Kevin

[RigglePLC]

Wow! it looks great! However...I agree that original problem was caused by over application of something earlier in year. Straight lines or square patterns are a dead giveaway--although I can't exactly see it from the original picture. Look for particles of fertilizer, sulfer coat or vermiculate carrier from a weed and feed. Or marks from a rotary spreader. Customer may have applied 5000 sq ft of material on this small area. Or maybe homeowner applied Roundup to kill his weeds.

[ant]

someone did something to kill this lawn.