Grass keeps dying every winter

[Richro65]

Hello everyone

I am looking for some help with an ongoing problem with my lawn.

2 springs ago I noticed that a number of areas of my lawn did not survive the winter. I dug up the bare areas, added some top soil and reseeded which resulted in nice solid growth throughout the summer and fall. Winter comes and goes, and these areas I planted last year are dead and gone, in addition to a number of other "mature" areas of the lawn that have plenty of brown and will not come to life.

http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn1.jpg
http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn2.jpg
http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn3.jpg

I had a lawn service doing regular fertilizations for the last several years and when I discovered all the damage last spring (2008) I canceled their service.

I fertilized the lawn 2 weeks ago and although the healthy areas are thriving, it did not help the brown areas.

My two questions are: Is this damage beyond repair or can something be done before it's too late, and what can I possibly do to have this grass successfully come back next spring?

I've had people mention that maybe I have a soil problem, but most of these problem areas have grown successfully for many years before and this problem is sudden.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Marcos]

Hello everyone

I am looking for some help with an ongoing problem with my lawn.

2 springs ago I noticed that a number of areas of my lawn did not survive the winter. I dug up the bare areas, added some top soil and reseeded which resulted in nice solid growth throughout the summer and fall. Winter comes and goes, and these areas I planted last year are dead and gone, in addition to a number of other "mature" areas of the lawn that have plenty of brown and will not come to life.

http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn1.jpg
http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn2.jpg
http://www.bananasentertainment.com/eformat/lawn3.jpg

I had a lawn service doing regular fertilizations for the last several years and when I discovered all the damage last spring (2008) I canceled their service.

I fertilized the lawn 2 weeks ago and although the healthy areas are thriving, it did not help the brown areas.

My two questions are: Is this damage beyond repair or can something be done before it's too late, and what can I possibly do to have this grass successfully come back next spring?

I've had people mention that maybe I have a soil problem, but most of these problem areas have grown successfully for many years before and this problem is sudden.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

What's 'above' these pics?
In other words, how much shade does this lawn get, from trees and / or buildings?

What was the mower setting height last fall when you did your last mowing?
Was it set relatively high, medium, or low?

Was it fertilized last fall?
If so, with what, do you know?

Have you ever considered a bio-solids approach in your lawn program?
(Or... in another overused word: "organic" :laugh:.)


RE: Canceling your lawn care company
Many lawn care companies are not by any means perfect in what they do & how they do it. But on the other hand, some homeowners will often 'use' their past LCO as a scapegoat for problems they may have caused with their own mower, etc.
It's part of a good LCO's obligation to keep the line of communications open, to keep the customer "in the loop" of learning about the ins and outs of their OWN lawn, so that misunderstandings likely don't occur.

A lawn care service should be looked at as a partnership, not a dictatorship!
This is the ultimate key to vendor/customer happiness! :)

[Richro65]

What's 'above' these pics? In other words, how much shade does this lawn get, from trees and / or buildings?

It varies. Some of these areas get almost all shade, some get almost all sun, some get half & half. For the areas that I planted, I used both sun mix and shade mix depending on the conditions.

What was the mower setting height last fall when you did your last mowing? Was it set relatively high, medium, or low?

It was set medium for the last mowing of the fall. I definitely didn't scalp it. Normally I mow on a high setting keeping the grass longer (and because I always wait until it's too long before I mow :laugh:).

Was it fertilized last fall? No. We had a very early snow, before I could ever get the winterizer down. However, previous years, and right before this all started, it was winterized by the lawn service. No idea what they used.

I didn't necessarily blame the lawn service for what happened but I figure if I'm spending $350 a year for it and this happens, it's a waste of money.

[Marcos]

What's 'above' these pics? In other words, how much shade does this lawn get, from trees and / or buildings?

It varies. Some of these areas get almost all shade, some get almost all sun, some get half & half. For the areas that I planted, I used both sun mix and shade mix depending on the conditions.

I can completely understand why you'd be having problems growing grass in areas where you'd get virtually NO sun.
Grass simply won't stay established for long in 'forest' light, at least not in this latitude on planet Earth.
The trees' leaves will rob the most important light from the turf LONG before the rays reach the ground.
Frankly, "shade mixes" of grass seed varieties will only get you so much result.
At the end of the day, Sunlight is King.



What was the mower setting height last fall when you did your last mowing? Was it set relatively high, medium, or low?

It was set medium for the last mowing of the fall. I definitely didn't scalp it. Normally I mow on a high setting keeping the grass longer (and because I always wait until it's too long before I mow :laugh:).

Good. It's better if it was medium, or low. Not high.
High turf going into winter will often mat down, causing it to smother itself.

Was it fertilized last fall?

No. We had a very early snow, before I could ever get the winterizer down. However, previous years, and right before this all started, it was winterized by the lawn service. No idea what they used.

Well, no doubt then, you've got turf that went through this past winter very hungry &/or sunlight-deficient! That's a double-whammy!

I'm a huge believer in early to mid-fall composting, myself.
Most of the rest of the year, I fertilize with vegetable proteins such as corn gluten, soybean meal, cottonseed meal, etc.
Even in somewhat shady areas you can't go wrong with composting, assuming you apply very thin layers at one time, and take care to not smother what grass you've got! :)

I didn't necessarily blame the lawn service for what happened but I figure if I'm spending $350 a year for it and this happens, it's a waste of money.

I know exactly what you're saying! :waving:
As far as your professional problem is concerned, I recommend that you either study up on this site & become a knowledgeable D.I.Y'er, or go out and find a LCO that'll promise to communicate better with you.

As far as your dense shade is concerned, you may want to take a few lessons on how to prune out the not-so-important upward branching (water sprouts), cross branching, forked branching, etc.
Certainly, prune back (to the crotch) anything that is directly endangering your house, shed, etc.
But whatever you do, DON'T EVER 'top' a tree, or let anyone talk you into topping your trees! :cry: :wall

[Richro65]

Actually, the shady area (first pic) is shaded by the house's soffit once the sun hits above the house. It gets morning sun, maybe about 6 hours worth. I recently had an old birch tree there that I had removed and then planted a small tree which is too small to provide any shade. The grass grew fine there with the old tree but the stump grinder dug up the lawn so I replanted all around it and although it grew well throughout the summer and fall, the last 2 winters killed it.

Obviously I'm going to be planting grass again, so how do I assure that this grass is going to survive the next winter? Winterizing yes, but this was done the previous year and there was a lot of dead grass the following spring. Plus, the first 3 years I owned my house I did not winterize and the lawn had no problems at all.

My next door neighbor does nothing to his lawn, no fertilizer, lets dandelions infest, etc, and his lawn looks better than mine. This is quite frustrating and I am so tired of planting these same areas.

Thanks for your help.

[Gt350RC]

I had a lawn service doing regular fertilizations for the last several years and when I discovered all the damage last spring (2008) I canceled their service.

Was this service a national chain or a local organization? The reason I ask is that your story sounds quite similar to mine...

[Richro65]

It was Tru-Green Chem Lawn. I guess they are a national chain.

I've heard rumors that some places will charge you for an application and apply nothing or just spray the lawn with water but I can't make any such accusations.

I never had any specific problem with their service and the lawn seemed to do OK throughout the summer and fall but after the failing lawn in the spring, I felt it was a waste of money if that was going to happen.

[Gt350RC]

It was Tru-Green Chem Lawn. I guess they are a national chain.

Bingo. Same company I used, and with nearly the EXACT same results. I used them for one year, and my lawn is now in dire straits.

[Richro65]

Even if they were to blame for the lawn's condition, I canceled them in the spring of 2008 and still had the result of dead grass this spring. Could it be that the products they use change the acidity of the soil over time making it difficult to grow grass?

[Gt350RC]

This is where we need some professional guidance...

[Richro65]

I'm sure that one of the first things we'll be told is to get the soil tested, which I've heard can be expensive.

I've added limestone dust to the soil where the grass died the previous year thinking it was too acidic but it died again. I also mixed compost into the top soil which I've heard is great for the lawn but every single blade of grass I planted last season did not survive the winter. Yes, it was a harsh winter but everyone else's lawns look fine around me. I wish there were some easy answers because I don't want to spend all the time and money on soil, seed and water reseeding these areas only to have them die again next year.