What is my course of action

[weekendDIY]

I live in central NJ

I have a couple of problems and would like some advice if possible.

1) All of a sudden my grass it turning brown. We have had more than enough rain never mind the fact the my sprinklers run ever 2nd day for 20 minutes a zone. I called Scotts and they came out put down some Nitorgen and Lime (I think) but it doesn't seem to be gettting better. I noticed the lawn started to turn brown a couple of weeks back when we got a couple of inches of rain in 1 day. Could too much water be killing it off?

2)Another problem I have is that I have seen alot of crab grass come up. I had Scotts out twice to kill it off but it hasn't died. Is crab grass hard to kill?

3)Since my neighbor is nice enough to do NOTHING with her lawn it is overtun with Wild Violets which have krept into my yard. Scotts told me there is nothing you can really do with them (which I knew) but they tried a product called Aclaim (?). That seemed to help a little but not much. What else can I try?

With my above problems I thought about killing everything off and starting over. I went to Home Depot to look into what I can rent. I can rent a drill seeder or an overseeder. The guy at Home Depot told me the overseeder would tear up my current lawn. Scotts has offered to slice seed the lawn. Is that the same as the overseeder? Will a slice seeder tear up my lawn?

Can somebody recommend what would be my best course of action

Thanks

[dvmcmrhp52]

The "brown " lawn is probably leaf rust........a fungus..................it is currently running rampant in our area..........nitrogen application to "grow" it out is the typical treatment.( Do you have orange dust on the mower after cutting?)


crab grass is not the easiest to control, just keep after it.



Best course of action?
Fertilize the lawn using high nitrogen fert to grow out the rust and see what happens.

[SodKing]

Getting rid of Scotts would be your first step. Your brown patches are likely a fungus. With the amount of water your pouring on it, it is likely Helmenthosporium leaf spot. If they have been out to kill the crabgrass twice it should be dead. Are they actually putting anything down? One application of Quinclorac should kill it.

The Leaf spot, as well as many other fungus including rust, would be controlled with Beyleton at the curative rate.

[weekendDIY]

I was wondering why my lawn mover was rusting when I keep it inside. I was also seeing on my sneakers but answnow you have ered that for me. Thanks!

It looks like the grass it wilted in areas, probably a light tan in color. I will call Scotts out again and have them apply it again. The grass looked great up until about 3 weeks ago but now that there are problems I can't get in touch with them. They probably won't be back next year.

I went walking around the yard tonight and the ground it pretty saturated in spots. It actuallt squishes when I walk in certain places. Could that much water be causing a problem also? It appears in areas I lost some grass because it looks thinned out

As far as the Wild Violets go, has a miracle violet killer come out recently that will fix my problem with them without destroying my grass. If not, should I get some Round Up and kill everything in the area off? Should I get an overseeder or a drill seeder from Home Depot? What is the difference?

Am I able to buy Beyleton?

I appreciate the help that you have already provided. Thanks Again!

[lawn_j0ckey]

I was wondering why my lawn mover was rusting when I keep it inside. I was also seeing on my sneakers but answnow you have ered that for me. Thanks!

It looks like the grass it wilted in areas, probably a light tan in color. I will call Scotts out again and have them apply it again. The grass looked great up until about 3 weeks ago but now that there are problems I can't get in touch with them. They probably won't be back next year.

I went walking around the yard tonight and the ground it pretty saturated in spots. It actuallt squishes when I walk in certain places. Could that much water be causing a problem also? It appears in areas I lost some grass because it looks thinned out

As far as the Wild Violets go, has a miracle violet killer come out recently that will fix my problem with them without destroying my grass. If not, should I get some Round Up and kill everything in the area off? Should I get an overseeder or a drill seeder from Home Depot? What is the difference?

Am I able to buy Beyleton?

I appreciate the help that you have already provided. Thanks Again!



If the lawn is making squishing noises when you're walking on it, its most likely being caused by too much watering. if you put your hand on the "squishy" areas, does it feel warm? if you continue, it can turn into a case of root rot and then you're really gonna have problems. i know you're only watering 2x week @ 20 min per zone but cut it back if rain is in the forecast.

And like a previous poster stated, you're problem is rust (fungus) and just to keep it fertilized (high nitrogen especially) but it happens every year and there's really nothing you can do about it. good luck!

[bobbygedd]

we have had alot of rust here, but the browning is a fungus as sod king said.alot of lawns have it. i wouldn't waste my time with a fungicide right now.i would thatch the dead areas , and slice seed the entire lawn. the slice seeder will tear up areas, but these areas are weak anyway. i have lawns that we thatched and slice seeded last thursday(8 days ago) and have 1" grass already. mature crabgrass is hard to kill. if it is an eyesore, pull it out by hand. use dimension next year in late march, then again 3rd week of april. spot spray with trimec plus as soon as you see any new crabgrass come up after that. the younger plants are much easier to kill. or, for a tidy fee, you can hire us to do it for you

[weekendDIY]

lawn_j0ckey - I actually have the sprinkler set up to go off every other day for 20 minutes a zone. Does that sound high? What should the proper settings be for a sprinkler?

Thanks

[lawn_j0ckey]

lawn_j0ckey - I actually have the sprinkler set up to go off every other day for 20 minutes a zone. Does that sound high? What should the proper settings be for a sprinkler?

Thanks


i'd say 3x week @ 30 min per zone would be fine (try to take into account the amount of rainfall as well)

[weekendDIY]

I have one section of my lawn that is squishy even though the sprinklers have run since Thursday and it hasn't rained either. For now I have them shut off to see if it dries out some. The ground does not feel warm

[SodKing]

Check for Grubs. Is it squishy like its wet or just soft when you walk over it?

[weekendDIY]

It is squishy like it is wet. Might be a dumb queation but how do I check for grubs?