Hi,
I moved to a house a few years ago and decided to try my hand at making a lawn. Got some reading material and when I thought I undersoood how (big mistake) started. I put down approx 5 or 6" of double mix topsoil and toped it off with 2" of triple mix soil. I used a starter fertilizer and lime and seed mixture gaurenteed (probably another mistake) to grow in local conditions.
Anyway the first year the lawn was impressive but it didn't overwinter very well and by the fall I could tell it was in trouble. I tried fertilizer and lime with no apparent results. The following spring the lawn was almost completely dead. I searched for the cause and found an abundance of crane fly larva in the lawn. Got a soil test done and results showed the ph was very low 4.6. I applied the recommended lime and fertilizer, sprayed to kill the crane fly larva and reseeded the lawn. After reseeding the weather turned cold but after a few weeks delay the seeds germinated although there was a high kill rate. Again the lawn grew well at first but by the fall I knew it was again in trouble.
This spring approx 30% was dead. I collected soil for another soil test and the results shocked me. The ph was 4.2, and while I wasn't expecting it to be where I wanted, I didn't expect it to go down. I again applied the recommended lime and fertilizer. It's been 6 weeks now and the lawn isn't responding very well at all. Diging into the lawn didn't reveal any insects or larva but I noticed that the roots aren't very deep into the soil.
Any suggestions... things to look for ... anything would be a help and greatly appriciated.
Thanks Dave