Hi, Any advice appreciated on why a lawn laid a year ago ( Rolawn Medallion Turf) is not growing vigorously and is now showing distinct yellowing of some blades as can be seen in the photo. The soil was prepared to 150mm, fine compost added and fertilizer top dressed prior to laying the turf. This season a liquid lawn feed was applied in early spring and then Miracle Grow applied a little later. Any advice on what to do to try and improve the lawn . Many thanks ..
It's a great picture and maybe someone here can identify it. But it's often very difficult to identify a particular disease, fungus, etc. Beside a close-up picture, other critical items are:
What it looks like over the whole area, ie does it appear in rings, small patches, large areas, etc.
Climate? Is it full sun, shade, wet, dry, temperatures, Spring, Summer, etc.
And even with that, pros have to send samples out to a lab to be really sure in many cases.
But, some general approaches:
Most of the problem appears to be on leaves where they were cut. Keeping the mower blade sharp reduces injury and makes it harder for disease to get established.
Fungus/disease loves: Water Nitrogen High Temps.
If you're overwatering it, leaving it wet too much of the time, that's not good. Best time to water is so that the watering ends as the sun is coming up. That minimizes the water used by doing it at night and also minimizes the time the grass is wet. Let it thoroughly dry out between waterings. For sod laid a year ago, it should probably be watered about 2X a week.
Don't put down any more fertilizer. Most people see a problem like this and rush out to put fertilizer and more water on it, both of which could make it worse.
If it doesn't correct itself or gets worse, many of the common lawn diseases respond to the lawn fungicides that are available. So even if you can't identify it, a bag of fungicide may work.
Thanks for the reply . The yellowing is pretty uniform over the lawn. I have now done soil tests , really surprised that nitrate phosphorus and potassium show 'ow levels' with neutral pH. Why would it be so low when a considerable amount of fine recycled compost was added to the soil prior to laying turf and it has been fed this spring. A lot of recent rain but surely that wouldn't wash out the nutrients. Considering the test results a would a feed regime be the answer N:P:K 11 - 4 -8 ?? Noticed today there are now areas of small toadstools ........ Does that indicate anything other than how wet it has been for a while. Any further comments really appreciated . Thanks Steve G
the problem you are likely experiencing is that you've added the compost to the soil and did not wait, which ties up nitrogen until the organic material gets broken down by fungi/bacteria. this is why you would get both yellowing and toadstools and why a nutrient test would come back poor in nitrogen.
applying a fungicide will knock the fungi back short term, but they are a natural part of any soil and the goal is to get things back in balance, so waiting is a good thing, adding a little nitrogen (very weak solution so that what gets applied gets used instead of ending up as runoff) will help green things up.
Yes. It indicates decaying organic matter, ie the compost you added to the soil, etc. Nothing to worry about.
The fertilizer you have should be OK to use. Or one with more nitrogen. Just make sure it's one formulated for lawn use, ie slow release. After that, I would not put more fertilizer down going into the heat of summer. Excess N, wet, high temps are bad. The lawn can live with lower than desirable N, but a fungus can kill it off in a few days.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.