How to cure dead spots in lawn

[Dave-Morris]

No matter how much I water I still have dead spots in my lawn. I don't have many weeds and no pine trees. But I can't seem to make nice grass grow in these spots. Any suggestions?

[BobR]

I will give you the advice my wife gives me every time I say anything about problems with the grass.

ASTROTURF!

Seriously, if the grass is dying over the same spots in your yard and repeated efforts to resod are not working, you need to rework the soil in those areas. There is something in the dirt that is killing the grass and the only solution is to remove the soil and replace it. In all probability, the builders dumped some chemicals, paint, or lye in that area and it is causing the grass to die.

If that doesn't work...ASTROTURF.

[Doug Miller]

Oh, phooey. You can't say that without knowing a lot more about the area and the problems it faces. There are numerous other things that can prevent grass from growing in a particular area: deep shade, rocky soil, heavy clay soil, poor/no drainage... It's irresponsible, not to mention absurd, to immediately leap to the conclusion that the cause *must* be dumping of toxic waste.

[KC]

As a bare minimum, you need to state what area of the country/world you live in and what type grass you have. Climate affects what type grass you can grow, and different grasses have different problems unique to them.

KC

[Hell Toupee]

Dig out the area, removing not just the dead grass but 2-3 inches of the soil, too. If it doesn't have any soil, or much soil, under the sod, that may explain why that section dies out. At any rate, replace with new topsoil, sprinkle a little bit of starter fertilizer on top, then add a piece of sod or grass seed.

It's not unusual for lawns to have spots where the soil is thin, or where it is heavily compacted, or very sandy. Those spots will dry out much faster. There's also the chance that rocks or construction debris are in that area, which again will tend to increase the tendency of that area to dry out faster than the rest of the lawn. And sometimes a spot is the result of a fertilizer burn or a dog wetting in that area. Or you may have gotten poor-quality sod, if the lawn is fairly new and you've experienced this since the sod was laid. At any rate, replacing the soil along with reseeding or resodding usually corrects most problems.

Oh, and take it easy when you spray for weeds. If you spray a weedy spot too heavily, or use a too-concentrated mixture of weed killer, you'll injure the grass plants along with the weeds. Don't mix the product stronger than recommended on the label. You're better off spraying a second time a week later than you are hitting it once with a too-strong solution.

HellT

[trader4]

Agree. I also get concerned when someone says that no matter how much they water, the grass won't grow. Overwatering and doing it wrong can also lead to fungus and disease which kills grass.

With almost nothing to go on, the list of what could be wrong is long.

[Bob F]

Have you tried a light fertilizing?

[Oren]

Fruit trees are stealing the moisture? It happens here, because the roots travel under the turf. Often a dry spot for me.

But, we do have pretty blooms this spring.

[norminn]

We worked about two years to rebuild a badly neglected lawn (southern grass). I finally got impatient enough about a dead area to start digging. There were pavers buried with about 4" of soil. Dug up all of the pavers; all is well.

How many dead spots? How large? Large proportion of lawn? Sunny, shady or both? Got grubs?

[Oren]

Have you checked for large rocks, under the surface and then removed?

Then feed the lawn area.

[Stormin Mormon]

Is that ASTRO or AFRO?

[Stormin Mormon]

Think of the federal funding for cleanup. Do it for the children, man! And the money doesn't hurt.

[Stormin Mormon]

What kind of broadcaster do you use with a bag of light?

[clare]

I've got one spot that drains poorly and doesn't grow good roots. Dies off every summer. One of these years I'll dig it up and spring for one of those BIG bags of topsoil.

[Pittman Pirate]

Same thing

[Pittman Pirate]

Yeah, like welfare for polygamists.

[Pittman Pirate]

A light one.

[sligoNoSPAMjoe]

Well since there may be a thousand different reasons, we can't make really helpful suggestions until we know more.

How a bout a few answers.

What part of what country is the lawn located? How long have you lived there? What kind of grass is the primary grass in the turf? Is this spot in the sun or shade? How often do you fertilize? How old is the lawn? Do neighbors have like problems? Is this only one spot in your lawn? Do you have a dog? Do weed grow in the spot? What is the ground texture like? (hard soft..) Is the soil moist or dry?

Answer those and then maybe we can offer some answers, suggestions or maybe new questions.

[dpb]

There's only two ways to go -- guess or find out what's wrong.

If there isn't something physical in the area (something like the other responder w/ the tale of buried bricks), then you need soil samples to find out what the problem(s) actually are.

Start w/ call to local county extension office.

[BobR]

Gee Doug, don't get your panties in a wad. I said in all probability and that is true rather you like it or not. Most builders use the yard to dump construction waste and anyone who has ever observed a neighborhood under construction knows this. Yes, there are other causes but the solution in most cases will be to dig out the area and either replace or amend the soil.