Emergency patching of brown area in lawn

[tenplay]

We just found out that we have to sell our house by September because of a job change. Our front lawn looks good except for a brown patch near the street, which was caused by someone spilling a corrosive liquid on it about a year ago. It is a fairly large 2 X 3 feet area. I thought it might take care of itself with frequent watering but it still looks bad after more than a year. What can I do to make the brown area green? I live in Western Washington where we still have showers fairly frequently. It seems late to plant grass seeds. I wonder if I should cut out the brown area and replace it with sod. Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

[dr-solo]

[Kay Lancaster]

What was the chemical spilled? If it's not persistent, I'd patch with sod, probably stolen from another spot in the yard (need a flower bed extension) or even from the neighbors if you've got a good gardening buddy. Even though it's going in as sod, I would probably dig out the soil directly under the spot for 6" or so and replace with something clean.

You'll need to keep watering this summer...

Kay

[tenplay]

I have no idea what the chemical was, but it sure is persistent. I'll ask a neighbor or two, but I'll probably have to buy the sod. It makes sense to replace the soil directly under the brown area. I have a large yard so replacement soil is readily available. Thanks for the advice. Mike

[Kay Lancaster]

Because sod is typically grown under very high fertilization, the sod patch you put in front should probably come from your own yard... even if the donor spot you use is from the back yard, and you patch that with commercial sod. The commercial sod is likely to be much greener than your own lawn, and differences will remain even if you fertilize the rest of the lawn. That bright green patch is going to look as odd as the brown patch now. At least to me it would.

Also different cultivars of grasses and mixtures of grasses have different overall color.. so patching from your own lawn in a prominent position like this gives you a better chance of blending the patch in.

Kay