dead grass

[iainahannah]

hi. looking for some advice. i bought a new build house in mid-november and the lawn had been freshly laid for our arrival front and back. since then we have had a very bad winter (as you are all probably aware) and the lawn is very patchy with straw coloured patches all over. i'm a bit concerned as i don't want to lose the lawn and was wondering if there is any experienced gardeners out there who can give me good solid advice to make my grass nice and green..........thanks.

[Lawn Guy]

Is this the first time you've owned a lawn?

You want advice? How about this: Wait until spring.

And also - why are posting via gardenbanter? The banter servers are so lame, and many are blocked/filtered on sight because they are used far more often for spam.

[trader4]

At this point that is about all he can do. It would also be helpful if when asking for advice people would state where they are located, what kind of grass, was it laid as sod, etc. I hope it was properly watered before going dormant. In any case, if it's cool season grass and it gets cold, it's perfectly normal for it to look straw colored. Depending on the grass, some will lose color slower than others, but if it gets cold enough, well into the winter they will lose color. A reference point is always what do the established lawns of neighbors look like? Even then, you really have to compare similar grasses. Here in the NYC area some dummies plant Zoysia and it looks like straw from early Nov until May. My tall fescue usually looks partly green into Feb.

[The Lawnsmith]

As mentioned it would help to know a little more particularly where the lawn is. Anyway I'll take a guess and suggest it could be '_snow_mould'

Is it?

[butcher]

What a great article. I too have patchy spots that need attention and wonde if anyone has more advice.

[butcher]

Hi, I am looking for some direction on placing sod over an area covered lightly with dirt but with a lot of tree roots underneath. Is there a problem with putting sod over the roots?

[butcher]

I am looking for some advice on placing sod over limited dirt with lots of roots underneath. Is there any special advice on this?

[Lawn Guy]

Yes, here's the advice:

1) don't post your question 3 times.

2) read the replies that have already been posted. If you did, you'd see that:

a) waiting until spring is the obvious answer b) identifying your geographic location helps those that want to answer your questions. You're somewhere in the US (I could do an IP-geolocate if I cared).

3) many trees can handle at least 6" of soil over their roots, right up to the trunk. You don't state what these roots are from (what type of trees or bushes, etc) but it probably doesn't matter anyways.

[sarah]

You only need to fertilize your grass twice a year and keep it watered and cut.

[Iris]

[Iris]

I was wondering if you were in an area that had snow? Do you have a dog or are their neighborhood dogs?

[Hooah]

Having grown up in Michigan, I know that, in the winter, straw-colored lawn is normal. Any green grass during a Michigan (or Minnesota, where I also have lived) winter is pretty unusual. Don't fret over it. When warm, rainy weather returns, then you can expect green grass. In the meantime, enjoy the snow!

[moldystudent]

Yeah it's really not the time of year to be studying and getting the best results from that study. Just wait till April and make your assessment then

[trader4]

Some trees tend to have roots that run close to the surface and they are a big problem when trying to grow grass. The roots limit the area for grass to root and suck up water and nutrients. Combine that with shade under the tree and it can be impossible to grow turf there. You need at least a few inches of good topsoil. If you grading allows, you could bring in some good topsoil. However, you may find that in a few years the tree roots just move into that new area as well.

[Lawn Guy]

Large roots are not mobile. If you cover them with dirt, they're not likely to move up on their own and come back to the surface. This is especially true in clay soil.

[trader4]

They don't have to be large roots. Some trees have thin roots that still form a dense mass and will indeed grow up into new soil. Norway Maples are one species well know for this problem. If the roots didn't want to be closer to the surface, they wouldn't have grown up there to begin with.

[Lawn Guy]

Thin roots won't be a problem for grass. Especially if you cover existing roots with 1 or 2" of soil, especially if you then lay down sod.

If you cover surface roots with soil, they can't magically lift themselves up and back to the surface. If they send out smaller root shoots back up to the surface, it will take some years before those shoots become a problem - if ever.