So, my lawn IMO is just doing ok. I, like most people, want a nice green lawn, and I do spend some time on it so I would like it to look nice.

About three weeks ago it was just kind of "meh" and only looked a semi healthy, and a little thin. So, I fertilized it. Now, about 80% of it is super lush and green and grows like mad. Problem is, some parts didn't really change, and are still a bit yellow and green. A few small spots I guess I put too much fertilizer and it turned brown (oops) but I have been watering those areas like crazy. For all I know the people walking their dogs are letting them pee on there too

So, here is the front patch by the road: Keep in mind I JUST cut this and the dark green areas grew about 2" in 4 days.




Now, the backyard is a little better.



The part above the wall I did not fertilize, so that is what it all looked like before. The part below, has been fertilized. The backyward does not have as many yellowish patches as the front, but has one largish one.

Here is the nicest part in the backyard which I only cut 4 days ago, and it's grown a ton:



Questions:

Should I apply more fertilizer to the yellow areas? I actually did once already but it didn't seem to do much.

Should I just dig up the brown spots and start over with mulch/fertilizer/sand or will they recover?

Thanks everyone

I would rake out the brown grass, reseed it, put some black soil over the patches, and water it twice a day. You can't fertilize dead grass! Also, you should keep an eye on these patches, hopefully you don't have grubs. If the grass pulls out easily with no roots, you've got grubs...or you can put a spade into the ground and turn over the soil to check.

Spray paint.

Those patches out front do look like burn patches from dogs to me. You could try googling for some remedies. I usually just dig them out and seed or buy a roll of sod and cut to fit the area as required.

I don't know if you guys have County Ag Extension offices or something similar in Canada but if you do you can take medicine jar sized soil samples from the concerned areas around the yard and they can test the soil and tell you what you need to treat the affected area with ... which, if it were my guess I probably say a manganese or other similar type mineral.

Way down here in south Florida another concern with yellowing like that would be an insect or worm issue, which is often mistaken and mistreated as a fungus.

Looks much better than my lawn. There are spots I just can't seem to get grass to grow at all.

I'm no lawn expert, but I have had yellow spots on my lawn before. They were a result of burning the areas with too much fertilizer. Or, at least that's what a friend of mine told me.

My next lawn will be washed rock, concrete or asphalt.

+1

If you see a dog relieve himself on your lawn, heavily water that spot asap. Urine is comparable to a 500:0:0 fertilizer.

The problem with most fertilizers is that they also make the grass grow super fast, which translates into more cuts. Not so bad with a small area, but on the acre I've got, it's a huge time sink.

Scott

Hmm

Well, I applied a little bit more fertilizer to the areas that kind of stayed a bit yellow and aren't growing as fast as the green lush areas. I don't think it got like that from applying too much fertilizer because it's basically exactly how it was before I did anything. If it's still like that in a week or so, I am not really sure what to do then, I will have to look into it some more.

I ripped out the four or five small brown areas I had in the backyard (one where I spilled some stain ) and used that patch repair mulch/seed stuff you can buy, so we'll see how that goes. If it doesn't work I will get a roll of sod as suggested and just cut it to fit, I wish I would have thought of that before.

Edit: Apparently it's bad to cut your lawn too short too, and makes it grow fast and uneven. I have my mower set to the second lowest setting, I guess I will try it higher and see.

I recommend adding lime to green up the lawn, it's a ph balancer for poor soil. Also, for getting rid of animal urine, add baking soda with water and apply to affected area. It helps to offset the acid in the urine. It really worked when my old dog would relieve himself on the front lawn as soon as he left the house to go for a walk! Hope these ideas help!

For adding spot seed, use a mix of perennial ryegrass and kentucky blue grass. The rye will germinate faster than the bluegrass, which needs minimum of 2 weeks.

Of course, use limes to green up the lawn makes sense, something green to turn something green.

I would agree that it looks like a burn from dog urine. I found the best way to fix that is to use gypsum. Apply it like lime to the spot and water heavily. Then you can reseed the spot. It also works for salt damage. I have a rental home in St Paul which is on a busy corner. The area between the street and sidewalk get a heavy dose of salt in the winter and dogs the rest of the year. I put down a preventative gypsum treatment every fall works like a charm. (I'm an agronomist/soil scientist so am almost reputable on stuff like this)

Awesome. Jorge is my new best friend!

Jorge, I'll be forwarding you a Word DOC of questions!

Questions like,

- What is the best way to pick up BBs on my lawn?
- What kind of grass does Buffy the Vampire Slayer have?
- Do pots of grass make good bass traps in a square room?

Well, it has only been about 36 hours but the yellow patch I had in the backyard (about 3' squared) is starting to green up a bit after putting some more fertilizer on it. I need to cut it tonight but I am going to cut it about 3/4" higher than I normally do, and see what that does after a month or so. I hate waiting for the little seeded areas to start coming up, but I am watering them daily so we'll see how that goes also.

Fire away, Mark, but be warned having gone from scientist to farmer in the past few years I generate a Word DOC or 2 of questions for myself on a daily basis. I'm trying to figure out how to farm organically and somehow make it profitable. Daunting task.

Thats an understatement. Farming the regular way is a daunting task. Enough so that I walked away in my 20s and never looked back.

Ooooh! good idea. I can see the pamphlete now:

Grass Trapps. 10 Steps to Better Organic Bass.

On the more serious side. My lawn always sucks. Every year it gets thinner and the snowkill gets larger and takes longer to heal. I blame the constant salt spray. It seems to be stronger than the annual liming can handle.

We also have to research every shrub and flow er we plant unless it's on the protected side of the house to make sure it handles salt OK. What's really funny are the pine and spruce trees that look wonderful on one side as you come down the driveway and then when you get on the salted side, you realize it's only half a tree. The salty side has burnt away.

I'm actually hoping that the thyme that covers my neighbors yard eventually works it's way over and completely invades my lawn. It's seems to do great in the salt, doesn't need cutting as often, is soft to walk on if kept short and best of all it smells great when you walk on it.