HelpfulGardener.com

Hey everyone, I'm having some real trouble with my lawn and could use some help. I've got some big patches and strips of different colors of green going on and some browning as well. I've fertilized three times this year (~10 weeks), as well as thatched, aerated, limed and got rid of some heavy moss in the spring. I also overseeded in March and just recently laid down a fungus killer/preventer. In the browning spots, I dug up the soil in areas to see if grubs were an issue, but I'm not seeing any evidence. I've kept up on watering as well, about once a week and we've only topped 70 degrees a few days this year. I Also changed the blade on my mower at the start of the season, but some of the grass looks like it might have split ends, I thought a new blade would last at least one season. Anyways, any help would be appreciated, thx in advance. By the way, I'm in Seattle WA

How high are you mowing your lawn? As a general rule of thumb you should never cut off more than 1/3 the length of the grass. So your grass should be about 2-3" high.

Also, in your second picture it looks like someone might have spread fertilizer?

I used Milorganite Fertilizer on my lawn in order to green it up. Worked wonders for me and it also made the lawn nice and thick too. I noticed the green in about a week and noticed more thickness a week later. It also helped we've had a lot of rain too.

The fertilizer I mentioned above is organic and you don't have to worry about using too much of it. Those other chemical fertilizers you have to watch how much you put down because you can burn out your lawn.

I would try Milorganite and go heavy on it. You'll see a difference, guaranteed.

The blades of a mower should be sharpened regularly. That being said using the right mower also helps. Rotary mowers cut the grass and leave the edges of the blades irregular and some grasses will look like the tips are brown. Reel mowers cut like a knife and leave a cleaner edge to the blade.

Make sure you mow at the right height for the type of grass you have and don't mow the grass when it is wet.

It helps if you mow grass north south and then east west, that way you won't see the rows in the grass.

For very small lawns if you are very good, a weed whacker with a straight shaft can also do the job. It takes some skill to use a weed whacker. I weed whack my grass because my grass area is very small and I would have to mow down a slope and get the mower over sidewalks and paving stones to get to the grass in my yard. The weed whacker with the straight shaft also edges and can get closer under the plants and near the house. I am not good at it so I do see the concentric circles when I mow, but it is gone in a couple of days.