NH lawn - do I need lime?

[live free and garden]

Hi everyone!

Most of you know my story by now, but I moved into this house late last fall, so didn't have time to rake and properly thatch the lawn before winter. I thatched in the spring and then fertilized. The lawn looked green and healthy at first, but has started to decline pretty rapidly recently and brown patches have started to appear (see pictures below).

My friends at work said I most likely need lime because there's a lot of pine trees and the needles have been falling as of late. I got a test done earlier in the year by UNH's cooperative, and they said no lime was needed, but since then a lot of pine has fallen.

It also has been really hot, so I suppose it could be burning. I haven't had as much time to water it lately (maybe once a week?)

Any thoughts on how to get it back healthy or what might be the problem?

Front lawn :



Back yard :



Close up :

[Northernfox]

Looks like a thin or depleted topsoil issue to me. If the alkalinity and Ph test indicated lime was not needed you likely have another issue.

In the fall spread a few bags of sheep manure around and see what happens. My father uses that to build up his soil and he lives in the sub-arctic

Water might be another issue but you will know if it gets wet for 2 weeks or so the grass will re-bound like nothing happened

[Northernfox]

IMHO

[imafan26]

Your soil test did not indicate that lime was needed so your pH must have been ok. Pine needles are acidic but they breakdown very slowly and if you are raking them up and not tilling them in, it should not affect the grass that much.

It is summer and most grasses go dormant in summer. I can't tell what kind of grass you have from the picture.

You said you are watering once a week, but if you are not putting down an inch of water a week, it may not be enough to keep it green.

Do you have a sprinkler or are you watering by hand? Most people who hand water are sprinkling and only wetting the upper surface. Shallow watering keeps the roots near the surface and close mowing will burn those roots.

Set your mower higher, do not cut off more than 1/3 of the blade at any one time. Keep the height about 2 inches in summer. It will help to protect the roots from the sun.

Water the lawn deeply, depending on the type of soil you have, the length of time varies. I have clay soil and add a topdressing in the spring and fall, so it holds on to water for a while. I only need to water about an hour a week. I divide the time to water every other day. When the rainy season comes, I adjust the sprinkler to every 4 days, or it gets turned off if it rains for a week or more.

If the soil is sandy, it will need more water, more frequently. You can poke a hole in the grass after you water and see how long it takes to water the grass to get the soil moist 4 inches down. Deep watering will encourage the grass roots to go deeper and the grass will be more resilient in dry weather.