Help with Centipede Grass.

[wjason777]

My centipede grass is not turning green in all the areas. This is my second season of having centipede grass. Last year it was very thick and I always cut it about 2in and never bagged the clippings. I'm noticing in some areas that where the rain water and water from the irrigation system that doesn't drain right away that the grass is completely dead under the thatch. Its pretty much like that the for the whole yard. Under the heavy thatch its nothing there but dead grass.
Do you guys think I should rent a dethatcher and detach the lawn, then aerate the lawn and over seed it with centipede seeds? Or just dethatch the lawn.
Any suggestions would help.
thanks

[imafan26]

What kind of prep did you do before you installed the lawn?

How much water does the grass get? If the water is standing, you either have a drainage problem and thatch may or may not be contributing to that.

Where do you live? Maybe a different grass would have done better in your location.

Centipede grass is usually not used in high traffic areas and it doesn't like too much water or fertilizer or thatch will be a problem. It grows slowly so does not need a lot of mowing.

https://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/p ... c1215.html

Did you aerate and dethatch regularly?

If thatch is a problem, you may need to rent a vertical mower to dethatch and top dress again.

If it is a drainage or over watering problem you need a different fix.

[wjason777]

I'm in the South GA, Zone 8. When we had the house build the sod came with the landscaping package. I don't think any preperation was done to the soil other than maybe tilling the soil before the sod went down. Last week Ive been watering every other day for 15min because we didnt get any rain for about a week or so. These last few days its been raining non stop so I wont water until maybe a week or so.

The lawn has never been aerated or dethatch before.

From what I see, When I water the grass becomes very spongy like, and when rake away the thatch in one spot its pretty much nothing there. So if I dethatch there would definalty be a lot of spots without grass.

Do you think I should dethacher then aerate, then over seed with centpede seeds?

[hendi_alex]

Every few years my thickest, most healthy looking centipede dies out in similar patches. After a season it recovers to it's former density and vigor. I don't know if the die back happens because of white grub infestation or if the grass just chokes itself out. I'm not into pristine lawns so it is no great issue, but I do hate to see the problem surface as it always seems to take place in the prettiest section of the yard.

[imafan26]

I limit grass myself. I have St Augustine now because it was the only option after my tenants killed my grass and the nut sedge invaded the area. I had emerald zoysia. It was not a grass for walking on but it grew thick and slow. It required regular dethatching to keep it from getting lumpy, but I loved that the bugs did not like it and it grew so slow that I only had to mow once every three months with a power reel mower.

St. Augustine grew faster; could compete with the nut sedge and it disguised the nut sedge better. But it grows much faster and is a pain since it invades my borders. I had to take one border out because it was mostly grass. To keep it under control, I feed it a lot less. Pretty much I only feed it when I feel sorry for it. Last year, I fed it and it doubled the weed whacking requirement so I skipped the fall feeding. I still had to aerate, dethatch and topdress twice a year. My grass occupies only a small area so I use a dethatching rake, but I may soon have to use the vertical mower since I can't get that deep with a rake.

I think the centipede grass is being watered too much. 15 minutes a day is shallow watering and will encourage shallow rooting. Once, you get the lawn dethatched and the drainage issue resolved, it would be better to water the grass once or twice a week but water it deeply instead. I do 20 minutes twice a week, it is the equivalent of an inch of rain. If it rains for several days, I turn the sprinkler off until it dries up again.

[wjason777]

I limit grass myself. I have St Augustine now because it was the only option after my tenants killed my grass and the nut sedge invaded the area. I had emerald zoysia. It was not a grass for walking on but it grew thick and slow. It required regular dethatching to keep it from getting lumpy, but I loved that the bugs did not like it and it grew so slow that I only had to mow once every three months with a power reel mower.

St. Augustine grew faster; could compete with the nut sedge and it disguised the nut sedge better. But it grows much faster and is a pain since it invades my borders. I had to take one border out because it was mostly grass. To keep it under control, I feed it a lot less. Pretty much I only feed it when I feel sorry for it. Last year, I fed it and it doubled the weed whacking requirement so I skipped the fall feeding. I still had to aerate, dethatch and topdress twice a year. My grass occupies only a small area so I use a dethatching rake, but I may soon have to use the vertical mower since I can't get that deep with a rake.

I think the centipede grass is being watered too much. 15 minutes a day is shallow watering and will encourage shallow rooting. Once, you get the lawn dethatched and the drainage issue resolved, it would be better to water the grass once or twice a week but water it deeply instead. I do 20 minutes twice a week, it is the equivalent of an inch of rain. If it rains for several days, I turn the sprinkler off until it dries up again.

In the pictures the lawn is very wet because of a very heavy rain not because of the sprinklers. so I'm cutting the sprinklers off until next week. How would I go about fixing the drainage issue?

So far from what I'm getting from you guys is dethatch the lawn and water less. Is that the only thing I should do?

[applestar]

I always cut it about 2in and never bagged the clippings

I'm wondering about this part.

Do you have a mulching mower or a regular mower? When you mow, you mentioned the height you leave them at, but how long were they and what kind of clippings are you leaving?

Thick patches of clippings would smother and kill or stunt the grass underneath.

[wjason777]

I have mulching blades on my mower but it doesn't mulch that good. the blades of grass is still somewhat long. I'm using a Zero Turn mower. The height I usually cut it at is around 2in.