Help with new Lawn

[hopelesslawn]

I seeded a new lawn last fall (10 months ago). Everything started to grow nicely.

After after a 4-6 weeks I notice the lawn starts turning brown. The grass itself would turn brown at the tip and work it's way down over the new few weeks and eventually encompass the whole grass. I water the lawn twice a day (each time for about 5-10 min), once in the morning and once in the evening. Eventually the brown grass looks like it is burnt and looks grey. Was I watering too much / too less? What was causing it to turn brown?

After a long winter where the lawn was under the snow for most of the winter, the lawn looked like it somewhat survive the winter. The spring season was wet enough that I did not need to water the lawn, but I did notice some of the grass continue to become yellow. As the spring season gave away to summer. I only water once a week for 0.5hr - 45min. If it rain during the week, I did not water. The grass continues to die. I have even started to water with a hose to specific areas which look bad every day for the pass week and a half but it does not seem to help.

Below are pics of the current condition of the lawn. Please someone help.

[Lindsaylew82]

Some more information would be helpful.

Where do you live/ what hardiness zone are you in? It DOES matter. What kind of weather have you been having lately?

What KIND of grass did you plant?

What are your cutting practices? How short do you cut?

Have you fed your lawn, or used any type of weed & feed products?

Have you had your soil tested before? If so, what were the findings of your test?

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of help here for you!

[hopelesslawn]

Buffalo, NY

Kentucky Blue Grass

Every 2 - 4 weeks per cut. Lawn mower set to 1.5"

No feed

No soil test

[Lindsaylew82]

KBG is a cool weather grass and is often seeded with other types of grass to give season long green. It does well in cool weather, so your temps may be bothering it.

KBG likes a high mow. 2.5-3, but you shouldn't be taking more than 1/3 of your grass length off. You may need to mow more frequently to accomplish that. If you let your grass grow LONG, then cut it very SHORT, you'll have die off. Grass doesn't like that. Consistent high mowing without removing more than 1/3 of the length. That's what it likes.

They are heavy feeders! And they like their water, too. I see a few clover popping up, which can indicate poor nutrients in your soil.

High cutting and deep watering can promote deep roots and healthier plants. Consistent, deep watering. The deeper the roots, the less you'll have to water.

You can reseed with rye and red creeping fescue. They will fill in while your bluegrass catches up.

[hopelesslawn]

The bag on the KBG says:

50% w/w Seed (80% Kentucky blue grass), 20% Turf-type (perennial ryegrass), 48% w/w Limestone powder and 2% Zebra Grass seeding coating material

So I think I am OK without adding other grass types.

Latest development:

The grass continues to die, even though I water with a hose to concentrate the watering. Had a couple of days of down pour but still now help.

Found a few holes dug up by a skunk in the lawn near the windows area in the previous above posted pictures. I had noticed these exact same holes last fall after I seeded the area as well. This is the first time I have noticed it this year.

So maybe it is a grub problem since skunks like to eat grubs.

Any suggestions for getting rid of grubs and skunks?

[imafan26]

I think you have something more than just grubs and skunks.

Is the soil compacted? If you poke a stick in the ground how far can you go.

Watering with a hose is not enough. Grass needs in my zone an inch of water a week. For me that is 30-45 minutes with a sprinkler. I have an in ground system.

Lawn seeding is an uncommon practice here. But grass grows better if the soil is prepared well first. If the ground is hard and compacted and there are a lot of dead roots in place. It is best to renovate the lawn. Do it in sections, it takes longer but if you get better results then you know it is what you gotta do. Work in 4-6 inches of compost and a 1/4 inch of steer manure. I would get a soil test before adding lime. Add the starter fertilizer and water it deeply. Let the weeds come up and kill them or pull them up. Do that a couple of times, watering when the soil is almost dry and watering 4- 6 inches deep. When the weeds no longer are an issue, then seed the lawn. It is best to do that at the time of year that is appropriate for you.

Most people don't know or realize that it is recommended that lawns be renovated every 7 years. Most people have never done that. I have renovated my lawn a couple of times. Every year I aerate and top dress. I no longer fertilize my lawn twice a year in the Spring and again in the fall. I fertilize when it starts looking like it needs it. If I treat it too nice, it rewards me by growing so much that it takes over my border beds and I have to weed whack more often, so I starve my lawn on purpose. Always set the mower 1/2 inch higher in summer and as mentioned already. Mow with the type of mower recommended and do not take off more than 1/3 of the blade at a time.

https://extension.umass.edu/turf/fact-s ... verseeding

Around here, sometimes people don't have the time, equipment or willingness to get dirty renovating a lawn. It is sometimes easier to have a landscaper or lawn service kill the lawn, put in a sprinkler system and replant it.

[hopelesslawn]

Does anybody know if this looks like Chinch Bug damage? If so, how can I get rid of Chinch bugs?