Patchy Grass

I live in Michigan. We had new sod installed last year. We have a sprinkler system and the sod looked pretty good last summer. We did have soil put down before they installed the sod, but under the sod is all clay… We fertilized the grass in late April early May (the spreader that we used sort of striped the grass). so we waited until 2 weeks ago to fertilize again. Now our grass is 8 different shades of green, we water the grass at night, and I think it is getting enough water. You can see in the picture that we have all different colors. We have a riding lawn mower that mulches, we heard that it is good for your lawn to mulch, but I do see dead grass covering the soil. Sometimes we use our push mower that bags the cut grass. Do you have any ideas for what we can do? Should we wait one more month and fertilize again? Do you know of any good fertilizers? How much should we be watering our grass with clay soil? What is the best time to water?

Thank you for your help...

I'm not sure if this will help, however I have a co worker who has just installed some sod.... there is also clay soil here in NC. He reccomends to water in the early morning as watering in the evening will allow the water to sit there and provide a breeding ground for fungus. If you water during the early morning ie 7 a.m, this will allow the water to soak through to the roots however still letting the sun of the day soak up the excess water. Hope that helps and good luck!

Heather

I agree with Heather about not watering at night, that can cause fungal problems and that could be causing the grass to have problems like what you're seeing. The other possibility is that the sod wasn't pressed down into the soil as well in some areas as in others which means the roots didn't establish like they should have in some areas.

As far as fertilizing--I wouldn't fertilize any more often than what the fertilizer package directs, if it says you're supposed to do it again in a month then go ahead and do that, but if it says you shouldn't then putting extra fertilizer on could cause bigger problems for you. I actually wonder if part of the problem might not be fertilizer burn--you said you had to apply a second time because you got stripes, but on the second application I bet there were some areas that had got fertilizer the first time too and got a second dose so those areas could have burned from too much.

As far as how often to water--I would do what I tell people to do with plants in the garden--whenever you think it's time to water, stick your finger down an inch or two into the ground and see if it still feels wet, if it does then don't water yet. You should do this test in a couple different areas of the lawn, there are probably some areas that are lower or shadier than others and so those parts may be getting too much water even if the rest of the lawn is OK. After you do that a few times, you'll start to get a feel for how often it needs to be watered.

Hi cleeden, from the picture, the discolouration on the grass is caused by uneven distribution of your fertilising, the grass looks quite uneven with dips and bumps in it, so this makes it hard to spread any weedkiller/fertilisers and water evenly, like the dips will cause water and fertiliser to remain there and the high areas will cause these to wash off, poss run into the low bits making these bits get too much of a good thing and with the fertilisers, will burn the tender sheeths of grass, new grass is really like a young tender new plant and has to be treated as such for the first 4/5 month at least, if I were you, I would not go neer the lawn with any more fertilisers,
over fertilisation is like doubleing your medication from the doctor, the only time a lawn should need feeding is spring as it has just came out of it's rest period and maybe again in autumn befor it settles into the rest/dormant period, over feeding will cause the grass to grow week and that is when other problems can set in like fungal probs etc, as for watering, as you did not say how much top soil you added to the clay soil you have, it is difficult to gage how wet your soil remains after water/rain, you will find out by walking on the lawn after such a condition, and look at how wet the low dips remain waterlogged and how dry the high bits are, then you will be able to assess how and when to water the lawn, but for a new lawn, test the soil by poking a screwdriver down into it (like testing the centre of a cake from the oven to see if it has cooked in the middle) if the screwdriver comes out clean, then it prob is dry soil under, if it feels sticky or some soil sticks to the screwdriver, then it is prob wet enough, if you do this for the first couple months, then experience will come into play and you will be able to just look at your lawn in the future and tell right away if it needs just a light water or a good soak, I know it all sounds quite complicated right now, but you will get to know your soil and garden as time passes and your own confidence will grow also, be patient as no fertilisers or weedkillers work instantly, they need time to work and do the job they were designed to do, try to relax a bit about your lawn, it is still very new and young as far as grass goes, just be watchfull each day and maybe you should get in touch with whoever layed your lawn to come back and fill in all the dips and hallows as this should have been done before the turf was layed, or at least advise you how to fix these problems, I would sugest from next spring, as the lawn will be stronger, you should try airiate the lawn with a proper machine as this will alow air and water to penatrate to the roots, you should be able to get a book on lawn care from your librery as this will explain all the needs and ways to care for a lawn, it will give you a better understanding as grass is an actual plant, it is just thousands of them growing in a large area, Good luck. WeeNel.

The central dull area of that pic is certainly dry. Have you watched your irrigation heads to make sure they are all working properly?

Hey there me again, I was just reading an issue of Consumer Reports and they reccomend that there should be 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 Sq Ft. With a 20-10-10 fertilizer which is 20 % nitrogen you should apply 5 pounds per 1000 feet. Just thought of you when I read that. :)