Help identify lawn issue

Hi,

Garden background - Moved into new build property late last year. Usual scenario of a hard clay base soil.

We took the time to level the lawn ourselves and used over 1500 litres of quality topsoil over the clay base. Seeded the lawn in April with a ryegrass/fescue mix.

The lawn has had one round of granular nitrogen/phosphorus fertiliser and has liquid seaweed applied every 2 weeks.

Lawn is cut to 40mm once a week.

In my pictures attached there seems to be brown thatch at the base of some of the grass blades but I didn't expect to see this much on a 3-4 month old lawn. Is this expected? Am I doing something wrong? It doesn't look like a nice even coloured lawn.

I've just bought a hollow tine aerator and sample use shows that the roots are not growing very deep yet and I was thinking about aerating the whole lawn and applying some gypsum.

Any advice or help is appreciated!

Thanks

 

It doesn't even look like rye grass and I can't see any fescue grass either. Looks like it's been invaded by a broad leaf weed grass like Yorkshire fog. Have you still got the box of grass seed? I've seen annual rye grass in mixes this year which is more for pasture land

 

Hi Perki, thanks for your comment. Slightly concerning to hear that.

The seed I used is from "The Grass People - Superstar: Back Lawn

80% Perennial Ryegrass
20% Strong Creeping Red Fescue

Worth noting that when the lawn grows long you can easily distinguish areas of the grass that grow longer and darker green than other areas.

 

Thanks.

So what would you say is my best option at this point.

Buy some 100% red fescue seed?

 

Hi
I would get intouch with the "The Grass People and send your photos see what they say but you have done everything correctly to get it to that sward already

Spruce

 

I pretend to know nothing about grass, but I do know coarse grasses tend to get weaker if you mow close and regular, that's my "expert" opinion.
Dont let the coarse stuff get going.

 

The grass people reply -

"
If the the discolouration is affecting the new grass mix then it might be a sign of a lack of nitrogen and it would benefit from a fertiliser application. However, if this grass looks different from the rest of the lawn - it might be a weed grass. It is difficult to tell from the pictures as they have been zoomed in and I can only see the roots. If it is a weed grass, you will notice that it is thicker than the new grass and rather than growing straight up, it will grow almost diagonal and will appear in clusters?
"

I'm so confused how this weed grass has taken hold. Everything was growing at a steady and consistent rate across the whole lawn.

Am I looking at killing off the whole lawn and reseeding to resolve this issue or is my lawn doomed for life?

 

I think you need to ask your self, do I want a golf course or just some grass, if you want the former then you need massive preparation and weekly mowing and attention, if you just want a green patch just mow it regularly and give it a feed now and then.
40mm seems a bit long to me in summer.

 

I think you have over fed the lawn Wilks and it's weakened it. New grass from seed can't cope with fertiliser as it forces it to grow without putting down roots. I never feed a newly seeded lawn in it's first year.

 

rye grass can be ID by a purple streak at the base of the plant , it may well be ordinary rye grass ideal for sheep etc but for a lawn you want dwarf rye ( lolium perrene ) and it should say that. If you aren't happy with it I'd kill it off and start again that's what I am doing with mine very soon . I'd avoid strong creeping fescue unless you have shade / dryish ground its a bit of a cheap filler in my opinion but it not easy to avoid , also doesn't like being cut short but at 40mm should be fine.

Have you got any pictures of the rest of the lawn ? How does the lawn drain aswell with it having a clay base .

 

Hi

its what you chose (wrong seed) if you wanted a finer looking grass as when you read it has done what is said on the bag .... start again you have done the hard graft already what size is the lawn as a good quality black plastic smother it and leave till the early spring to sow you will only have to rake off the old dead grass but do your research first on what grass seed you require ie no kids running around and no dogs peeing
Also the grass that is growing now likes to be kept longer and it has shown you its not happy being that short ...

SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn is a multi-tasking, multi-purpose mix that is hard-wearing while also providing a lusciously green lawn. The blend of perennial ryegrass with strong creeping red fescue makes this mix ideal for those who want a durable lawn, but don’t want to compromise on quality. One of our most popular products and our very own superstar, SUPERSTAR: Back Lawn helps everyone to achieve an evergreen, hardy lawn every day, year on year!

Often known as Strong Red Fescue, this common grass, as its name implies, has creeping rhizomes . It has a more vigorous creeping habit than some similar species which can help to create a dense, hardwearing turf or sward. These shallow creeping roots help it to remain green even in drier soils

Perennial rye-grass is a tough native grass that can be found on roadside verges, rough pastures and waste ground

 

The lawn hasn't been really tested by lots of water yet but I've just got a hollow tube aerator so plan to do that soon.

I've attached some pics of the lawn. We have a dog hence the brown spots and patches.

My current thinking is maybe to scarify the lawn, aerate, gypsum for the soil and try a bent grass seed that will hopefully slowly grow throughout the lawn and maybe one day become a dominant grass.

 

Hi all, thanks for all your comments so far.

Today I mowed down to 20mm as per the suggestion that 40mm might be too long for summer.

I've attached some more photos as the lawn looks alot more brown and bare at this length in places.

Thanks

 

It does look like very coarse grass, almost like what grows around my bird feeder, more like a grain crop than lawn grass.
It should green up as it grows again but it could be an uphill struggle to get it looking good, I see now why you were not cutting it very close, a lot of dead thatch type stuff in there.