Dry patches

Hey all,

Another lawn related question

Does this problem look like the sort of damage grubs would do?









The grass growing around it is a nice thick layer of green, the effected areas feel like hay and the area appears to be very dry (while the areas around it are not dry).

Cheers

 

Hi,

Almost 100% certain that's not a grub issue.
My first guess is that it's compacted, and the shallow root depth as a result means the grass is having a tough time coping with the summer and foot traffic.
Try to push a stick into the groud to see how hard it is. If it's hard, then aeration is the fix and it will come back to life in no time.

Kris

 

Thanks Kris, it is hard to push anything into that area but I assumed that was because it was so dry.

I just gave it a good watering and did notice a lot of surface water, on further inspections I noticed that if I pull the grass apart it seems as though some of the roots are sitting on the surface.

What would you recommend for areation, it is only a small garden so could probally be done manually.

Cheers

 

You could try to do it manually, but it will be tough.
I would really soak it first (maybe put a drop of washing up liquid in a watering can to help "wet" the surface), then try it with a manual tool. They are hard to get any success from though.
Ideally you need it done properly with a decent machine. For a small lawn, maybe go halves with a neighbour and hire one for a morning, or get in a local lawn guy to give you a quote for just hollow-tining.