Lawn help

Hi all

Any ideas why my lawn looks a bit like straw in parts. I have tried feeding it with nitrogen etc and there has been little improvement. I have attached two pictures with a grass blade sample.

It looks like the stalk is very long with little to no blades of grass. Why would this be? Do I need to mow far shorter? Currently I mow on a medium height.

 

I think you need to scarify it and then give it a feed and slowly lower the mower blades.
It all seems a bit too late now really with the onset of the dry weather, unless you really want to water it well.
I'm sure some of the lawn experts will come along soon.

 

Thanks any other views also? Its not fungal I don't think anyway

 

It could be the type of grass.

 

You have my sincere commiserations! On close inspection, you will probably find that the straw-like parts of your lawn are no longer the grass you originally seeded, but poa annua. Just over a year ago, I had an entirely new lawn re-seeded; now, a good 60% is poa annua; the trouble with that species is that it just about has ALL the characteristics you don't want: it grows horizontally and therefore escapes the mower (needs verticutting), it is not good with droughts when it instantly turns yellow, it has a 10-day seeding cycle and proliferates worse than rats, and kills all the good grasses in its vicinity in the process.

Having said that, we have just suffered a particularly severe drought here in London. See below my lawn a year ago, and now! And this, having worked on it like a Trojan, fertilizers, watering, AND with excellent advice from Liz the pot and others. The good news is that, come September, it will all be emerald green again!

I once talked about this to a Wimbledon groundsman and he said: You can't avoid invasions of Poa Annua, it comes from everywhere. I said: You seem to be able to avoid it. He said: Well yes, there's one way of avoiding it. Full of hope, I asked: What's that? He said: Build a fifteen thousand-seater stadium around your lawn, the flying poa annua seeds won't be able to reach it. That's what we've done!

The truth about Wimbledon (apart from everything else) is that their lawns are entirely renewed every year!

 

Yes this is what it is it looks like! Thanks for the response. I am thinking I will go out and lightly scarify? I will be going abroad for the month of July. Am I crazy to start any treatment now (as someone will mow the grass once a week when i am gone but wont go to the level of commitment that i would do). Is there any affordable pre emergent herbicide also to deal with this? Thanks!