Lawn problems - turfed in May, starting to thin with yellow/brown patches

Hi there!

I think I have a lawn problem... I was wondering if anyone could help? :(

We laid turf 7 weeks ago (start of May). The weather in May and June has been terrible in North East Scotland, almost constant rain , chilly and very little sunshine. The new turf got a good soak and seemed to have rooted to the top soil well and looked very lush, dark green and thick for over a month.

However over the last couple weeks I've noticed that the grass is getting thinner all over - it almost looks like the grass roots are dying. In some areas the roots are yellowing and turning dark brown. Quite a few mushrooms have started to appear, so I've tried to remove these but they keep coming back, and I'm sure the mushrooms are growning on the rotten grass roots..

Does anyone have any ideas what is happening? I dont think it can be anything like insects as it is the wrong time of the season?

I've a feeling it might be lack of nutrients (the soil the turf was laid on typical new house soil). Should I use fertiliser, and if so, any recommendations? Is it ok to fertiliser new turf (but not use any weed killer)?

The grass is still growing all over, but it just a lot thinner than when it first arrived. I'm getting worried the whole back garden will be dead in 6 months!

cheers!
JB

 

I suspect you ahve the same problem as I see all around me here in Falkirk, where there is an incredible amount of new-build going on. Trouble is that the grass gets laid on top of loads of junk left behind by the builders (you should see what I dug up yesterday! :eek: )

What you might find helps is to improve the drainage. We went round our place with a fork, digging it in and wiggling, to aerate it, and anywhere the fork hit stones or anything else, we dug the stuff out re-laid the turf, and carried on until we'd finished. Then we brushed in a mixture of sand and compost. Mr D even used one of these

http://www.gardenauger.com/06post_hole.html?gclid=CMeC57rd8owCFQXnlAod-3S48w

It improved our drainage immensely, and the quality of the grass was a heck of a lot better as a result.

Hope that helps

 

Thanks for the advice!

I was thinking about going over it with a garden fork to improved the drainage, so I'll definately give it a try. There were loads of rocks when we first got the house but I spent a lot of time turning the soil over and removing them, the pile of mud the house builders leave you is terrible!

it could be a drainage problem when thinking about it - the grass around the edges is thicker and looks better than the grass in the middle... so the edges must be drying out quicker.. I'll give spiking with a fork a go..!

thanks again...
JB

 

After you have 'Wiggled' mix equal part of john innes soil compost with river[sharpe] sand and spread a thin layer over the surface and then sweep it into the holes. This will improve drainage and get some structure beneathe the lawn. repeat over the years.

Liquid feed the turf every two weeks. I use a hose end feeder and lawn Magic from www.superspray.co.uk I dont like pellets as they can 'brown the grass if it doesnt rain soon after. Bit of a joke that this year! Keep at it and it will come right.

with new turf sometimes the joints can dry out if they havnt been dressed with soil/sand mix. Dont trim the border until you are sure that the truf has taken at the edges or you may get die back.