Problems with a new lawn

Hi everyone,
Recently (June 2009) had a new lawn laid by my dad, and having a few issues with it since. It has rooted and knitted together fine, its just not as green as it used to be when it first got laid, and there are odd what appear to be dead patches on the lawn, but if you let it grow, green shoots come out of them.
The land had been prepared over months by myself, I dug it all over, we had a bit of top soil extra to raise the level, then mixed compost in and some pre-turf fertiliser and then left it for a week. Turf was delivered and laid the same day from a top UK company, lawn looked lovely for a good 2 months after, given it frequent mowing ever since it had rooted.
I had suspected some sort of fungus, as a few of my plants have suffered this year, so have sprayed with fungicide but this will only stop the spread, which seems to have happened, doesn't appear to be getting any worse.
Not sure where to go from here to get the lush green back. This turf cost me £135 so don't want to replace it. Weird thing is, left for 3 weeks it looks brilliant, until you cut it and then it looks like this. Have tried different mowing heights, 37mm and today did a 27mm but it always seems to look the same. Have a qualcast cylinder mower which is brand new, so blades are sharp etc.
Here are some photos, see if you know what it is:
Full lawn

Pictures of problem patches (there are approx 20-30 like this)





Hope someone can help me on this one!
Thanks in advance
Mike

 

Looks like youv'e scalped it Mike, The blades are too low .. Thats what I think

 

Was thinking the same about the height of the lawn. I think that new lawns should be able to be a bit longer shouldn't they?
What is the nitrogen like in the soil any idea? Looks like either being cut toos hort or uneven spreading of fertilisers etc. to me.....but.......I'm no expert whatsoever!

 

First time i cut my new lawn i used my pushy lawnmower, then the blades set high for the next few cuts..

 

The secret to good looking grass, is to cut it on a regular basis, and only take a little bit off at a time. I would recommend that you mow your lawn once a week during the active growing season, which is from March to October time, depending on the weather.

I don't think you have too much to worry about, and you haven't lost the battle just yet. I always say to people the easiest thing to grow and maintain in your garden is grass, so give it a little time with some care, and you'll have a super looking lawn.

Hope this Helps!

 

Thanks for your replies. Wasn't expecting that at all. These patches started appearing when cutting at 32mm height (I think), mower goes maximum of 42mm.

So you reckon cut it at 42mm, lawn is still fairly new as you can see. Fingers crossed I haven't damaged it permanently, as it looks a right mess now.

Land is pretty much even and flat, but there are odd bumps and lumps on it as nothings perfect.

Mower does a minimum cut of 12mm, how could you ever use that if 32mm does damage??

No idea what quality the soil is never had it tested, but plants etc seem to grow just fine in the same stuff, we had 5 ton's of topsoil delivered in total, most of it went on the garden as we got rid of a lot of rubbish and clay.

I have been mowing approx. every 10 days, as it hasn't grown fast enough for once per week.

From now on then will cut at maximum height of 42mm and take it from there.

Thank you for your inputs guys :thmb::gnthb:

 

"Mower does a minimum cut of 12mm, how could you ever use that if 32mm does damage??"

Its an issue with new turf, likelihood is that you will be able to cut it much shorter next year, if you want to.

"I have been mowing approx. every 10 days, as it hasn't grown fast enough for once per week."

Still needs cutting once a week - unless you have a drought (but in that case you'll need to water a freshly laid lawn, so Rule Number One still applies (this year) :thumb:

Just taking that little snippet off the top is all important to having a good lawn.

I think the problem with turf is two fold:

1) Its new it is getting established, and thus can't cope with having to make energy from short grass leaves

2) Its heavily fed before you get it so that it looks lovely and green. That means the turf is full of fertilizer and its very hard to get it short because its trying to grow so actively.

I've be desperately trying to get some turf I laid [in May] in the middle of my lawn down to the same height as the existing lawn - so I can cut it all in one go. No chance! but hopefully I will be able to cut it lower, and the same height as the rest of the lawn, next year

Assuming it is just a result of cutting too low it will definitely recover. Give it a good watering if its been dry in your area recently.

That reminds me ... we've had a couple of weeks of dry here, having had a wet July and first half of August, and I haven't watered my turf since July ... I'd better give mine a good dousing too.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Watered my lawn first thing this morning as its been quite dry up here too for a while (South Yorkshire).

Will leave it now, and then give it a cut in about a weeks time at 42mm which is the max my mower goes to.

 

These are the 'ingredients' of our lawn, from website where we bought it from:

AUGHTON GREEN
25% Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass (Limousine)
30% Slender Creeping Red Fescue (Oriflamme)
35% Chewings Fescue (Center)
10% Agrostis Tenuis (Sefton)

Do you reckon the maximum cutting height of 42mm should be the only height I ever cut at for this type of lawn?

 

I wouldn't think so Mike.. Just give it time to toughen up Try not to worry too much, grass is nearly indistructable lol..

 

lol, thanks.

The brown patches are starting to sprout with green shoots again now. Keep giving a light sprinkling if water every morning first thing, not too much tho as on a water meter!! When we laid the turf got a bill of £92 rather than £33 we normally get, can't do that again lol

 

"Do you reckon the maximum cutting height of 42mm should be the only height I ever cut at for this type of lawn?"

Definitely not! You will be able to get it shorter next year.

I'm a bit surprised your bill was that much higher.

Bit late now, but you need to give the lawn about 1/2" to 1" of water - put a shallow dish on the lawn under the sprinkler so you can monitor how much its had - at each watering (otherwise ti will just evaporate off the top and not soak in) and then not water again for a while.

For fresh turf in mid Summer you'll need to do water every couple of days for a couple of weeks then twice a week for a month, I would say. Call it 3 x 2 + 2 x 4 waterings - i.e. 14 waterings.

Even if it rains it will still need watering (unless you get a downpour of an inch or so).

How much do you get out of you tap if you fill a bucket [from the end of the hose]? 10 gallons a minute? (I'm guessing).

10 gallons a minute = 45.5 litres/ min = 2727 litres / hour

We pay about £1 / cubic metre (1,000 Litres) so

10 gallons a minute = £2.72 per hour to use the hose

Your £60 would be about 22 hours of hose running.

For anyone using a hose unattended (sprinkler or filling water butt / pond) I recommend getting a clockwork timer. Saves forgetting that you left the hose on :thumb:

 

According to the big bill, we pay £1.20 per cubic meter, then theres a standing charge and of course sewerage charges based on the amount of water you use at £1.35 per cubic meter.

We used 30cubic meters of water, 30,000 litres somehow!! lol

Didn't water it that much, when it got laid it was a very hot period (1 week summer i think), so I put the sprinkler on for 1hr and half every night (wrong time of day I know now). Just all mounts up I guess

 

That's why I'm slowly getting rid of the grass...and it gives more growing space for plants:wink:

In all seriousness, like others have said, grass is nearly indestructible. Look at the state public parks get into when we have a dry summer and they bounce back over winter. Our town park is rather threadbare in places now, from football being played on it, picnics, people walking over it but it doesn't get reseeded, yet still looks great by Spring.

 

"wrong time of day I know now"

I think watering the lawn at night is the right time of day (unless I misunderstood you?)

The water will sink in, rather than evaporate - as it may do if watering during the day.

However, I do think that every-other-day would have done ... but there again a whole lot of dead turf would be a right royal pain ... so better the way you did it.