A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Grass Keeps Dying

Now, I am really mad. I went thru the trouble of tilling my yard last spring, laying down lime, fertilizer, and planting fescue grass. It is now officially dead. The only grass growing now is crabgrasss....grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I guess, I am going to have to take a soil sample to the local extension office and get it tested.
Then plant AGAIN!

Mabe to much of the lime and the fertileizer where to much for the fresh seed???????ive made this mistake me self. try retilling then replant a good tripel mix of seed.pick 2 kinds of sun loveing seeds a good winter fesque could be one of them this will give you a green lawn in the winter.and mix in some seed for shade.cover very well with hay or wheat straw and keep it moist just leave the wheat straw there.once it starts growing.water it at least one time a week a good sokeing.i wouldnt start till after any chance of frost is over.a new lawn requires lots of water the first year.when you mow your lawn make sure your blades are real sharp and cut it on a high setting with your mower for the first year.hope this helps you.your friend in gardening.mik57

Well, the County Extension office sent me my results. There is absolutely NO nitrogen in the soil. I need to put out a 34-0-0 fertilizer now, and then add another fertilizer before I replant the grass. I am not to use any lime. I wish I had access to a couple of truckloads of chicken manure.... of course all of my neighbors downwind would hate me for about 2 weeks. .
Any ideas on a cheap/more natural way to get that much nitrogen in the soil?????

Glad you found the trouble with your lawn. but if i where you i would still mix in some good top soil with that red georgia clay you could also check with your local sewage treatment plant and see how much a load of humus would cost you i have used it in the past it would work great.you could mix the humus in with the top soil.it might not smell so bad.i dont know of any cheap way of doing it.good luck hope you get it all worked out and have a green lawn for many years to come.your friend in gardening.mike57

i have a new lawn and it is fesque grass...professionally sodded. however, i have no tree shade at this time. will all fesque die out in a hot summer climate? can i top seed or something?

Even if your yard is depleted of N, that is not the most important element in the fertilizer needed for a new lawn. While you will still some Nitrogen the thing your seed will need most is the Phosphorus. That is the 2nd number on a bag of fert. The best starter fert is something in the range of 18-24-12 with at least half of the N being slow release.

Now are you certain that the lawn is dead? Fescue even though it is drought and heat tolerant will go into dormancy and look dead during times of high stress. If this is the case watering will help bring it back.
It is always best to use a mixture of different types of seed in your lawn. Having only one type can lead to problems, since if a disease that attacks fescue hits your lawn you would have nothing else to fall back on, where if you had a mixture of fescues rye's and blue grasses the damage would not be as sever.

I hope this helps you out!

Mike Maier