Hi everyone, greetings from Chile 👋
I’ve been following this subreddit for a while and I really admire the level of enthusiasm and care you put into lawn maintenance in the U.S. Lawn care culture is not nearly as strong here, but I’m genuinely excited to learn and improve.
This is my backyard lawn. I live in south-central Chile, in a Mediterranean climate very similar to Sacramento, CA, with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summer. We do get more rain during winter, though. From a U.S. perspective, and from what I've read, I guess this would roughly fall into a cool-season lawn / transition-type climate.
The lawn was established in August using sod (remember that August here is late winter / early spring (southern hemisphere)). The sod rooted very well and established quickly. It’s a mix of perennial ryegrass (50%), tall fescue (40%), and Kentucky bluegrass (10%). It's said to be an adequate mixture for our climate.
Even though I’ve been fertilizing roughly every 2 to 2.5 months (16-4-12 N-P-K), I’m seeing very noticeable color differences across the lawn.
We are now fully into summer here. This week, daytime highs are around 90°F in the shade. The lawn is irrigated every morning at 6:00 AM, using Hunter sprinklers, for about 10 minutes.
I’m attaching 4 photos. As you may notice, the issue is most evident when the sun is at its highest (midday) and about 4–5 days after mowing, when the lawn has had some regrowth.
By the way, my lawn is mowed once a week using a standard rotary mower (reel mowers are hard to find here), at an approximate height of 2–2.5 inches.
I’ve read a lot about Ironite, but unfortunately it’s not available in my country.
What would you recommend to achieve a more uniform, deeper green color, especially considering the mixed grass types and summer heat?
Thanks a lot in advance. I’m still a beginner, but I’m very motivated and enjoying the process.
by Rex_JT
4 Comments
Oh, I forgot to mention this earlier: the backyard is about 1,000 sq ft total.
The lawn has sprinklers spaced roughly every 10 feet along the perimeter, using Hunter 12A nozzles, so irrigation coverage is complete and fairly uniform.
Looks like it’s begging for more fert/N. I’d aim for 1 lb of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft per month
funny you say that your climate is similar to Sac since I’m in Sac and my lawn looks pretty much the same as yours HAHAHHA. Personally I assumed the color was due to the very cold weather Ive been having so far and alot of rain so I was going to wait until it gets warmer to add some fertilizer.
https://preview.redd.it/966ma9ndg9ag1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=41956cd823977d44811fc647ab17f0dc81dd48aa
little bit of a close-up