Located in MN, north of the twin cities. I have a large portion in my front yard that just appears dead. This happened last year too after the winter and I decided to hold off to aerate and overseesd in the spring to see if it changed anything. Late April I aerated, seeded with Black Beauty Ultra, and put down Veri-Green for seeding and sodding. A few weeks later everything else is coming in great but these spots are doing nothing. Previously tried taking them out, but no changes. I am completely lost.
I do have a large dog, I thought it was his urine after last year as this all started after we got him. Not sure if that is the case or if it's from his 170 lb frame crushing down the snow over these spots.
by RangerValor
47 Comments
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1st picture is from a few weeks ago, 2nd picture is this morning.
Maybe other dogs started using this as a toilet after your dog did? Fertilizer might have pushed the nitrogen too high and made things worse.
Have you dug in there to see if grubs are the problem?
Looks like you’ve got a dog or two. Likely female.
Edit: sorry posted before reading. Yeah, that looks exactly like what dog urine with a lot of nitrogen would do.
If you can, soak the area after he pees to dilute, otherwise you’ll have to counteract the nitrogen.
Give it a bit more time and see what it does. It took my seed 4 weeks to really come in, watering it twice a day
How often do you water? It is coming back and filling in, just not all at once. Personally I’d hold off on fertilizer and focus on water and sunlight for a bit. Keep in mind seeds can take a couple of weeks to begin germinating
Have you dethatched?
This Fall get a garden weasel and go to town on those spots before seeding, cover the bare spots with compost mixed with top soil
If you want something for summer get some sod and cut out the bad stuff, water it well
Is it germinating in the bare spots? I would have used a slit seeder to seed after aeration. It gives excellent seed to soil contact. If you just aerate and toss seeds on top, it’s not nearly as effective.
I’m not saying that all of the yellowing is caused by dog pee, but dog pee certainly causes yellow spots. Gypsum is great for repairing yellow dog pee spots in grass and can also be applied as a preventative for yellowing due to dog pee. I put it in my broadcast spreader and apply it in the area where my dog pees.
This needed to be thatched in conjunction with aerating prior to any attempt at seeding
I’m from MN too with the same thing. I haven’t tried it yet but I hear gypsum can help where dogs have burned the grass.
100% grubs .. exactly same expercience ..
Did you remove the dead grass? It doesn’t look like the seed can contact the soil with all that dead material still on the surface.
You removed the dead grass before seeding right? I can’t tell from the second photo.
All that yellow, you should thatch out. Then add topsoil for all the yellow you pulled out, level it in. Put grass seed, and add starter fertilizer especially phosphorus, so look for fertilizer that has 25-25-0 for example. Then water 2-3 times a day (morning-afternoon-later afternoon). If it rains or it’s cloudy you can skip one or entirely if it rains heavy and all day.
Are you using the correct fertilizer and seed spreading settings? Over fertilizing can burn the lawn as well
First thing I would do is rule out bugs. Would drench the area, lay down some cardboard and have a gander at what comes up a day or so later.
Check for grubs under ground. They will be underground near the border of dead grass and live grass. If you have them get grub killer.
Cut worms/grubs?
I’m guessing you are in new construction by the looks of the neighborhood. Others have given good advice, but I wonder if you have a compaction issue that is deeper than an aerator can help with.
Sometimes in new construction, they grade the area, build the houses, then spread some topsoil or sometimes just sod right onto the compacted dirt. Ao you end up with water sitting on top of this compacted layer and it doesn’t soak in and your grass basically suffocates.
Find a skinny rod and do some probing. If it makes it in 2-3” and then gets significantly harder to push, that may be your problem.
Look up a broad fork. Organic gardeners use these to loosen the soil without tilling. It’s got two big handles and 12” long tines. You jump on it and drive the tines into the ground then pull back on the handles to loosen it up. In a garden you can get really aggressive and use it to turn soil, but for your yard, just pulling back til you get a crack should be enough. Then you move back 6-12” and do it again, and again and again. It takes awhile and will be tough if your soil is really compacted.
Then spread compost or peat moss. If you go compost, make sure it is screened or you’ll just get a bunch of wood chips. The organic material falls into the cracks and keeps them open and helps water infiltration and root growth.
Good luck!
I think you’re doing everything right but it just may be a bit cold where you are for grass seed to germinate. Google says “Grass seed germinates best when soil temperatures are between 50 to 60 degrees F, generally requiring consistent air temperatures around 60 to 75 degrees F.”
You can buy a dethatcher rake or just a simple hard tine rake you need to loosen up the soil and get the dead grass up you can rent a desaturate Home Depot but they’re like $100 probably much more than you need for that small area every year. I have to work on yellow spots. I just take a shovel and work the soil up and dig up the dead grass before I begin.
New lawn dog urine burn. It comes back water a shit ton and top dress with seed. This happens to me also.
There was a lot of winter kill this year. I have never seen it this bad. I’m just south of the cities. I have seen people add soil and reseed those parts, but have yet to see the seed come in. It’s too early with this crazy weather, I’d expect to see results later this week.
Get some straw, cover seeded spots.
It’s still quite cold here. And with the overnight freeze last night that didn’t help. Things are still slow in my yard and I have multiple patches like that. Don’t fret, be patient.
Couple possibilities. Should take a cross section and check for grubs. Consider soil testing to see if you burnt it out with nitrogen.
I need to see this dog
170lbs is crazy
Aerate? Way too early for that, no?
The photos seem to be different days and it is growing in. It’s only May 11 in mn. I say do nothing
Check for grubs! Peel up some of the dead turf, if you have them, they’re easy to find
Sadly, you will need to prepare and reseed those dead spots; they ain’t coming back.
I agree with dog urine being a likely possibility. Before I met my ex-GF she re-sodded her yard twice. She had 3 dogs. I hardscaped where the grass died (again.
Then I was on the back deck and I watched the dogs seek out the greenest grass (that was left) and kill it.
Dog pee kills grass. Water dilutes pee.
If fertilizer has pre-emergent in it you just stopped the fresh seed you put down from germination. Big reason why overseeding is recommended for Fall season.
This may sound obvious, but when you put the grass seed down, did you use weed and feed? Some weed and feed products will prevent grass seed from germinating. I learned that the hard way last year lol.
Even after raking, my lawn really needed dethatching and the results were pretty piss poor pun intended lol. My suggestion would be to get an electric dethatcher/scarifier. Use both attachments, then after scarifying, overseed and lightly cover it with a mix of peat moss, topsoil, and a little sand. That helped me a lot.
I’m sure others may have better opinions, but that’s what worked for me.
Time to move south and get a warm season grass
New build? I spent my Sunday poking at all the dead spots on my lawn and found big pebbles and bricks under each dead spot. Have spent a year blaming leather jackets and dog pee!
Grubs and African beetles, second lawn worms.Spray Bifentrin urgently and repeat after a week, water in with at least 10 mm or 1/2 inch water after every application
Looks like you need to dethatch, scalp your lawn, apply seed (you should try pregerminating if you’re impatient) then cover the seed with compost/dirt/pete moss and water once or twice a day depending on moisture level.
Looks like the neighbors have the same issue. Have you tried another type of grass seed yet? Or maybe micro clover/ white clover? That really worked for my lawn and the tiny flowers are kinda cute too
Clover is also dogsafe i have 3 big dogs who always play on the lawn.
I’m in the SW Metro and I think there is a disease that got dumped on us this past winter, just my tin foil hat theory. My lawn is like this, not as bad but patchy. Never had this level of dead coming out of winter in 5 years at my current house. Almost every golf course I’ve played this year has some level of this. I’ve never seen it this bad.
I think what you’ve done is all you can do and be patient.
Edit: also get a soil test in those areas if it’s happening year over year
The most likely cause is dog-related winterkill/compaction, possibly mixed with urine burn and snow/ice smothering**.** The reason it is not recovering is probably because the grass crowns are dead and the seed is landing in a dead, compacted, contaminated thatch layer instead of clean loose soil.
Maybe there are plastic bags buried underneath by accident.
We live up north from you, so this might not apply but right now it’s been too cold overnight for grass seed to germinate (the blend I’m using here requires sustained temperatures of 55 to 65 Fahrenheit).
With everything going on in my area I’m looking into dryscaping my yard. Water is bleak and rocks don’t need water…lol