After 2 months of this summer from June to August and my lawn went down the drain. Live in western Ma and it’s been a bit of a drought lately. Although I think there’s more of an underlying issue here just trying to figure out what the culprit was

by Necessary-Bar-6990

39 Comments

  1. Additional_Delay_793

    Grubs most likely. They eat the roots of the lawn, you can easily pick up whats left of the lawn. They destroy lawn that is in full sun, shady spots are usually left alone.

  2. TrackingTenCross1

    Hey bud, you should check out the lawncare sub, we’re having a party over there with everyone’s lawn that looks like this. General consensus seems to be Pythium Blight that has destroyed cool season grasses this summer. I also have TTF (Fescue) and the heavy rains this spring/summer followed by high heat & humidity and a lack of consistent rain have proven an ideal environment for fungus to spread quickly. It’s brutal. I laid Disease Ex in May and Grub killer in June, but it still happened to me two summers in a row. I’m thinking of switching to Bermuda or Zoisa due to the increasingly hot summers, even though the fescue looks superb in the spring & fall. Get yourself a SunJoe dethatcher and an Echo spreader (don’t get the Scott’s spreader) and a couple bags of seed. It should regrow just fine, but like I said, we may be fighting a losing battle against the summer heat. Some folks have said that if you mow frequently, bag the clippings, and water consistently early in the morning it can help mitigate the damage. Good luck!!!

  3. Necessary-Bar-6990

    I know the heat has been insane lately especially the humidity even going into the night. I think the soil got really compacted and everything just got choked out. I dethached the area recently and plan to aerate it right before I seed it soon. I put down some compaction cure as well to amend the soil a bit.

  4. QuantumOpinions

    Not enough information provided. Seems like a lot of heat and no water. There could also be grubs killing it.

  5. reduser876

    Grub damage usually presents as a bright yellowish color with distinct edges.

  6. New-Nerve-7001

    It was just as hot last summer and we didn’t have this issue. We have the same this year in N Central MA.

    Thought it was grubs, but the damage seemed to dispersed. I have noticed some webbing, so I think army worms. Ants have been super active in the widespread areas.

  7. PinnatelyCompounded

    That’s what happens when a lawn doesn’t get enough water.

  8. parrotia78

    Human ineptness in preparing soil for turf, insects, diseases, high maintenance turf choices, over fertilizing and watering combined with sudden/inappropriate input changes,… Many possible factors that are sometimes(often) ignored when opting for turf. Turf sales people/”landscapers” don’t always divulge or are aware of these issues.

  9. Complete-Action5804

    mine did it in June in few weeks, i have to redo seedeing in Autumn ..

  10. howmanyMFtimes

    Water. Longer runtimes in the middle of the night

  11. ABrandNewEpisode

    Fungus due to heat humidity – esp if any neighboring lawns are similar.

  12. Turfmade

    You forgot to put out scotts weed and feed duh

  13. Kill_doozer

    Gee I don’t know, probably the drought. 

  14. jibaro1953

    If it is a new lawn, could be the seed. I cheaped out this spring and sowed an area after some construction disputed it with a mostly annual rye. It germinated and came in nicely. Too nicely, because it needed mowing every two days.

    Now it looks like your second picture

  15. oRamboSandman

    Water before light comes up in the morning. If u wait till noon you gonna be feeding hot water.

  16. VonBlitzk

    Mine looks like this, but I did totally twat it up with my new mower as it got out of control.

    Then the heatwaves hit and it was game over.

    Thinking about renting it out to a production crew filming a new Mars movie.

  17. iTinkerTillItWorks

    Most of the country is in a drought

  18. LuckyAd5910

    Cause of the time of year, idk where you are but daily watering the lawn helps this a lot

  19. cris0613

    Chinch bug damage. High heat and humidity. Either way your lawn is done.

  20. BluIdevil253

    A bit of a drought meaning what? No rain at all in 2 months? If so then yes it could definitely be that

  21. TapProfessional5146

    I would say you need to water your grass. You can see the dirt is completely dry.

  22. Brilliant-Client-564

    Not enough water for sure. My grass was dead dead dead. I thought I’d have to restart, but rainy season came and after 2-3 months it looks like fresh new sod. Amazing! I didn’t have to water it or anything.

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