Most of the grass looks dead up close

[beerd]

Hi all,

I'm a semi-new homeowner. I purchased my home in Oct. 2019, and have been following the site since then. I have read (and re-read the Triangle approach and general cool-season year-round grass schedule).

My lawn has been struggling to really green up. It seems to have a lot of dead/dormant grass underneath. I did make a mistake and applied Scott's Weed-n-Feed come late March. I have since purchased Trimec and have applied one application about 4 weeks ago, just to see how the grass would do. I plan to put down an application of Milogranite this week.

Any other thoughts on how to proceed?

• I'm not sure of the exact grass type, but guessing it's KGB

• I mow to 2-1/2" twice a week

• I water for 40 minutes once per week (~1" of water)

• The front yard gets plenty of sun, as these pictures are from around 2PM MDT. The yard faces SouthWest.

• I have not done a soil sample test yet, but plan to come early fall

• The brown patches are from my mother's dog, who we watched temporarily. (at least I think so)

Best Regards,
Beerd

[MorpheusPA]

I don't see any evidence of active disease offhand, but photos are usually better taken in shade and far better taken in overcast conditions (sunlight is too high-contrast for me, personally, to see much in terms of detail down low).

The lawn just looks thin, and not particularly unhealthy, just a bit unhappy. Feeding it again may very well help, as you're certainly doing everything else properly. Perhaps, given your locale (usually rather low humidity with bright sun, and short summers), you might consider mowing taller if you could. Three inches? Higher if you can stand it?

One thing I might do is dig a finger in and see how thick the thatch is--the dead grasses and twiggy stuff between the air and the soil. I doubt it's thick, but let's see out of idle curiosity and it gives you something to do while I think of other things. The Milorganite will help with it regardless.

[beerd]

Hey MorpheusPA,

Thanks for your time and reply.

I don't mind what the height is so I'll adjust to 3".

I checked the thatch, and it's minimal (not even 1/2").

These new pics are by the tree closest to the sidewalk, in the shade but no overcast as of yet.

Best Regards,
Beerd

[MorpheusPA]

We'll let others weigh in, but I definitely don't see any sign of anything other than the fact that your mower blades need sharpening.

My standing advice for right now? Give it a good feeding, get a soil test if you like, and feed it again heavily (organically) or regularly (synthetically) on September first. If the weather is holding there on October first, feed it synthetically--but I understand your seasons are short and that may not be possible.

If your seasons really are that short, and you're using Milorganite, you can back the September 1st feeding to August 15th and feed synthetically on September 15th. Then, if you can sneak a last one on October 15th some years where the grass is still green but not growing, that would be great. But if not, no loss.

I have no feel for the intermountain West, however, so I'll let you educate me on your fall climate. For me, colder weather hits in November but I never wore a winter coat this year.