This summer Dead/dying patches have developed in my Bluegrass turf.
Here is information that perhaps you will find helpful in your analysis of my p...
Knowledgebase
Problem in my Bluegrass turf #772525
Asked September 21, 2021, 12:21 PM EDT
This summer Dead/dying patches have developed in my Bluegrass turf.
Here is information that perhaps you will find helpful in your analysis of my problem.
I live out in the Redlands area. We have about 2 ½ acres of bluegrass turf. The yard is mature and we have lived on the property for over 20 years without having any problems like this in the past. The part of the yard that is “ill” is typically some of the thickest and most healthy.
Yard maintenance is pretty much as follows every year;
* Aerate every March
* Pre-emergent after aerating
* Fertilize 3 times a year in May/June, late August, October/November with 21,0,0 or 20,10,5
* The part of the yard with the problem gets watered 4 days a week.
* I mow/mulch at 2.5” in the cooler weather and 2.75” when it gets above 90 degrees. The yard is mowed every 3 – 4 days June – September.
Those are the highlights. If I can provide any further information, please let me know.
Mesa CountyColorado
Expert Response
Hi Kit,
Without a close-up pic (from about 6 inches above the turf - showing half healthy and the other half of the pic the brown grass), I am going to make an educated guess. I can't zoom in too much without the pics you sent getting a little blurry, but the appears to be a different grass that has gone dormant. There is a grass called "roughstalk bluegrass" that becomes a weed in well cared-for lawns. It can be a beautiful grass (it's intentionally planted in some parts of the U.S.), but in regions where you get very hot summer weather this grass will go dormant (looks like it dies). It is a very shallow-rooted grass that spreads by very thin aboveground stems called stolons (runners). Check to see if the brown grass peels up easily from the soil. If so, please take a photo from both below and above of a piece that you pulled up. And, send a pic as described above to help me confirm/dispel my educated guess on the cause of the brown spots in your lawn.
Greetings Tony, and thanks for your response. I had no idea there was such a critter as roughstalk bluegrass. Super interesting and hopeful. I was thinking that it might be Necrotic Ringspot!
Attached are pictures I shot this morning, hopefully they will be more revelatory. If necessary i will continue to take more pics till you are satisfied that you have the information you need.
Thanks again for your help. I am a big fan of CSU extension services and the information you provide.I have a huge folder of articles I've reprinted from your website regarding yard care.
