Lawn deterioration - Ask Extension
For the last few years (5?) our lawn and our next door neighbors lawn has had large areas of dying grass. Our lawn got down to 50% actual living grass...
Knowledgebase
Lawn deterioration #809622
Asked September 06, 2022, 10:06 AM EDT
For the last few years (5?) our lawn and our next door neighbors lawn has had large areas of dying grass. Our lawn got down to 50% actual living grass.We use the same lawn service, as do some other neighbors with decent lawns. (Most lawns in the neighborhood look much better than ours.) We and our next door neighbors have watered more than we would like to admit, but we haven't been able to prevent the damage again this year. I reseeded last year and the grass failed early on this season. I have again reseeded this year and our next door neighbors have had their yard professional reseeded this year. Our lawn service said we had grubs and have treated for grubs, but I have taken a number of soil samples and have never seen grubs. No other creatures have appeared to be eating grubs. We had another lawn care company come out and they said it could be invasive grass that is drought intolerant. They seemed to disbelieve that we watered enough.. Any thoughts? Should we get soil tested? Here's a picture.
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
Soil tests are recommended to get baseline information needed to make the most of horticultural projects including lawn care. The following information may be useful if you decide to do that.
https://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/
Heat and drought the last two years have taken a toll on many lawns including those well tended. Given the same care regime, results often vary due to underlying soil conditions. Lawns are sometimes established with little attention given to soil prep needed to ensure turf health in the long run. The negative effects of poor soil prep are most noticeable under stressful growing conditions.
If invasive grassy lawn weeds are present, lawn care professionals ought to be able to identify them.
You may be able to use the following information to determine why your lawn isn't performing well. Although the information was prepared for Colorado residents, most of it also applies to Minnesota.
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/06/Diagnosing-Lawn-Problems-CMG-June-2021.pdf
To identify or rule out lawn disease, consider submitting turf samples to the University of Wisconsin Turfgrass Diagnostic Laboratory. Currently the University of Minnesota does not provide this service.
https://tdl.wisc.edu/
https://soiltest.cfans.umn.edu/
Heat and drought the last two years have taken a toll on many lawns including those well tended. Given the same care regime, results often vary due to underlying soil conditions. Lawns are sometimes established with little attention given to soil prep needed to ensure turf health in the long run. The negative effects of poor soil prep are most noticeable under stressful growing conditions.
If invasive grassy lawn weeds are present, lawn care professionals ought to be able to identify them.
You may be able to use the following information to determine why your lawn isn't performing well. Although the information was prepared for Colorado residents, most of it also applies to Minnesota.
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/59/2021/06/Diagnosing-Lawn-Problems-CMG-June-2021.pdf
To identify or rule out lawn disease, consider submitting turf samples to the University of Wisconsin Turfgrass Diagnostic Laboratory. Currently the University of Minnesota does not provide this service.
https://tdl.wisc.edu/
