Lava Rock

I'm in. As usual, I will bitch my way through every storm

Is there a problem with some pics not showing?

Where abouts is your new house? You've got exceptional views up there

Never saw grubs and I checked a couple times this summer. Did see what I thought were chinch bugs. Local landscaper said this was no way due to lack of water. It would have came back by now if it went dormant.

The dead grass just pulls right out. No roots left at all

I fertilized twice. Once in April and again in June. Didn't start to die off until August. Pretty sure it's not over fertilized. I'm gonna rotatil it next Spring and start over

Never saw grubs, but sometime in Aug I saw bugs in the turf, so assumed chinch bastards.

Was fully established. Here's a pic from May 19th. I'm pretty certain it was chinch bug and/or grubs. Devastated

Lawn still not fully recovered and probably won't. Lots of work come Spring

Does get cooked most of day. Not very compacted especially on slope

So we got our soil test results back from our awesome back yard. Results look good to me. Plenty of organic matter which makes sense since last Fall's total rework included loam/compost then hydroseed. Yet, after all that and good soil results, it still looks like shit. The rest of the lawn areas tested (not pictured) were decent, but lower in some nutrients. I'm attributing the dead grass in those areas to chinchbug and/or grub damage.

Had a landscaper come by last night to discuss options (more cha-ching) for the lawn. She proposed removing the dirt/lawn in front of the oak and exposing the granite below, then creating small islands of mulched bed areas with various shrubs (creeping juniper) and some perennials. She advised next Spring, we rototill the rest of the lawn nearest the driveway and reseed. The oak tree is really the culprit in a lot of this as it just sucks all avail moisture from the grass. We thought of cutting it down a couple years ago, but opted not to.

Well I'd say last year's hydroseeding was nearly a complete failure. Seems we're right back to where we started, less money. I've sent some soils samples out for testing including other areas of the property which also didn't grow well. I think the rock garden idea suggested for this pic is probably the best option and we'll tackle that in Spring.

Wife and I were talking about the issue with trying to get the grass to grow well in front of the oak tree mostly due to the oak itself and steep slope. One alternative option would be to do a retaining wall with backfill, mulch, then plant shrubs, blueberry bushes, etc. We had a landscaper come out last summer to discuss. Other than the high cost ($4k+) the challenge in doing it is setting the first layer of rocks or masonry blocks in the ground. The granite is only ~4" below the grass surface so not sure this is enough to create a strong foundation. The other issue is the amount of backfill required to essentially create a level ground from about the oak tree to the driveway. I've not measured the height difference, but it's got to be at least 4'. My least expensive option is to buy more metal edging and create a barrier from the oak tree down around and back up. Then kill the grass, dig out and replace with topsoil, mulch then the bushes. However, the slope will remain and my concern will be runoff and possibly poor shrub growth due to little water retention. Any other thoughts on this? Thanks.

Found it. It's prostrate spurge

What's this flat weed that grows close to ground?

Glad I bailed out on my ride because of the supposed rain. [emoji849]

I've got a big bike ride tomorrow morning starting at 6am from Portland and doing a loop down to Kennebunkport and back. Would be on the bike till ~2pm. I can't seem to get a decent frcst on when the rain is going to start/end. NWS calling for showers, ending by late morning, but local news saying 1"+ RN in the area we're riding. Big difference between showers here and there and steady rn. I know there will be some winds (~20kts). If it's gonna be steady rn most of the morning, I'm not going to ride. Gotta make a decision by tonight.

It's not hard to believe actually. The areas prone to damage are where the insects are most active are those that are sun exposed and have the highest soil temps. The randomness of how the brown/dead spots start in July, then proceeds like a tidal wave across the lawn is pretty good evidence. Plus the fact watering has no effect, as evidenced by recent rains. I can see the bugs in the thatch, so I'm confident that's what it is. I have read that diatomaceous earth has some effect on killing the bugs, so I'll look into that as well. If anyone has other organic options, let me know.

why so the bugs can some back again? I've dealt with this multiple summers now, thinking all along it was drought and/or poor soil. Not to mention we've spent a fortune on new lawns, reseeding efforts. I'm not a big fan of chems, but in this case, I need to stop the infestation asap.

I'm going to spread some Sevin granules on the lawn. I have little doubt after seeing some bugs in the grass that all this damage is due to chinch bugs. Can't believe i didn't think if this sooner.

To add to this, I've seen some insects in the soil. Starting to think they might be chinch bugs. Need to look more carefully and confirm identification.

We're cursed on Radon Hill. There are some green shoots coming through in some areas, so it seems like little water is the reason, but IDK, this stuff just pulls right out. There are also some bugs in the soil too, but they're not grubs. Meanwhile, on the other side of the house (below) where the crabgrass has taken over, it's just a mess. Heck, you can still see the outline of the erosion mat they laid down almost one year ago.

mostly time constraint. the area I want to seed is ~600sqft. I'll need ~24 bags of compost. I know I can get it delivered in bulk is cheaper, but I don't want to shovel it. Just dump the bag and spread it out, then seed. I just have this feeling I'm wasting my time though. I've tried seeding in Fall and Spring and rarely have any luck. I swear it's got something to do with the granite beneath.

yeah, they seeded last Oct. I thought about doing it in the next 2 wks or so. Maybe we'll get an indian summer.