Lava Rock

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

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.

46 minutes ago, dendrite said:

I think I’d relax on the pesticides but that’s just me. I find it hard to believe they wiped out every bit of greenery like that.

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.

3 minutes ago, Great Snow 1717 said:

What is more important to you, your lawn or your health? I would never use products like sevin.  There is no upside at all. Why not dig out the area and put fresh top soil down and then reseed?

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.

As I'm pulling some of our dead and dormant grass away with my hand I see a lot of little pieces of what look like sawdust

50 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

I honestly don't know how there isn't one spec of green in there..not even a little weed of anything, or some new grass tillering after recent rains. 

Your soil test doesn't seem that bad, is it perfect soil, no.  But you should be able to grow a decent lawn even with how it is. Low pH and Low Organic Matter, but that wouldn't strictly result in what you are seeing.  I did a soil test a few weeks ago, and have some major deficiencies, yet grass is thick and green.

If you are going to overseed, do it soon like Gene said.  Oct is definitely pretty late for you location for seeding.  If your established grass does bounce back, make sure to hit it with few Fall fertilizer apps.

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.

4 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Why don't you do it now?  Every day you wait is one less day grass has to establish.  Young grass is more susceptible to frost and you start all over again each spring.  Just my 2 cents.   Oh,  when we moved the house 6 years ago I did try some seeding in Sept.  Didn't work just the winter wheat that I threw on steep slopes came up.  Then hydroseeded the next May and with lots of watering that took

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.

2 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Hi Lava,

I only skim this thread from time to time.  Just my opinion but if you are going to overseed you should do it ASAP.  Everything slows way down,  wasn't it last fall they hydroseeded too late?  If I were going to plant grass I would have done it a week or two ago.  Longer night and less sun angle starts cooling the soil.   Yesterday was the first day I mowed down to 3.5".  Normally I mow at 4" all summer.  Nights in the 40's will be common soon

Good luck

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

50 minutes ago, dryslot said:

12z Nam was quite wet with the rems of dorian though fwiw.

Not good. I've got a 125mi bike ride, starting 7am at SMCC on Saturday. It's the Lighthouse Ride, which goes all along the coast. I figure if it's not wet, it'll be breezy/gusty which adds to the pain.

9 minutes ago, dendrite said:

It's amazing how you were able to kill all of the crabgrass too. lol

I still like the compost idea Bob had. Keep upping the fertility.

lol, that's not crabgrass, just "regular" grass. We essentially have three different areas of grass around the property that over the years either represent the "original" lawn when we built the house, new lawn/hydroseed (backyard) which is 2yrs old and last year's topsoil/hydroseed (front yard). I'm going to do a soil analysis on all three and see how the organic matter compares, among other things. I kind of know what to expect on the original lawn as we've had it tested before, but I want to see how the two more recent lawn projects compare. My guess is they will all look similar and have low levels of matter and nitrate.

As an experiment, I am going to overseed a small area with compost in the next couple weeks and see how that does. Didn't I say I wasn't going to spend more time and money on this stupid lawn????

As I'm pulling some of our dead and dormant grass away with my hand I see a lot of little pieces of what look like sawdust

Aerial footage coming out of Abaco now is pretty unreal.
 

Yeah...sounds like your grass, and even your weeds, are running out of “food”. You’d probably need to frequently fertilize it throughout the warm season to feed it without the addition of compost. It’s amazing what organic material can do to nutritionally starving plants. My plants that have been growing in composting wood chips for 2 years are growing amazing as the nutrients slowly feed in along with the beneficial fungi. I had a bunch of struggling potted plants that lit up after top dressing with that material and watering some fresh chicken manure into them. My front yard looks a little like yours. The zoysia out there is trying, but the soil out there is about as organic as a twinkie. 

FYI, here's the last soil report

If you do a core aeration of the soil then top dress with compost, that should get the nutrients down into the ground. 

Was reading our last soil report from 2016 and our pH of soil is 5.7, which is slightly low. It's recommended to apply 30lbs lime per 1000sqrt. But, the real problem is low organic matter. From the report:
"Your soil pH is only slightly low. The real problem is very low organic mater content, which greatly limits nutrient and water holding capacity. This is a common problem with purchased soil – perhaps also with the new soil you are bringing in. Almost any sandy soil needs some organic matter mixed in before seeding. Tilling in 1 – 2 inches compost and/or peat moss are common materials to use, either in your existing soil or soil brought in."

Sounds like a huge project to till-in a bunch of compost or peat moss. I was going to buy a bunch of lime but that doesn't seem to be the problem.

What do you have for topsoil back there? That looks as bad as I’ve ever seen in pics from you.

I'm planning to overseed this weekend.  To be sure I have the steps right....
1) mow today a low setting (bagging not mulching)
2) seed/starter
3) do I need to rake for overseeding?  Can' really see what's taking place with existing grass.
4) water
5) for overseeding, how long do you wait before you mow again?
 
Thanks for confirming/redirecting any of the steps above.
 
 

Lawn looks terrible. Matted in places. Recent rain seems to be helping a little, but otherwise just garbage. I cut the "lawn" today. More like cutting a field.

I'm gonna check for grubs again, as I have those exact random dead patches. Last year when I checked, I didn't see any. I always blame it on the high heat and SW exposure, but there can good smaller sections of grass right up against the crummy ones, so maybe the grubs are there.

My yearly disease is back. This was all reseeded last year.

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27 minutes ago, wxeyeNH said:

Jeez Lava  you have put so much energy into your lawn.   I am no lawn expert.   A couple of ideas.  Make sure you keep mowing so the crabgrass doesn't reseed.  About this time of year it grows those tall shoots with the triangles that have the seed.  Make sure more seeds don't fall down to make next season even worse.  Then maybe just let it be.  Green is green. 

We bought 15 acres of forest up our road about 12 years ago.  Clear cut a portion for views.  I never seeded or did anything.  Just mow it once a month or so.  It now has a pretty nice lawn.  Not perfect grass but mowed it looks fine to me.  Maybe your lawn would look the same?  Looks like it faces south to get mid day sun?

Here's a pic of the lawn up the  road.   

 

Too late on mowing as the shoots are tall and full of seeds. I didn't mow recently because the "real" grass didn't need it (too dry), but the crabgrass kept growing. I'll whack in the Spring with Tenacity pre-emergent.

I've got to be careful with chems, since our well, even at 500' deep is just to the left of the oak tree.

30 minutes ago, backedgeapproaching said:

If the crabgrass plants are really mature, then the post emergent may not totally kill them. May stunt them and discolor, but not totally kill.   I guess you will find out in a few days.  Is there any grass there? I know its an evil word and don't shoot the messenger-- but probably RoundUp/Glyphosate would have been a better option IF its only crabgrass.  You were putting down chemicals anyway.

Also, reed the bottle on whatever you already put down, sometimes there is a waiting period on reseeding.

There is "some" grass, but it's dormant. The stuff I put down is a Bayer product sold in Lowes.

Well the crabgrass invasion continues to spread. I sprayed a couple nights ago with a post emergent, but not sure how well it will work. Not excited about putting that crap on the lawn, but I need to stop it somehow. Will need to hand seed/reseed the entire area next month. This is the last effort. No more money, no more "I want to have a decent lawn", my wife says just let it go and let it do what it wants.

You don't necessarily need to remove it...if you kill it and then scalp it down pretty much low as possible it can make a good seed bed to hold the seed in.  If its soooo thick that you need to remove it, then maybe you should.  Those crabgrass roots get thick and dense...try to pull one plant out and see how much soil comes up with the roots, it will be a good amount.