Knowledgebase
Problem with lawn not greening and looking scorched. #874989
Asked June 27, 2024, 2:52 PM EDT
I’m attaching pictures that show my lawn with lots of patchy areas that the grass has not greened up this year and is actually looking dead and “crispy”. Thinking that it might be grubs or cut worms, I applied a Scotts product to try to mitigate but no real results. We also have a local lawn service that applies weed control 4 times a year. Not sure if there could be an issue there??
Wondering if you can help identify the cause and also if you have any recommendations to try and recover the lawn before it continues to spread. I have also noticed vole trails in the yard and having started abating that with traps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I have additional pictures that I was not able to upload.
Larimer County Colorado
Expert Response
Thanks for your question. This actually looks like it's linked to irrigation, not disease or insects.
To rule out irrigation, it's best to do an irrigation audit. I suspect a couple are crooked or not popping up fully over the surface of the turf.
You can do a quick audit and not only collect the water (the only way to determine efficiency) and also carefully examine the heads. The instructions are below and see the attached document.
- Put out several (10-12) cups of uniform shape and size in an irrigation zone. You can use tuna cans, yogurt cups, etc. Be sure to place some in the green spots and some in the brown spots.
- Run the system for 15-20 minutes.
- While the system is running, look carefully at the heads. If there are heads that are crooked (even slightly), not popping up fully, or at an angle, flag those heads to adjust later.
- After the system runs, measure the water in the cups and compare the output. Are the thin spots getting less water? Even a slight difference of 0.10" can lead to INCHES over a growing season. Do the thin/brown areas correspond to any heads that are crooked or not popping up fully?
- Adjust your heads. Make sure they are rising above the turf surface, have a good angle, the pattern applies water evenly, and they are nice and straight.
- Set out the cups again after your adjustments and run the system again. See if you have improved outputs that are more even.
- Measuring your output will help determine how long you need to water each week in minutes. If you get 1/4" of irrigation in 20 minutes, then you'll get 3/4" in 60 minutes. So to apply 1.0" of water, you'll need to water a total of 80 minutes during the week. This might mean two, 40-minute cycles or 3, 26-minute cycles. The seasonal needs of typical bluegrass are:
- April: 0.5"/week (this includes precipitation too!)
- May: 0.5-1.0"/week
- June: 1.0"/week
- July: 1.0-1.5"/week
- August: 1.5"/week
- September: 1.0" week
