Help, my lawn looks dead after the winter!

11 years ago

I am not sure what happened this year. My lawn seems to have large areas of completely dead grass. I suspect this is dead crabgrass as we had a big crabgrass problem last year but I am still shocked by how it looks. I applied crabgrass preventer last spring and followed with two fertilizer applications during the year, but the law looks horrible. Our neighbors' yards look much better, and all they did was mow a few times last year.

If this is really dead crabgrass, what should I do this year? I have already spread the crabgrass preventer so I can't put down any seeds till around middle of May. Should I reseed then and then again in the fall?

Comments (5)

MissMoss
Original Author
11 years ago
this is a close up of the dead area. I don't know how to upload multiple files.
tiemco
11 years ago
That looks more like damage from snow mold to me. Where do you live? Did you have a lot of snow cover this year? If it is snow mold damage, most of your grass will probably recover, but it takes about a month. I would probably give the lawn a raking to break up the matted blades, and then mow it at about 2 inches. Once soil temperatures start to rise and your grass really starts growing you will see which areas might need to be overseeded. If you have KBG then it will spread to fill in small voids as long as it is properly cared for.
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MissMoss
Original Author
11 years ago
oh, you might be right! We live in the Poconos area in Pennsylvania and this year we had more snow than usual. During a warm spell in February I noticed something that looked like mold in some areas. It was whitish-pinkish in color and I have never seen it before. I hope you're right. Crabgrass scares me! :) Our grass is something called the Pennsylvania state mix which includes some tall fescue and KBG with some other grasses.
I do hope this lawn recovers a bit since I already have a big project with the front lawn. I will do what you suggested and rake it and see what happens in the next few weeks.
Thanks!
tiemco
11 years ago
Yes, there are two varieties of snow mold, pink and gray. From what I have read pink is the more harmful of the two, but you shouldn't have much stand loss unless it affects the crowns, which is not typical. Unfortunately it's a waiting game to see if there is permanent damage.
dchall_san_antonio
11 years ago
Crabgrass is usually only an issue when the owner is still learning how to care for the lawn. The easiest way to get crabgrass is frequent watering in the spring. If you put seed down in the spring and water it every day, that is perfect conditions for crabgrass. But if you wait until fall to seed, crabgrass is just starting to die out in the fall so it will not be a problem.

We talk about watering deeply and infrequently. Deeply means about a full inch all at one time. Infrequently means monthly in the cool months and as often as weekly in the hottest heat of summer. Watch your grass and let it tell you when to water. Don't go by how dry or hard the soil is.