It's been a bad year for brown patch especially if your lawn is primarily tttf. The other thing I would be concerned about is lawn services are notorious for spreading fungus from lawn to lawn. It can be spread by the lawnmower,even the wheels of the mower can spread fungus.

The good thing is fall is right around the corner so you can just reseed those bad spots.

He said it was bentgrass. What kind of grass do you think you have?

I used to work with a guy who changed jobs out of the professional lawn spraying business. After 3 years he knows nothing about grass and he was their top salesman. He told me he had a manual and catalog he used for everything. The grass you have does not look like bentgrass to me. This is what bentgrass looks like when encroaching into a normal lawn.

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Click here for more information.

It could be you simply aren't watering right for the conditions. KBG will go dormant in the summer when it dries out. How often do you water and for how long? Do you know how long it takes to fill a cat food or tuna can with your sprinklers? Do all the sprinklers work the same or do you have any leaks?

dchall,

I felt extremely dissatisfied after the "senior tech" left. He was a 20-something with tattoos and plug earrings and just didn't seem very educated about the topic. He told me he researches on Google to learn about this stuff. I don't want to judge and generalize, but that gut feeling of him just blowing my issue off remains in the pit of my stomach. I'm inclined to trust it.

I actually don't water at all. Now wait, give me a listen :) We never have and no one around here does either. No one -- I mean no one -- around here has a sprinkler system! I know that sounds strange to most of you but maybe it's because we get so much rain it takes care of it? Like I said, it's been 8 years (November will be 9) and we've never purposefully watered much. We've done it manually here and there with a hose when we reseeded after removing a bush or something but nothing beyond that. If anything, it seems like it gets too much water. I see moss/black stuff/mushrooms growing sometimes...does that mean it's too wet and/or water is laying too long?

No, I honestly don't know what kind of grass it is. I wish I did! I moved in and it was already a beautiful lawn. It stayed that way for the last 6 years or so until the grubs and now this. I never even used a lawn service until after the grubs. Maybe I should've stuck with no lawn service.

I really want to fix this...at LEAST start taking steps in the right direction. At present it's getting WORSE. If I saw the slightest glimmer of hope and a positive change, I'd be happy! I thought after the last year or 2 it would just fix itself. I know, that was probably stupid. But when you don't know, you don't know! At least I KNOW I'm ignoarant...

Can I do this? Can I fix it? Do I just aerate and reseed faithfully like the tech said? Maybe much more needs done. Just having someone like you respond is starting to ease my mind already. I know you're a resident pro around here.

@dchall_san_antonio? Anyone?

If you are getting too much water then it could be a fungus which has killed your grass and left the brown spots.

You should calculate the weekly amount of water your grass gets then report back.

Since fall is approaching you can reseed/overseed with a grass seed that matches what you have.

Ok, I just checked back through the historical weather data for my zip. I know it's not perfectly accurate but it gives us an idea. All of these are in inches.

06/02 - 06/08 -> 2.18
06/09 - 06/15 -> 2.47
06/16 - 06/22 -> 0.58
06/23 - 06/29 -> 1.23
06/30 - 07/06 -> 1.77
07/07 - 07/13 -> 1.12
07/14 - 07/20 -> 0.02
07/21 - 07/27 -> 0.74
07/28 - 08/03 -> 0.51
08/04 - 08/10 -> 0.68
08/11 - today -> 1.79

When did your lawn start going brown?

Was it nightly rainfall where the grass blades stay wet overnight? Fungus really grows well in that kind of environment.

Your weekly rain totals don't seem excessive.

I would say it started turning brown in July and by early/mid August it was terrible. It's just overrun with matted down, huge brown patches now.

Sometimes it was overnight, sometimes during the day. It didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary!

Anything anyone can help with will be GREATLY appreciated! I just want to start taking a step...any step!

I got in contact with an awesome gentleman who's been in the industry since 1978. He believes the majority of the browning is due to bentgrass that has either succumbed to Dollar Spot or Pythium Blight. I will attempt to get rid of it completely to keep it from growing larger each year as the stolons creep through the yard.

I'll attempt to take pictures and document the process in case someone comes along like me looking for help in the future.

The first step: core aerate and overseed in the next few weeks (early-mid September)!

Ok, so I aerated/seeded/watered in the fall of 2013 and now it's spring of 2014. I think it REALLY helped. There are still come holes to fill in but it's WAY better. I don't want to get too optimistic because every spring seems to be pretty good and then summer hits and blam...all brown/matted down.

I might still have a couple rounds of Tenacity just to kill off any bentgrass. I know that's not a hugely popular choice but I want it dead.

Hi Lifz. I disappeared to Colorado last summer and I guess your message drifted off the page by the time I got back on here. I would have still disagreed with the bentgrass idea, but if it is working, then yay for you!!

How high/low is your grass being mowed? It should be at or near the mower's highest setting. Tall grass is much more tolerant of both heat and drought than short grass. Clearly you don't have a drought issue, but it could be the heat caused the problem. Then again if it really was bentgrass, and you got rid of it, then the issue might be resolved. I'm glad your updated this and especially with the picture.

Where do you live in PA?

I'm sorry for getting back to you so late! I never got a notification that someone responded.

First, let me answer your questions. I live in the heart of Amish Country: Lancaster County, PA. I mow at the highest I can mow which is 3+ inches. I have been watching the water levels per week this year and they're not so bad. It's only gone under 1 inch/wk just a couple times so that's pretty good for grass.

I think you're right, I no longer think the main issue is a bentgrass problem. I didn't specifically do anything to address that (no Tenacity, etc). I now think I have a mix of 3 issues: terrible dirt (hard clay), heat, and insects.

- Dirt: My neighbor told me after they built the local bank years ago, they trucked in all the leftover, crappy dirt and put it in our yards/development. It's hard/clay-like.
- Heat: The temperature seems to have been super low this year compared to last year. It's been an extremely cool summer for the most part. This is probably not MOST of the problem this year but it never helps when coupled with dirt that is hard and dries out easily.
- Insects: I found a chinch bug and there are those little white moths flying out of the grass when I mow/water (web worms?)

It's MUCH better than last year but it's happening again to a smaller degree. There are some larger patches of brown/matted "dead" grass. Again, it's better than last year and I hope that it's not just the cooler temps that's making it better. I hope it's my aeration/seeding that's helping mostly because if not, then it's just going to happen again at some point.

I am going to aerate/seed this year again, probably mid-late September. I am having another inspection guy come because the first guy just came and said "need to aerate". While that may be true, there seems to be much more than that going on and it seemed incredibly just-get-my-job-done-so-I-can-go-home to me.

I live in Poughkeepsie, NY. I have this exact same problem. My lawn did not look so great last year but this year it was horrible. It looked ok in the Spring, in July it looked really horrible. I also have lawn service. The manager came out to look. He said it was the drought. Nobody's lawn in my area looks as bad as mine even though the only person who waters their lawn is my next door neighbor. I am embarrassed. It looked better when I had weeds. It is now November and the brown spots are still there. I did have my lawn aerated and overseeded a few weeks ago but I am hesitant about signing up for lawn service again next year. Each year it looks worse. As part of my lawn service I have fertilizer, lime, weed control, aerating and overseeding and winterizing. I am attaching a photo the way it looks today. It is only SLIGHTLY improved from the summer. I was told once the temperatures got colder, it would start to green up again but I see very little improvement. I am tempted to just let it go! Any comments? Thanks!

Erika, I don't see the picture - did you attach it? My yard has gotten better every year since I started this thread in 2013. This year it's great except for just a few of those dead/matted down brown spots. I actually pulled some of it up and saw grubs. I suspect that's part of the problem but not the entire problem. Just stick to a regiment of aerating and overseeding and your lawn won't have a choice but to come back. I think my law just got SO stressed and was SO old (~30 years) that it began to die out. Once I started overseeding, it all came back and it's super lush and green now (minus those few remaining pesky brown spots).

Hi, Liz, I tried to attach a photo and couldn't do it but it looks just like your lawn! My lawn is also old which is why I got the lawn service and I have aerated and overseeded for the past 3 or 4 years. It looked good the first couple of years. I don't understand and since I prepay for the service I am not sure what to do. I don't have grubs as far as I know and the manager said I did not although perhaps there is something they don't treat for.

By any chance, do you notice those grey/white moths flying around your yard when you mow? I had a TON of those and they can be much of (if not the entire) problem as well. Insects cause stress on top of already-stressed conditions in the summer. Chinch bugs, grubs, etc - they all destroy the grass.

What kind of aerating do they do? If they're just punching holes, that's terrible. You want to see tons of little cores laying around when they're done. Also, NEVER roll your yard. I do it myself by renting a core aerator (like $20) and seeding it myself too. After 2 years of that and some light overseeding by hand, it's looking so much better. I will continue to put on grub treatment because I've had problems with them before.

You may also have terrible dirt. Mine is very hard and clay-like so the more aerating I can do, the better I think! Need to get worms back in there to do their thing too.

I hope your lawn service can help you out! For me it was just continuing to place fresh new grass where old dying grass had been before as well as treating for bugs.

Wow! I'm glad this came back around. I think everyone has learned something since this thread was started. And now Houzz does notify you when messages you have posted on get more action. So maybe we can tune both of you up at the same time.

You should not have to core aerate, ever, with very few exceptions. If you have hard soil there are chemistry reasons and biological reasons for that. The chemistry reason is most often an imbalance in the salts (magnesium, calcium, sodium, and potassium). Those can be addressed with a good soil test. The better lawn forums have been recommending Logan Labs in Ohio for soil testing for the past few years. Their $25 test is what you need. They will email the results to you. If you post them here morpheuspa will give you an extensive reading of the results and get you on your way toward soil perfection. The other reason the soil might be hard and clay-like is biological. There are fungi in the soil that will soften the soil for you once they have been well fed and watered. Spraying the yard with a surfactant will go a long way to allowing water to penetrate the soil and create the environment needed for healthy beneficial fungi. The surfactant can be anything but some are better than others. Ordinary shampoo is a good one. Any clear shampoo, like baby shampoo, will work. Spray the yard at a rate of 3 ounces of shampoo per 1,000 square feet and follow that up with 1/2 inch to 1 inch of water. Allow it 3 weeks to work. If you have other reasons for core aeration, please, lets discuss them.

You should also not have to treat for insects unless you have found them in sufficient numbers to treat. The first clue you might have a grub problem is when you see beetles swarming your porch lights in May and June. If you see that then in July, before you see any damage, dig up a square foot of turf down to about 2 inches looking for grubs. If you see fewer than a dozen, then you don't have a grub problem. If you see an uncountable mass of them, then spray. Chinch bugs are more of a southern problem because they like hot soil, but it is possible to see them elsewhere. Spraying insecticide as a preventive measure is not good for the soil biology. Insects are an integral element of healthy soil. Spraying insecticide kills off the bad bugs, but if you don't have bad bugs, then it just kills the beneficial insects.

I suspect both of you have watering and mowing height issues. Here's something I wrote a while ago that summarizes what I've learned over the past decade or so.

Basics of Lawn Care

After reading numerous books and magazines on lawn care, caring for lawns at seven houses in my life, and reading numerous forums where real people write in to discuss their successes and failures, I have decided to side with the real people and dispense with the book and magazine authors. I don't know what star their planet rotates around but it's not mine. With that in mind, here is the collected wisdom of the Internet savvy homeowners and lawn care professionals summarized in a few words. If you follow the advice here you will have conquered at least 50% of all lawn problems. Once you have these three elements mastered, then you can worry about weeds (if you have any), dog spots, and striping your lawn. But if you are not doing these three things, they will be the first three things suggested for you to correct.

1. Watering
Water deeply and infrequently. Deeply means at least an inch in every zone, all at once. Infrequently means monthly during the cool months and no more than weekly during the hottest part of summer. Do not spread this out and water for 10 minutes every day. If your grass looks dry before the month/week is up, water longer next time. If that does not work, then you might have to water more than once per week during the summer's hottest period. Deep watering grows deep, drought resistant roots. Infrequent watering allows the top layer of soil to dry completely which kills off many shallow rooted weeds.

You will have to learn to judge when to water your own lawn. If you live in El Paso your watering will be different than if you live in Vermont. Adjust your watering to your type of grass, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil type. It is worth noting that this technique is used successfully by professionals in Phoenix, so...just sayin.' The other factors make a difference. If you normally water 1 inch per week and you get 1/2 inch of rain, then adjust and water only 1/2 inch that week.

2. Mowing
Every week mulch mow at the highest setting on your mower. Most grasses are the most dense when mowed tall. However, bermuda, centipede, and bent grasses will become the most dense when they are mowed at the lowest setting on your mower. In fact there are special mowers that can mow these grasses down to 1/16 inch. Dense grass shades out weeds, keeps the soil cooler, and uses less water than thin grass. Tall grass can feed the deep roots you developed in #1 above. Tall grass does not grow faster than short grass nor does it look shaggy sooner. Once all your grass is at the same height, tall grass just looks plush.

3. Fertilizing
Fertilize regularly. I fertilize 5 times per year using organic fertilizer. Which fertilizer you use is much less important than numbers 1 and 2 above. Follow the directions on the bag and do not overdo it (unless you use organics in which case you may overdo it without fear of hurting anything).

At this point you do not have to worry about weed and feed products - remember at this point you are just trying to grow grass, not perfect it. Besides once you are doing these three things correctly, your weed problems should go away without herbicide.

Thanks very much for your input. I have a problem with watering the front of my house as it is very hard for me to get the hose around. However, I have lived in my house for 30 years and until the last year or two, my grass has never looked this bad. I have been mowing with the mower set at a high setting. I just sent a note to my lawn service asking what to do about the spots that they told me were due to heat stress and do not seem to have recovered since the summer. I need to know if they do not green up by Spring if I need to dig them out by hand and overseed them myself. This area is in full sun. The areas of my lawn that are not in full sun look fine. I was told I have no insects and that the root system is good in the area of heat stressed spots. Because my whole lawn is not that way and parts of it are green, I don't understand why this happened only on certain parts of the lawn. The manager did come out and poked something in the ground to test the soil. He told me that we were in drought conditions and I was also told that it is good to have a variety of grasses so perhaps these parts are different grasses?? I was told it was not due to any treatments they provide such as fertilizer, lime or weed control. I asked about seeding with grass meant for full sun but was fended off. Everything looked halfway decent until July although even this Spring, it did not look as good as previous years. Why would only parts of the lawn be effected by heat stress and other parts not? I am very confused. Thanks!

That's almost my exact same story. I distinctly remember loving how lush and green my lawn used to look. I had no service, nothing. Just mowed and had wonderful grass. Then in 2013 BLAM. So strange.

Anyway, thanks for all the info dchall. It's almost completely back so I don't think I'll change what I'm doing. It's looking amazing this year. Just a few segregated spots in the middle of PERFECT grass. It's not watering/drought in such distinct areas in otherwise perfect looking grass. Soon I'll have a whole new lawn from overseeding each year anyway ;)