Compost is not all its cracked up to be. I consider it an antiquated method for doing organic gardening. Back before we knew how many species of microbes lived in the soil (and compost), it was the only game in town. It bridged the time when all anyone used was fresh manure until now when the organic fertilizers are based on grains.

Where do you live?
What kind of grass do you have?
When were the last two times you fertilized and what did you use?
Have you used any insecticide or herbicide in the past month? If so then what?
What was your watering regimen for the summer (frequency and duration)?

Do you have any thoughts about why your lawn looks pockmarked in the foreground?

Is your lawn that lumpy or is that an optical illusion?

Where do you live? Central Ohio
What kind of grass do you have? 55% KBG, 30% fescue, 15% rye
When were the last two times you fertilized and what did you use? 4-6 weeks, Milorganite
Have you used any insecticide or herbicide in the past month? If so then what? No
What was your watering regimen for the summer (frequency and duration)? Twice a week, 30 minutes per zone

Do you have any thoughts about why your lawn looks pockmarked in the foreground? The burn/brown spots are where compost piles were spread from wheel barrel before raking

Is your lawn that lumpy or is that an optical illusion? Illusion, likely from discoloration from top dressing

Good. We can rule out fertilizer burn and damage from other chemicals. That leaves hot compost, smothering and disease as possible problems.

Did your compost smell incredibly wonderful? Or did it have any overtones of musty, rank, dank, sour, ammonia, or anything else that wasn't perfectly fresh? Was it warm to the touch? Did it have any pieces of wood or other material you recognized as not being completely decomposed? If the compost was fresh enough that you would feel very comfortable plunging your nose into a heaping handful of it, then we can rule out immature compost. If the compost was not finished composting, the heat from the compost process can literally cook the grass when it sits there. It would look kind of crispy and very dried.

How long did the compost sit on the grass? Did you drop the wheel barrows on one day and finish scattering the piles the next day? Some grasses can smother quickly when buried under a pile of something. Smothered grass usually just looks wilted.

Can you see any yellow or brown lesions or spots on the blades of the dead looking grass? Sometimes when you cut off the oxygen to grass for long enough disease can get started.

Pockmarks are not the brown grass. In the lower left quadrant of the photo there are hundreds of very dark spots that look like holes in the turf. Are they illusions from the grass? Is the grass tufted so that it would cast shadows like that? I could be tufts of rye or fescue thriving in a sea of KBG that is recovering from summer dormancy.

The compost smelled fairly fresh, not rank but not totally sweet either. When I was breaking up some clumps from the delivery I did notice they were warm to the touch. As such, I think your suspicion of hot compost may be correct. If that's the cause, the piles sat for no longer than an hour before being raked out to about 1/4" coverage. Do you think the grass has a chance to survive in those areas with continued care? I did a double aeration before top dressing which I think may result in that pockmarked appearance you reference. Thanks for the feedback.

I would overseed those areas this month. The KBG will come back fine, but the fescue and rye will not.

Sounds like your compost was not finished composting. Most compost dealers try to push it out the door before it's ready.

My first thought was unfinished compost, too. But you are where you are, so do this. Go down to the crowns of some of the plants and give them a fingernail scrape. If they are green and turgid, the topgrowth is injured but the plants are still alive. Then just keep watering -- deeply and infrequently. Give the grass an inch of water per week, preferably in two separate waterings.

Rkdjc, was your lawn able to recover? I did the exact same thing a few days ago to my Bermuda lawn ( I live in Georgia) and sure enough I have yellowing and wilting in the spots where I topdressed with a river sand / compost mix. Did it come back with heavy watering?

I have this same thing happening in our Bermuda lawn after compost was spread, did your lawns recover?

Yes. Mine recovered after a few weeks of heavy watering. I believe the cause was compost not yet finished composting

mbbrown3, I've seen thriving bermuda lawns set back a full year from too much compost. I didn't know bermuda could be beat down like that, but it happened just a few houses away from me, so I saw it every day. Before it fully recovered the house sold and the new owner installed St Augustine.

In my opinion there are too many people enamored with compost. The best thing you can do now is ensure it is raked in to expose as much grass as possible. Let the grass grow up higher than the compost for now until the compost is decomposed, and then mow it back down lower. You might speed up the compost decomposition process by spraying the yard with molasses at 3 ounces per gallon and applying any organic fertilizer.