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ehunt123

wondering why specific sections of new lawn are "greener" than ot

ehunt123
9 years ago

Hi,

Had my front and side lawn redone in the middle of August. Luckily, we had a mild August, so it was perfect weather for grass growing here in Southern NH. The landscaper removed the top6" and refilled with their 50/50 loam/compost mix that's regarded as the best in the area. After the final grade and irrigation install, they hydroseeded with Lesco Athletic Field Mix for the area (full sun). Irrigation was 3x a day, down to 2 after 3 weeks, and now running every other day in the morning. After the 4th week, I applied a round of starter fert (27-27-5), right after labor day. I mowed at regular intervals, at 2.5" (sharp blade), grass cycling every time. Other than that, no chemicals or any other additives have been put on. The irrigation system is being blown out tomorrow, as we're entering freezing temp-time soon. I plan to apply the last round of fert (Scotts Winter) in about a week, with the grasses here usually stop growing at the end of the month. Germination looks good but I'm wondering why there are sections of "darker" grass and lighter grass. The "darker" area is much fuller and lush while the lighter area is thinner and less filled. Iron deficiency? More fertilizer in certain areas? When using my rotary spreader, I definitely didn't do it wrong, but it looks like I sprinkled certain areas with more than the rest.

Link: http://imgur.com/a/apz0z#0

Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful: grass/lawn pictures

Comments (5)

  • sfbaysteph
    9 years ago

    oh my goodness it's gorgeous! I'm really only writing in to say that I'm jealous --- I think it looks fantastic!

    I zoomed in the photos the best I can and to me it looks like a low spot in those strips of dark green.
    Did the water wash the seeds into a more concentrated area in those strips?

    that'd be my guess.

  • ehunt123
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Yes. Unfortunately, 2 days after the hydroseed, we had a torrential downpour for a good hour. A ton of the seeds washed onto the sidewalk (bottom of the slope). Thankfully, the damage was a few channels and valleys it created, being bare dirt. I wound up being able to get a lot of the seed I brushed into a pan back into there and level it out. I'll probably need to overseed the bare areas next fall but its better than having bad germination.

    But, in the "non really green areas", not much happened. The river was in the center and closer to the sidewalk, and only an inch wide by a few feet long.

    This post was edited by ehunt123 on Mon, Oct 13, 14 at 12:28

  • beckyinrichmond
    9 years ago

    Since the darker color is in long lines, I would guess that it's due to uneven fertilization, maybe from overlap. Did you spread in two directions (up and down as well as back and forth) or just back and forth? If you just went back and forth, next time you could lower the spreader setting by half and go back and forth and then up and down.

    Are you aware that compost will get used up over time? Your yard will sink as the compost is used up.

    For a winterizer fertilization, you should wait until the grass is no longer growing. Use a fertilizer with fast release nitrogen and water it in (maybe apply before rain since you are turning off your irrigation soon).

  • morpheuspa (6B/7A, E. PA)
    9 years ago

    Gee, surprise, I agree with BeckyBeck again but think SFSteph might be onto something as well.

    It's really nice looking for a first-season lawn and it doesn't seem like the lighter areas are weeds or P. annua-infested, so that's not a problem.

    Given the patterning, it looks like some setting went on, and fertilizer washed there--plus it wasn't evenly down in the first place and that didn't help.

    However, none of that is poorly fertilized and there's no need to do anything specific about it at this point.

    And yes, 50/50 mix, 6", is eventually going to settle about 3". That could be a problem.

    Definitely wait for top growth to stop (whenever that is). Mine's slowing, but nowhere near done yet and the current estimate is late November. In zone 5a, growth stoppage may very well be next week.

  • iriasj2009
    9 years ago

    I had the same problem when I planted perennial ryegrass. I used a rotary spreader to apply my fertilizer and I guess I spread it VERY unevenly, so my yard looked just like yours. Problem fixed once I applied my fertilizer correctly the second time.