Have you tried dormant seeding? Any luck?

Has your lawn been that thin all season? You definitely want to add more seed, IMO.
Dormant Seeding works fine, but a dry Spring could hurt production. I have often had great results, but also some failures.
Seed may also be applied in the Spring while the ground is still frozen and will germinate as soon as conditions are correct.

No, grass was think/plush thru June and started going downhill in late July

First year lawns (like yours) are a bit on the delicate side, but that's kind of ridiculous.

Did you happen to get an extended dry period in there where you also didn't water? That's technically a no-no for first year lawns, but even so, they should come through better than that.

Did you apply any oddball chemicals or feed at odd times (like heavily during summer)?

we had the scotts love your lawn service. they may have put a fertilizer down . early on in june there was some starter fertilizer put down.

I really dont think i let it go super long without water. june was a deluge of rain and so was august and i usually watered here and there when i thought it had been a while since rain. could it be that the roots never grew deep due to frequent rain days.. and then a dryish july set it into a tailspin that august didnt recover?

I'm basically stumped so I want to do everything by the book going forward, dormant seed in feb and march then see what kind of comeback I get next spring.

do you think it's worth a quick hit of scotts 32-0-4 before the final feed or just wait a month for the final?

forgot to mention. when I took the soil sample i may have found 1 grub in the 10 holes I dug collecting soil.

i put the thing on a table and when I went back for it later it was gone so cant confirm for sure what it was but it looked like what i see in pics, just slimey-er and not sure if it had legs

1 grub in ten holes isn't significant, but I'd look again just to make certain. Grubs haven't descended below the frost line yet because there's no frost line at this point and you should still be able to find them.

>>we had the scotts love your lawn service. they may have put a fertilizer down . early on in june there was some starter fertilizer put down.

So feeding rates were very low (lawn services tend to do a crappy job to begin with, and at the wrong times).

If you're a full month out? Sure, use a full rate feeding of 32-0-4. If you think you may only be two weeks from winterizing, feed at half rate now.

While watering wasn't perfect, it wasn't bad enough to do that.

The last things on the list are insects and infections, and I see no evidence of either at this point. Of course, I wouldn't once the insect is gone or the infection dies down.

Insects, keep an eye out next year. If it turns out to be an issue, we'll ID and deal with it then.

Diseases...I'd be very tempted to put down 10-20 pounds per thousand square feet of cracked corn or corn meal next April or early May. That'll give you some protection against fungal diseases throughout next year. I wouldn't recommend use of a chemical preventative or treatment without identifying the disease as we'd need to use a wide-spectrum treatment--which will damage the natural, helpful, and very important fungi in your lawn.

And yes, feel free to dormant seed, but plan on watering. Dormant seeded grasses are weaker the following summer than fall-planted grass as they've had about two fewer months to set up their root systems.

Lots of holes chewed int the leaves of my hastas and sunflowers, not sure if that is indicative of a lawn insect problem.

I do remember ther being an odd brown spot maybe the size of a football in late July when the rest of the lawn was at its pinnacle. and there were a couple of small bare spots where I tried to grow grass over and over, it would sprout like an inch or 2 and die. And I was pretty good about watering those areas. I think I must have planted seeds 3 different times in the bare spot my errant snowblowing created..hardly any took.

I did water the lawn some in the early evening. As long as I'm confessing all my imperfections might as well get that out there.

I got til spring to find a good price on 50lb of cornmeal. ðÂÂÂ

Everything eats hosta and sunflower. Even in my very well-balanced gardens, both take a lot of damage. For that reason, I discontinued sunflower and I'm down to 1 hosta.

OK, now we're getting somewhere. You just described one of the patch diseases, which can destroy a lawn very quickly if left unchecked--and watering in the evening would only help it spread further and faster.

The disease is gone now, sleeping until conditions improve again next summer. Keep a close eye out.

Corn will help prevent patch diseases, but usually isn't fast enough to treat them in case of an outbreak. if it surges again, we'll need photos and descriptions--and will be sending you to your local big box store for a fungicide.

I found some pictures that show the progression of the lawn from june to mid sept. maybe they offer more clues to the problem and or confirm the fungus
june 6. still waiting for all the grass to start growing well, the lengths were kind of bumpy, even after mowing until late june.
{{gwi:120733}}
june 27
{{gwi:120734}}
aug 3 brown spot to the left of daughters head
{{gwi:120735}}
aug 15
{{gwi:120736}}
sept 17
[IMG]http://i59.tinypic.com/doxkb8.jpg[/IMG]
{{gwi:120737}}

This post was edited by chris_chicago on Mon, Nov 10, 14 at 12:45

I would say that your dog spends a lot of time in the yard and that is what your issue is.
Does that make sense?

This post was edited by maplerbirch on Tue, Nov 11, 14 at 3:33

it is a reasonable guess but the dog isnt back there too much. there is a hawk in the neighborhood so I have to be out there chaperoning. Given the dogs size and the lack of time spent in the yard, I have a hard time pinning it on him.

April 18

May 11

There are still a lot of thin/bald spots where the seed either isn't germinating or gets washed away by rain. not sure if I will spot seed or just overseed large areas .

What is that thing the dog is standing on? Is it a tarp? If it is plastic and any dark color then that might be the genesis of the problem. Conditions underneath might have reached the temperature and moisture levels perfect for a disease fungus to get a foot hold. Or it might have solarized the grass underneath to which you or a family member responded by over watering and creating conditions for the fungus.

Morph mentioned corn. The product is ordinary corn meal like you can find at the grocery store. If you can find it at a feed store it is much less expensive. Apply at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet to control most fungal lawn diseases. I use it almost every year to eradicate a disease my lawn gets caused by leaving gardening clippings on the lawn overnight. It takes 3 full weeks to see improvement, but it seems to work for most people who try it.

That was a plastic rug I washed. It was on the lawn maybe 40min.

Been keeping my eye out for cornmeal. Grocery store is 3$ for 5 pounds so would like to find it cheaper.

Try a pet food store, livestock feed store, or Tractor Supply (or a store like that) if you have one in your area.

Cracked corn is also completely fine for this task, applied at the same 10-20 pound per thousand square feet rate. Don't get whole corn, it'll sprout. It's only annoying and doesn't survive a mow, but why tolerate the annoyance?

Is cornmeal a preemergent? I still have some bare spots to seed .

Nope! Corn meal has no pre-emergent capability, although CGM (Corn Gluten Meal) does have some pre-emergence.