photo two -- this end of the grass was pretty woody with lots of crabgrass debris that I needed to break up. There's also a slope so I lost some seed to the flower bed below. I can see remaining seed in the dirt, and I am putting out coffee grounds, daily (that is the blackish looking dirt in the upper corner)--

here is that patch at more of a distance so you can get the perspective.
I ended up with "sod" patches of Kentucky in the flowerbed so I've been pulling them up and plugging the lawn that way here and there.

I have noticed a lot more clover lately due to the fog and morning dew. So far I've just been pulling by hand and knocking the leaves off so they can't get light, hoping that will snuff them out.
Is that a good strategy?
The baby fescue that is super fine is turning brown and I don't like it, so if I see a lot of it I've been pulling and reseeding with pure Kentucky.

In retrospect, I probably should have killed the existing grass somehow---- although you can't even UTTER the word RoundUp in this neighborhood ---- sf hippies------

but I'm pretty darn thrilled with my slow and steady approach!

We are the ONLY lawn around that is green and healthy!
yay!

It looks good! Photo #2 looks like that patch might be a slight fungal infection, but it's hard to tell (color is a good indicator, but the photos are coming through somewhat yellow-tinged on my monitor).

It's never a bad idea to assume it is and sprinkle some corn meal or cracked corn on the area. The equivalent of twenty pounds per thousand square feet is fine, which is a pretty light dusting, and will help defeat and suppress out any fungal infections over a few weeks.

Clover can photosynthesize just from its stem (many plants can), so removing the leaves may not be effective. Keep after it, though, and it should slowly thin out. If you find it fails, Tenacity will help (it's bottlebrush plant extract), or Weed B Gone clover, chickweed, and oxalis killer. Just spot spray that as the clover doesn't look that bad (and expect to lose a little grass in those areas if it hasn't hardened off yet--which takes about three mowings).

thanks, Morph!

is it the same corn meal that I can find in the grocery store? Do I have to go to a pet feed type place?

I can get corn meal (the kind you make cornbread with) or corn flour (masa) super easily, but I'd have to leave town to find a farm supply store.

While expensive compared to the animal feed variety, for a patch that size the corn meal from the grocery store is easier to source and the price differential isn't that extreme.

Remember, only a modest dusting. If it looks like yellow-white snow on the grass, you overapplied. Which is harmless, but might smell a bit as it decays in.

And yes, any corn meal, for human or animal consumption, is just fine! Corn flour is likely to be awfully fine, so although it's certainly usable, I'd water it in a tiny bit afterward to keep it from blowing away.

Cracked corn (feeder corn) is another possibility and sold in a lot of grocery stores in the pet section. But don't stress yourself because it really doesn't matter which you use, they all work.

Over your "winter" (what you have is not winter, it's a misty fall as far as I'm concerned) you might want to source enough cracked corn or corn meal to apply 20 pounds per thousand square feet to your entire lawn next spring. That'll tend to suppress out fungal diseases across your entire lawn, and one app is good for the whole season.

It's not perfect, but it does help, and also supplies a weak, very gentle feed to your grass for long periods of time.

this is so very helpful, thank you!!

Okay, I'll get to work, and I do think you are right in that it is a fungus of somesort because the grass blades look a bit furry when I'm up close.

and I hear you on the extended fall. I'm a complete wuss and freezing today working at home and tempted to turn the heat on but the thermostat says it's 68. ;-)

found cornmeal in the cupboard so I just shook it out on the lawn --- I had almost a full box so I just went ahead and walked around everywhere --- there's definitely some mushrooms in spots, so I'm happy to have treated the whole lawn.

we'll see if the birds notice.

and now we're having corn muffins with dinner! :-)

Perfect! It's not a product you can easily overapply to lawns, and that 2 1/2 pound box can easily cover 125 square feet adequately--250 at a lower, but still OK, level.

Corn's not a great curative, but it'll help keep the fungus from spreading. if it doesn't go away in two weeks or so, post again--there are some home-brew fungal curatives that are harmless to you, children, pets, and the planet (in fact, you eat one of them regularly).