*What caused the damage: This year we had several factors that increased the damage during the drought conditions.

 

Insect Damage: There was an increase of surface feeding insect activity, partly due to the mild winter which allowed more insects to survive through winter. These insects such as the chinch bug, blue grass bill bug, cut worm, army worm, and sod web worm were able to go undetected due to the grass being in a dormant state during our drought period.

 

Summer Disease Damage: Generally, summer diseases recover on their own and do not cause permanent damage. Although this year the conditions where favorable for disease right before our drought period hit. This prevented the turf from recovering before going into a distressed state.

 

Drought Damage: Some varieties of grass cannot withstand extreme heat for long periods of time, especially in areas of direct sunlight with no shade. Slopes and areas near concrete are also more susceptible to die off from extreme heat.

 

*What to do now? The first thing to do, if you have not already done so, is to lightly rake up the matted down dead grass. This will create better air, water, and fertilizer penetration to promote new growth.

 

Do you need to seed? Spots the size of a baseball or smaller will probably recover on their own from now through late next spring. However, for spots the size of a softball or larger it would be best to do some seeding.

 

How to seed dead areas: Once you have raked the dead matted grass off, you’ll need to loosen the soil with a hard rake or a garden weasel. Then put down your grass seed and lightly rake the seed into the soil. From there, just keep the seeded areas damp as much as possible for the next couple weeks. You don’t want it muddy but it needs to be moist for the seed to germinate.

 

Need help with the seeding work? If you have damaged areas scattered throughout the lawn or just want to help thicken up the whole lawn and address some bad spots. We can do a lawn aeration and over-seeding.

 

If you have any questions or would like a quote on some seeding work, you can contact us by phone, email, or through our web site.