I have a problem with my lawn (apart from way too much clover). I have dark stripes throughout that seem to clearly be where my lawn tractor has driven. It's the way I want my grass to look. But most of my lawn is much lighter and yellowish in some areas. One guy suggested it was a pH problem and to add lime, which I did about a month ago. My entire lawn looks okay but I want it all dark.

It literally seems like the lawn tractor wheels pushed the pelletized fertilizer (weed and feed about a month ago also) into the lawn and that it actually helped in those areas. It is definitely not from my spreader pattern as I have a rotary spreader and I've gone in different directions.

I can say there is not a huge amount of loam under my grass. Below the 4" (if that much in some areas) is builder sand. My lot was mostly sand used for fill and septic so there is definitely drainage and not a lot of nutrient rich soil.

I guess my question is, can I add more fertilizer or is there a danger I'm over doing it. Any suggestions?

Here you can see the stripes that mimic my lawnmower path.

Yes you can. I would wait for a bit.

Does this occur every time you fertilize? I would look into your spreader again.

Also you can buy an iron supplement. Iron is was makes your grass green.

I would add some Milorganite. Its a low dose slow release fert with iron that will green it up without overdosing the fert.

It’s been the same since spring with the color difference getting less obvious a bit. I don’t think iron is my problem. We have an irrigation system for the major one and my well water has tons of iron. I see that every time I add chlorine to my hot tub with new water. It stains my fences. The right side of my driveway is not irrigated and has the same issue.

The iron in your water is most likely not the kind used in fertilizer as it is not easily used by plants.

The stripes are interesting, I suspect the fertilizer was not pushed into the soil, but rather the soil was compacted under the mower wheels which prevented the fertilizer from soaking trough the grass’s root zone. If your lawn is new, the roots probably don't go very deep yet.

I’m not knowledgeable enough to suggest a remedy.

I vote also for soil compaction or your spreader.

Those zigzag patterns definitely look like a spreader issue…from a rotary spreader…as if it’s leaking or dropping at one wheel rather than broadcasting it.

I would have the lawn aerated (which is hardly ever a bad idea), apply a weed preventative and either Ironite or Milorganite (both are quite gentle) as recommended and use some variety in my lawn mowing/fertilizing patterns going forward.

Nice landscaping bed you’ve got there.

With a builder sand base, I would think that you will have to add nutrients frequently to get grass dark green as what doesn’t get taken by the roots is draining away.

It’s really hard to burn a lawn with Scott’s products IMO.

Don’t use fertilizer any more frequently than once a month in those months which have no “R” in their name and you should be ok.

By the way, clover is your friend. It is holding and adding nitrogen + nutrients to your soil. It’s a producer not a consumer. So, if you’ve got clover that’s a good thing … it’s helping your lawn stay dark green, especially in the shady areas.

Some companies, Scott’s for example, are bringing back clover/grass seed blends for this very reason.

https://www.scotts.com/en-us/p...-builder-clover-lawn

This message has been edited. Last edited by: x0225095,

Get a soil test done.

Don’t use a DIY kit.

Get it done by a professional lab.

Many States have County Extension Office, or whatever your State calls them. They’re usually associated with a University and the cost is practically nothing, $10.00 where I live.

Here is an example: Link

2nd Link

Read the links, it will give you a better idea of what to do as needed.


Best wishes to you.
.

Thanks for all the tips. I was thinking it isn't the spreader pattern but now that I look the curved stripes are newer and they are when I last fertilized and I did that criss cross pattern to avoid this. It obviously didn't work. I don't think it's actually the spreader itself but there is certainly some overlap happening and it's having trouble getting into the soil I guess.

So I will have to aerate for sure. I don't want to buy an aerator as I have not much space left for a tow behind. I may just buy a hand tool aerator and go at it a bit at a time. I'll also have a soil test done at some point.

Northern (cool season grasses such as Kentucky Blue Grass) and Southern (warm season grasses such as St. Augustine) lawns have different nutrient, watering, and mowing needs. I've lived in both and have taken care of both.

My Dad still lives in the Upper Midwest and has a 1/2 acre lawn which is mowed with a tractor. He bought a tow behind core aerator and aerates both in the spring and in the fall. Purchasing it was cheaper than hiring it done once. It's best to put on your spring and fall fertilizer after core aerating.

Stripes were really evident on my buddy's 2 acre lawn in Alaska. He had purchased a 30 hp diesel John Deere with a belly mower. That heavy tractor actually compacted the ground more than an inch in his normal mowing path. He ended up buying a 2nd lighter tractor for mowing and core aerator.

One thing about fertilizer is most of the national brands are crap. They're just a shit ton of nitrogen, hardly any potassium (the 3rd numbers on label), and rarely any of the trace minerals like Iron and Sulfur that are needed. Additionally, all of the nitrogen is fast release so it doesn't last long (weeks vs months) and much more likely to burn your lawn with summer fertilization. Scotts in particular is a national brand that sells at a premium price, but its powdery formula spreads poorly, clumps in the bag worse than anything else I've used, and has all of the deficiencies of other national brands.

Home Depot sells a Lesco 24-0-11 fertilizer with slow release nitrogen and 3% iron. This would be a great product for the OP in midsummer. Home Depot also sells a Lesco 19-0-7 w/ crabgrass pre-emergent which would be great in the spring.

As long as I'm on my soap box, most weed-n-feed products contain atrazine which is horrible for your trees and shrubs. It also starts to have diminishing returns on the lawn and requires more and more to kill weeds. It's better to use a pre-emergent weed preventer such as .58% prodiamine and before it hits 85F hit any weeds that survived with a spray treatment (spot or entire lawn) with something like Bonide Weed Beater Ultra.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
So I will have to aerate for sure. I don't want to buy an aerator as I have not much space left for a tow behind. I may just buy a hand tool aerator and go at it a bit at a time. I'll also have a soil test done at some point.

The tow behind will be way more effective and much more likely to be used.

If you are really desperate there is a dark green lawn paint available. We used this a couple of times for commercial customers (think Realtors) back when I was in the business. Doesn't last very long, but it sure does make an initial impression.

quote:

Get a soil test done.

^^^^^^^^^^
This. If not it is shooting in the dark. You cannot treat until you properly diagnose.

I understand getting a soil test, but I would think because of the striping there is something else going on (the compaction issue). My soil is certainly inconsistent as the builder covered sand and the loam gets thinner and thinner the closer you get to the driveway.

In any case a tow behind aerator isn't in the cards right now. But, my fiance's son just asked for some work to make a little money for a vacation with his dad. I just handed him the hand core aerator (bought at HD literally an hour ago). He is out there plugging away, literally.

I'll also look at the lesco for my next fertilization.

I think you might need a new spreader.

People hate clover but it’s actually beneficial for your soil as it pulls in nitrogen from the air and acts like free fertilization.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I think you might need a new spreader.

People hate clover but it’s actually beneficial for your soil as it pulls in nitrogen from the air and acts like free fertilization.

I cleaned out the spreader and tested it. It seems to be broadcasting evenly. It’s also pretty new.

1. It's new, it will take time for the roots to grow down & fill out.
2. soil test. If you have fill-dirt, you need to know what it doesn't have to know what to put down. Fertilizing now isn't going to do much. Over ~85* and the grass will slow way down.
3. Lime takes forever to work, and late May isn't the right time to do it. Early spring or right as it cools down in September.
4. Dark stripes look like compaction, might look good now, but it's not great for the grass.
5. What height are you mowing at? Fescue likes >2.5" where I'm at. I do 3.25", mowing low keeps roots from going getting deep as the grass is always trying to leaf out.

Core aerators are $200 at TSC/Rural King/Amazon & work well, but not in late June. Needs to be September & March/April. It looks like you need it. This fall, mow it low, aerate the piss out of it, spread fertilizer, overseed if you want & then do a rain dance.

I'm only telling you what happened to me. I rinsed out an empty Diesel Exhaust Fluid container and poured it out on my grass. A few days later, I discovered that the areas where I had poured the DEF looked like grass on steroids! The grass in the area where I poured the DEF seemed 3 times higher that the surrounding grass and super green. Maybe some of the green thumbs can comment on this? Maybe it's a way to a green lawn always? DEF in a hose-end sprayer every so often?
Lineman

You can try milorganite, it makes my grass a deep green

SLight thread drift:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
...I just handed him the hand core aerator (bought at HD literally an hour ago). He is out there plugging away, literally.

Let me know how that works out. And what (if any) medical care he needs for his back. I'm thinking about one:

https://www.sportystoolshop.co...re-lawn-aerator.html

I have a .2 acre lot and have not paid for aeration in several years. I'm in good shape, doing it by hand shouldn't be too hard.