Q. My father’s lawn is tall fescue and completely went
dead this summer. I’d like to know what we did wrong because we watered twice a
day. We are anxious to plant a new lawn ASAP and want some advice on how to
plant a new lawn from seed and the best seed to use. The lawn gets full sun.
you watered twice a day, but death of an entire lawn during the summer is
nearly always due to an irrigation problem. There are diseases and insects
which cause damage, but they always leave behind telltale patches of green. These
patches of green, to a trained eye, are clues to the cause of dying grass.
 |
| Lawn disease |
Leave it Alone
until the temperatures cool down a bit, perhaps sometime between late September
and mid October, to begin planting a new lawn. In the meantime, leave the dead
grass in place to shade the soil and prevent weed growth. This layer of “mulch”
reduces weed problems that might pop up if you were to remove it. In the
meantime, continue irrigations because there are probably plant roots in that dead
lawn that need the water.
 |
| Lawn brown spots due to irrigaiton |
Check Irrigation
irrigation system and make sure it’s working properly and the irrigation
controller is functioning. Kill and remove any weeds in the new lawn area. If
using a weedkiller, spray a week in advance so the herbicide has time to
disappear before planting.
Soil Prep
The day before planting the seed, irrigate to soften
the soil. Rent a core aerator to punch holes all through the lawn area and rake
it to remove or break up these cores.
Reseed and Topdress
pounds of fescue seed blend per thousand square feet of lawn area. Don’t skimp
on the cost of grass seed. Good grass seed is expensive. Bad grass seed is
cheap.
Fertilize or Not
This is also the time to apply a fertilizer on top of the grass seed if
the compost is not a “rich” compost. If the compost has fertilizer in it (a
rich compost), don’t apply any fertilizer. Cover the seed with a 1/8-inch layer
of compost and water twice a day. When the grass starts coming up in about five
to seven days, reduce irrigations to once a day in the morning.
Mow to Thicken the Lawn
see grass emerge first in areas where there is good irrigation coverage. Where
the grass is growing slowly, work on improving the irrigation system for better
water coverage. Mow the grass no closer than 2 inches when the grass reaches 3
inches tall. Mowing causes the lawn to become denser.
Can you recommend a good fescue grass seed? I did not have great success with the local nursery brand that was "made" for our desert climate that I used this Spring. Would even order online if product not available locally. Thank you.
The blend called Water Saver should work fine if you prepared the soil and planted it with the right amount of seed. Why dont you send me some pictures if you have them or explain what happened in an email to me at [email protected]
Just don't use Kentucky 31 aka K31 grass seed. It's very coarse in texture. It's great for a park but I consider it a highway grass… It looks good at 50 miles an hour.