Did I plant too much grass seed?
Question:when I planted my grass this year it came up beautifully. now it is starting to fail. you can pull it out easily, the roots dont seem to be very deep. also, the blades of grass dont seem to be maturing, still very thin or frail. any suggestions?
on a side note, is there anything that can be done about pet urine killing my grass in spots other than getting rid of the pet?
Answers:
Overseeding is usually not a problem, but when did you do this. Also, how often and how much do you water your new lawn. And last, where do you live?
As to the pets and urine problem:
The simplest way to solve the problem is to treat the grass, not the dog. An effective and free treatment is water. All that you need to do is take a hose and give the affected spot a good watering. The extra water will dilute the nitrogen helping your grass to stay green. If the damage is severe from past urination, just dig up the grass, soak the spot with water, and then put down new grass or new seeds.
Next its time to train your dog to eliminate in the same area. Choose an already damaged spot on your lawn and let your dog always go on that same spot. Alternatively you can place a decent sized amount of loose dirt, grass, gravel or stone on a part of your lawn and train your dog to eliminate there. Lead your dog to that area, wait for it to urinate and PRAISE him/her with treats the first few times. If your dog seems like it only wants to go to where you don't want it to, say "NO!" and bring it to the right spot. Praise Praise Praise when they go in the right place. You WILL have to go out with your dog at the beginning to make sure they eliminate where you want them to. Seek the advice of a trainer if you are having problems and cannot deal with the situation yourself.
It is important to realize that grass burn stains CAN be due to other problems with the grass itself that has nothing to do with your dog.
Have you feed your grass with a fertilizer ( forgot to do that did you ) go to a garden centre and get an approved fertilizer use it and remeber to use it next year
well, when the grass first is planted, you need to water lightly at least once per day. Once it sprouts and is growing, then you cut it back to every other day. As it grows more, you want to water it more deeply (for a longer period of time) once a week. This will encourage deeper root growth. If you are watering lightly, the roots don't have to go very far to get water. What you do when you water more deeply and less frequently is force the roots to bury more deeply in search of water. It'll make for sturdier grass plants. Also, 6 weeks after planting, you will want to fertilize again (I assume you used a starter fertilizer when you planted initially). My front yard is 6 weeks old this weekend in fact, so I'm about ready to fertilize it too! As for the dog, I would move him/her to a spot without grass, or take it for walks to do its business.
More water will dilute the ammonia in the urine.
If the grass seed was very close together, there is no room for the roots. Gonna die. If not, water longer, but less often, so the roots start to go deeper. Sounds like it could need fertilizer, and possibly you did not loosen the soil deep enough.
If you can pull the grass out easily, this might be a sign of grubs. They're fat, white larvae-like bugs that curl in a C-shape. Grubs live off of the roots of plants and are *especially* fond of grass roots. The more they munch, the more your grass dies.
Dig around a bit in the dead areas to see if there are any. Fortunately they live w/in the first few inches of soil so you won't have to go deep. If you find them, use a 24-hr product like Bayer Advance 24-Hr Grub Control. Then in a few weeks use a season control grub product in your lawn, flower beds, etc. Anywhere you have soil, use it. Those little demons are cyclical and regular lawn maintenance is required to keep them from returning.
Good luck!
when you first put in a yard it needs to be watered and fertilized regularly. Try watering it and putting more fertilizer on it.
For now I would recommend having someone come to fertilize it for you because licensed applicators can get better fertilizer that we can't get in store. After you get your lawn where you need it to be you can just put Scotts on it yourself if you want to or just keep paying the people.
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