Question
Hi, 18 months ago (March) we moved into a 50 year old house.  Our lot is almost 1 acre, and the yard was in pretty tough shape, so we fertilized, planted grass for shady lawns, rototilled here and there, etc.  The area we are unable to grow grass on is about a 16x24 chain-link fenced in area right out our back door.  Last spring, after my husband rototilled that area, he sodded it, so we would have an instant lawn, and our dogs wouldn't be dragging mud inside.  Every speck of sod died over the winter.  We would have thought it was a defect in the sod, but it grew and is still growing in a few areas out by our mailbox.

So we thought, Maybe the previous owner used Round-up and killed the grass inside the fence, so that is why the sod died.  This year, my husband tilled the area again and planted seeds.  It looked great until a week ago, and now it is dying.  We have noticed that a few really old lilac shrubs near the chain link fence are also dying.  The flowers we planted in this area grow for a little bit, but then die.  (none are thriving.) Except for a few ferns and a Virginia Creeper, our plants are going one by one.

Do you have any idea what is going on?  The grass on the other side of the fence looks great!
Thanks,
Cheryl Nagel
Plymouth, MN

Answer
I recall my grandfather saying "Never take down a fence before finding out why it was put up." I am wondering why the fence was erected. Glyphosate, the active ingredient in "Roundup" has no residual effect and can be ruled out. There are other chemicals which have extended residual effect. One such chemical is "Bromacil" and here is a quote about the product from "Extonet".

"When it is applied to the soil, bromacil destroys most annual plants in the treated area (10). Field dissipation studies have shown that phytotoxic residues of bromacil have persisted in both sand and clay soils for longer than 2 years following a single application of 2.6 lb bromacil/acre (32)."
It is significant that both sod and seeded grass grew for a while before they died out totally. It could be that when the roots dipped into something harmful the plants died.

I believe that the answer to your problem starts with a soil analysis of the fenced off area.