QuestionQUESTION: I live in Winnipeg, Canada and my Kentucky Blue Grass lawn is now going into its 4th summer. Unfortunately every year it seems to be getting worse and worse, thinner and thinner. Here are some pictures from last summer:
http://i19.tinypic.com/6bt3aqq.jpg
http://i19.tinypic.com/4xxyxph.jpg
http://i19.tinypic.com/6bdr9xs.jpg
http://i15.tinypic.com/5z1hz11.jpg
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My spring usually starts with a lot of snow mould. Then as we get into summer I seem to get a lot of flattening of the grass that looks darker and uneven. This spring is no different... I have recently power-raked and am now devastated by how think my lawn looks.
I had a local plant pathology lab review a piece of grass and it had a lot of types of fungus. Here is a copy of the report.
http://i18.tinypic.com/52eo1v5.jpg
http://i11.tinypic.com/4loqe5v.jpg
They found fusarium and anthracnose in the lawn. I've followed pretty much all of their suggestions and am not seeing any improvement -- evening watering, cutting back on high nitrogen fertilizer, core aerating, power raking the thatch, etc. Here is a link to a soil analysis that I also did... I seem to have the answers to my lawn problem but no solutions!
http://i12.tinypic.com/63t2334.jpg
My hypothesis: when the landscaper brought in the soil he brought in a soil - clay mix. He bulldozed it and then rolled it really tight. I think I have some major compaction issues here that are fostering the fungus. I even tried to aerate it myself last year but had difficulty getting penetration beyond the mineral base layer the sod came with and into the actual soil. I ended up calling an expert to do the core aeration.
Not sure what else I can do but I just can't go through another summer of a dying lawn! :( I am going to try to overseed this summer and if that fails not sure what else to do. If worst comes to worst would you recommend getting a bobcat in here, excavating, and re-do the entire lawn with a more appropriate soil? Any other suggestions?
ANSWER: I am sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you on this - I am terribly backed up with answers here and I want to give you at least some basic guidance to get started.
First, I am not able to pull up your photos on the computer I am using right now. If you think they contain any details you have not included that would be critical, do let me know what they are.
It can get discouraging when a Plant Pathology Lab has you aerating and power raking, although I did not see your Photos so perhaps they had a reason for that. As a rule, the less you mess with your Soil, the more rest you give the organisms in it that are able to overcome pathogens that have unfortunately found your Lawn so user friendly. I would like very much to know what the Soil Analysis you reference says. I'd actually like to know what all those jpg files you posted say. Hopefully we will get to that at some point.
Your guess about the landscaper's Soil is more forgiving than I usually am. 'Topsoil' is an unregulated product that could be, as I've said before, anything the cat dragged in. People swear up and down they have paid for first rate high quality blue ribbon Topsoil. But at the end of the day it is only leftover dirt, sometimes if you're lucky you get a little Humus, it's probably filled with Weed seeds.
I would not however blame your landscaper for any Fungus problems. Here's why. And if this sounds redundant, it is because I have said some of these things over and over.
Anthracnose ('Colletotrichum graminicola' to botanists) hits Bentgrass and Fine Fescues; Fusarium ('F. poae,' 'F.culmorum,' 'F. crookwellenese') hits all popular Cool Season Lawn Grasses. Both attack in mid-Summer months of July and August. Fusarium Patch/Pink Snow Mold ('Microdochium nlvale') attacks Bluegrass, Bentgrass, Fescue and Rye.
Sounds dreadful. It's not.
Let me tell you why this is NO BIG DEAL. And then once you understand that, you'll see how everything you were told was in fact counter-productive.
Microbes are everywhere. There's Fungus amongus ALL the time.
If you come home from the grocery store and put a loaf of bread in the refrigerator, and forget about it, what happens?
The bread gets moldy.
Does this happen because the bread was not treated with Fungicides before you put it away? Of course not. It happened because the bread was ALREADY COVERED with spores when you put it in there. Molds are a complex group of Fungi. We breathe them, we eat them, we live with them. Bread mold only becomes a problem when the bread is moist, in dark and humid conditions, undisturbed for several days. Because Molds are strictly aerobic, mold does not grow when air is withheld under a film of plastic.
Let's walk over to the bathroom. Any towels on the floor? If you have a teenager in the house, and trust me, all children become teenagers, there will be many towels there for several years. And you will have lots of experience with Mildew. No teenagers, no Mildew.
Why?
Because Mildew needs darkness, and moisture. Withhold one of these and you have no Mildew. You do not have to spray your Towels with Fungicide to stop the Mildew. You just have to yell at the teenagers.
Let's go into the living room. Look around. Any Fungus?
No.
Because Teenagers do not congregate with wet dark towels in the living room, and they do not leave wet bread in there, and so we have no Fungus or Mold or Mildew problem there. It never crosses anyone's mind to spray for it. You know how not to get it.
But once you step outside into the yard, everything changes. Because somehow, plant pathologists and greensmen and experts scramble for Fungicide to spray on Roses, Grass, Lilacs and Phlox, anything with a Fungus. When all you have to do is withhold ONE of the CRITICAL CONDITIONS they need to thrive.
No one gets Fungus problems in the desert. And we know it is not because someone sprays for that all the time.
Fungus is not all that's present in Soil all the time.
HEALTHY Soil, that is. HEALTHY Soil has Protozoa, Bacteria, microbes and macrobes in it, all the time. And MOST of them are friendly! That bread mold we talked about -- usually a species of Penicillium. It doesn't get much friendlier than Pennicillium. The large majority in fact are not pathogenic. They are however critical to control of pathogens. Some are outright hostile to pathogens. If you wipe them out, you're on your own.
So the key is not 'purifying' your Grass, wiping out the entire food chain. The key is to CULTURE friendly microbes. Harness the forces of Good and Evil. Let your microbes go!
Your first step to that end is to stop destroying them. Be nice to your microbes and macrobes Leave the poor Soil alone. The fact that you have Anthranose and Fusarium is no big deal. These should be down there. You just need to leave their natural enemies alone. Let them fight it out. The forces of Good will prevail.
Your landscaper may have rolled your Soil -- compacting it. Bad move. But not that bad. The Forces of Good can aerate it all by themselves -- but ONLY if you leave them alone.
Every now and then I quote a paragraph from the Winter Damage To Home Lawns essay at the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension: 'During the wet, cold weather of early Spring, Snow Mold may be highly visible as matted, crusty looking areas. As conditions dry out, Snow Mold will gradually disappear but infected areas may remain in the form of weak or even dead turf.'
Sound familiar? Look familiar? What are the similarities and differences? What do you see out there and how do those jpg photos you have posted compare to this description?
The Connecticut Agricultural Experimental Station tells homeowners about Fusarium: 'The effects of [Fusarium] can be minimized by raking the affected patches to remove plant debris and to stimulate new growth in the Spring. Over-seeding is also helpful. No other control measures are usually necessary.'
They say Anthracnose is 'commonly found after periods of extended wet weather and can occur under a variety of temperatures. Symptoms vary from small Red to Purple spots on leaf blades to tip blights and to total plant collapse, depending upon the particular Fungus involved. Large, weakened patches of turf may result. These diseases are so common that they probably occur in every home Lawn although they usually don't result in substantial damage unless the Lawn is weak from low fertility or from other stresses.' They say that 'steps to maximize vigor are helpful...'
Their website:
www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2815&q=377780&pp=12&n=1
See? No big deal.
I can understand why you would want to aerate compacted Soil, with or without a Clay complication. (By the way, remember that Clay is a terrific starting point for world class soil; it brings to the table the ultimate Cation Exchange Capacity data.)
But who needs to aerate when Earthworms and Ants are fully capable of doing ALL the aerating your Lawn needs for you!
Otherwise, you may end up upsetting the Earthworms and you could wreck the soil structure and compact the Soil with all the equipment. Better to keep the Earthworms happy. You can do that with amendments like Manure and Humus, which inject a healthy bacterial population into your Soil. Concentrated Fertilizers are MADE of Salts, by definition they will sting and scorch not only your Grass but your microbes. Ignore the Superbowl commercials. Stick with Science.
I could go on, but it's getting late, and I have miles to go before I sleep. I am glad I got started here and I'll send it off to you for a little Tuesday reading. Please rate me if you would not mind on my initial answer here; if you would like to followup with a question or two we can continue this discussion. No need, absolutely NONE, to deal with any Lawn problems this Summer.
Oh... 1 more thing... Cover Crops should be sowed this Summer IF you have a compaction problem. Did it confirm that in any of your many and varied reports that I cannot access? Grow those. They will work with Earthworms and Ants to begin correcting the Soil, if needed. Not the last point I want to make, I have more to say on this...
L.I.G.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi again LIG. I just wanted to thank-you for taking the time to respond to my question. You answer was very reassuring and I feel better as to the condition of my soil.
Regarding the photo's if you cut a paste them into a new browser window they should open. All they will do is link to a photo-sharing site where I've posted some visuals. The scan are good becuase they show some of the problems... and I've scanned some of the soil and pathology reports.
Finally, since you asked specifically regarding the soil analysis this is generally what was stated:
pH: 7.9 (borderline alkaline)
EC (dS/m): 0.91 (good)
N (nitrate)lbs/acre: 10
P lbs/acre: 159
K lbs/acre: 773
S (sulfate) lbs/acre: 138
Thanks again!
Cheers,
Dan
AnswerThanks for sending the additional information. I am unfortunately not using my own computer this week, and although I may be able to access your photos at home, I don't expect to be in front of the p.c. at all for several days, so if you have any more details you want to share I am all ears... today. Next week, I'll re-visit this problem.
I am wondering meantime whether there was any data on more of the usual Soil Test work -- Cation Exchange Capacity ("CEC"), for instance? Perhaps this is on the jgp posts? Nothing on the tilth, no description of the soil? When you took these samples and aerated and tilled did you happen to observe a lot of Earthworms -- or none?
Some of your readings are very high. I see one of the things you mention is that they advised you to water 'in the evening' -- did I read that correctly? This is like telling someone to put the towel on the bathroom floor, turn out the light, and see what you have on the towel the next day. Perhaps they said NOT to water your lawn in the evening?
I see nothing about organic matter content -- this should be part of the test. If you have a thatch problem, it is because microbes are not breaking down the thatch, so it accumulates. No microbes = thatch buildup. A problem.
For the short term, the most important thing you can do is to revive the Earthworms population. Healthy soil has a lot of these. They are the most important generator of humic acids on the planet, as a species, and they cannot cope well with fertilizer or chemical applications. Reason being, fertilizers are extremely salty. They sting, and sometimes they kill. So whatever you do, check first with the Earthworms. If it doesn't work for them, it doesn't work for you.
Next, stop watering at night. Only water your Lawn in the morning. Give it time to dry out. Never walk on wet grass, whether you've watered it or it's been rained on; this compacts soil. You need that like a hole in the head.
Easy so far, right? All you have to do is stop what you're doing. Less is more.
Now, find a supplier of organic Compost and Humus. Don't use any more manure -- your P levels are too high. Manure is terrific, but not if you have too much P. Find some Compost and Humus. Put this all over your lawn, just like it was fertilizer, in a thing layer so that you don't spook the Grass. And just leave it there. These things will be rained on and the Earthworms will slowly return.
Meantime, start a Compost pile. Don't put twigs or branches in it; keep it mainly leaves, grass clippings and dinner/salad scraps -- eggshells, carrot peelings, orange rinds, coffee grounds and coffee, old expired juice containers (without the preservatives). No oils, no dairy, no breads, or meats or chickens or fishes. Mix them every few days, toss a few handfuls of soil on the pile to innoculate it, then turn again, and in a few months you should have some rich, delicious compost to use.
If you have red clay or any other surprises down there please let me know. I'll try to get the home p.c. on this weekend to figure out what else is here to work with.
Just want to make a statement here, if I may.
There is a lot of science in this country that studies things like microbiology in the soil, and chemistry of clay and nutrients, and plant metabolism etc. And they are finding out new things all the time. You only hear about the funny ones on the news. But you won't read about the others, even though there are thousands of them, because they don't advertise, or they would antagonize advertisers. It is true that a lot of granola-heads are into things like being vegetarians AND eating only organic food AND working with crystals AND astrology AND marijuana... Does that make all vegetarians flaky? Does that mean all organic food producers and their customers have a loose screw?
If you have any doubts about the science behind organic farming, read the abstracts of research conducted at labs all over the country. Any one of those research scientists could talk circles around a spokesman for the Miracle-Gro company. In a few years, it will be flaky NOT to be growing everything this way.
Just thought you should know that. You and everyone else.
Now, I will get back to work, and maybe this weekend I will get lucky with the home computer and continue our chat. Best regards,
L.I.G.
1. Halt all chemical fertilizers and weedkillers.
