Question
Hello from Japan.  I am an American living here in Japan and I am trying to growing a good lawn in my yard.  I had fairly hard rocky clay soil in my yard so I dug it up and we raked and raked most of the rock out and then added 4-5 inches of sand, organic matter and manure.  Then tilled it all up.  I planted Endeaver Tall Fescue and Pizzaz Perrenial grass seed with a fifty fifty mix.  The grass came up and it was beautiful.  It was growing and was fairly thick.  Then the weather got a little hotter and more humid.  The weather in my area near Kobe Japan is probably similar to the south Tennesse or Georgia(lived there in the past).  My grass started to brown up and die.  I did some research and it was probably brown patch. The Pizzaz perrenial grass seemed to be affected a lot more than the Fescue.  It was forming circular rings and some "brown spots".  I did something that probably made it worse by spraying it with fungicide.  The fungus probably orginated from heavy rains and late afternoon and evening waterings(I know I know).  I seeded the lawn a bit in the early fall and some of it came back but not like it was before.  Now I am getting ready for the new lawn season and wondering about what I can do to prevent last years problems.  

I am also planning to add to my lawn(big yard) and was wondering if I should just use the same seed or change some.  I am thinking of staying with the Fescue but maybe trying a different perrenial grass(Affinity) as it says it is more brown patch resistant.  

What should I do?  Any advice?  Thanks!!

Answer
First, the details.  You're trying to grow 'Endeavor' Tall Fescue and 'Pizzazz' Perennial Ryegrass, 50/50.  That would give you a speedy Lawn with heat and drought tolerance.  Pizzazz by the way is one of the top rated Brown Patch survivors in the 2006 NTEP tests, which you can review at your leisure:

http://www.ntep.org/contents2.shtml

I also encourage you to read their report on Endophytes in Perennial Rye.  They post photos of Turf 'With' and 'Without' Endophytes to explain how essential these beneficial microbes are to Turgrass health.

Back to you in Kobe.  Perhaps there is a bit of Shade, but you didn't mention that and given how careful you are with your description, I'll bet the whole Lawn is good and Sunny.  Please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

I want to assume this Manure was aged.  Please tell me yes, it was aged.  If not, we have to talk about that.

My first question as usual: Did you get your Soil tested?

Sounds like you did first rate prep work on your rocky Clay.  But you did not get a Soil test.  What's the pH of that growing medium?  What kind of minerals and vitamins do you have there?  What does it NEED, my friend?  Nothing?  How do you know?

This is really critical, my friend.  I mean, REALLY critical.  You know that old Law of the Minimum Nutrient?  The chain that is only as strong as its weakest link?  The Grass that is only as Green as the least available nutrient?  What's the weakest link in your Soil?  Steve, you have NO IDEA.

OK, maybe you got it tested.  We'll move on.

Actually, we can't move on.

Because all those symptoms could be a lot of possibilities.  Brown Patch?  Definite possibility.  Brown Patch aka Rhizoctonia Blight.  And you know why.  For the benefit of the rest of the planet that will be reading this, and believe me they read this because I get a lot of 'questions' from people who don't even have questions but live in another hemisphere, Fungus needs 3 things to grow: Moisture.  Darkness.  Temperature.  Given it all those things, and you have a beautiful Fungus bloom.

But let's also acknowledge that there are beneficial Fungi in the Soil that we WANT very much to have.  Fungicides get rid of ALL the Fungi.  But not their spores.  Wipe out the good Fungi and you wipe out all the competition.

Steve knows this.

Brown Patch attacks Lawns when they are stressed -- in blazing, baking heat, when your Cool Season Grass is down for the count.  Chemical N Fertilizers favor Fungus by over-boosting foliage cells, stretching them, promoting excessive growth that is weak and vulnerable.  Infected blades of Rye wither and keel over; damaged areas are deep Green, becoming Straw-colored as tissue dies and dries out.  Tall Fescue damage is Olive-Green, developing streaks of Tan and Brown.  There goes the neighborhood.

But we can't be sure this is even a Fungus.  Right?

Because LOTS of things look like Brown Patch.

Chemicals injure Turfgrasses all the time.  You could have damage caused by the Lawnmower.  Or by local Shih-Tzus and Shar-Peis.  It could be insects (I will hold off on the Japanese Beetle jokes here as this is no laughing matter really).  There could be drainage trouble in that part of your Lawn.  Or as I said earlier, there could be a pH problem, or a nutrient deficiency, or even an overdose.

Also consider this: Brown Patch may love the heat that shakes up your Grass, but the shakeup is less likely to happen if days are below 85 degrees F and nights are in the 50's or cooler.  Because at those temps, Rye and Fescue are pretty OK.  How's your weather in Kobe?

So, now, let's decide what you can do now.

Steve, I know that tomorrow morning you are going to find a good place to get your Soil tested.  I can't unfortunately tell you where because I do not have friends yet in Kobe, Japan.  I know some lawyers in Tokyo, but that's not going to help us now.  Elaine Ingham is planning to launch her elite Soil Foodweb Inc testing lab somewhere in Japan, but there's no facility there yet ('Everywhere on Earth, life on land depends on soil microbes and the services they provide. We measure the life in your Soil').  So you will have to find one, which I know you can and will do.

As for overseeding, Grass grows best no matter where you are when you plant it in Fall.  Spring can build a decent Lawn.  If your weather is Georgia-esque, I would consider a Warm Season Grass, and determine whether St Augustine or Bermudagrass would work better based on your annual lows there.  If you are satisfied with the Fescue/Rye when it's healthy, then stick with the same stuff.  You don't want to put Rye/Fescue in the front and Bermuda in the back, however.  The Fungus resistance to me is a nonfactor; stop watering at night, stop using chemical fertilizer treatments, and you will lose the Brown Patch -- which you may not have anyway.

Your response invited.  Thanks for writing, I enjoyed your little story.