Question
Our lawn has yet to turn green, it's May, and we have the brownest lawn in the neighbourhood.  I tried to take such good care of it last year, watering, fertilizing, there is a patch next to our garage that I haven't raked, watered, and it's greener than our lawn.  What do I do????

Answer
Hi Martina;
You may have watered too little, but too often.
Shallow watering makes the roots come close to the surface to get water, and when they are exposed to the air, they die, and trap other debris, and form a waterproof pad that will not let water through, so the grass and other plants there die.
Chances are, the area that is green absorbed more water, and the roots could have been deeper, so they didn't come to the surface.
Raking were the roots are close to the surface could exose them to the air so they would die easier.
Deep watering established a deep root system, so the grass is more protected from heat, cold and drought damage.
Also, it is possible you over fertilized, and burned it.
That is one of the problems with using chemicals, a little too much can kill everything.
With an organic program, if you put too much, it doesn't do any harm.
If yopu have put chemicals on the lawn this spring, you would need to get all that out before you switch to an organic program, or you will not see very much results.
Chemicals kill all the micro-organisms that work round the clock, enriching and improving the soil.
The organics mostly feed those rgamisms.
If my soil starts looking a little paler etc, I put down sugar.
The sugar does NOTHING but nourish the micro-organisms. They get fed well and multiply faster, so more of them are working, so my grass perks up right away, in a matter of a week or so.
What you could do right now, if there are still chemicals in your soil ( if you put fertilizer with a pre-emergent in it last fall sugar would not do anything to your yard except waste some sugar.)you could apply alfalfa meal and lava sand. Those will put a lot of nutrients into your soil, so if there is live grass roots, that might help bring it around.
Pull up some of the brown grass. If it comes up with little or no roots attached, you could have brown patch fungus.
You would need to kill that out. Horticultural Corn meal is a very good fungicide.
Apply at the rate of 10 to 15 pounds per 1000 sq.ft. water it in.
You could apply lava sand and alfalfa meal at the same time, and water it all in together, but water deeper, to a depth of at least 6 inches.
Water till it starts to run off the yard, and turn off the water for an hour or so, to let it soak in, and then repeat until you have it soaked in deep enough.
If there is live grass roots, I would think you would see results in a week or two.
If it is dead, you will just have to lay in some sod, or re-seed.
If you would like a copy of the organic program I have followed for the last 10 years, write me, and ?I wil be glad to send you a copy.
Charlotte