Question
I live in Maryland. Last summer my lawn was a complete mess, no grass, mostly weeds(it was embarrasing). Someone told me that I should aerate, seed and put down a thin layer of orgrow to help my soil and get some grass. I did just that, cost me a good amount of money to rent the aeration machine, buy the orgrow and 2 bags of Rebel seed. Maryland had a semi-mild winter, very little snow and normal cold.

My grass started to come up real nicely in early Spring and was looking like it was going to be the envy of the block. I was so excited that all my hard work had payed off. I put down Scotts weed control with fertilizer turf builder in mid March. The grass took on a deep green beautiful color, I was so happy, it was looking so healthy.  

Here comes the turn of events. About 2 weeks ago I noticed that the grass was not as green as before, at first I thought it was just the fertilizer effects that had gone away but then I really worried because now it's looking like a more serious problem. The grass has not entirely turned brown, it still looks semi-green but there are some spots that are light brown. I'm really worried and disappointed that I will not be able to save my grass, after all the money I spent and time too.

I did not know that I needed to do a soil test until reading another thread on this website. I recently did a soil test and it was a 5 on the Ph scale. I am watering my lawn the normal amount and have never put down lime because I'm afraid I will burn it. When I examine my grass I see that the roots are weak and I can just pull them up and the brown grass pops up. Ther is good green grass intertwined with the brown grass. This is so disappointing I don't even know what to do. What can get my grass to perk up and not completely die? I know it's not a lack of water because half of my neighbors don't water their lawns and their lawns are looking great! Any advice? Would any organic products work? Your help/feedback is greatly appreciated!!! Help  me save my lawn....thanks!

Answer
For the benefit of the rest of the class, first let's define 'ORGRO Biosolids Compost' - locally sold composted biosolids treated with lime and sold in certain parts of the country.  You can read about the announcement when Baltimore, Maryland officials delivered 90 truckloads of ORGRO to the White House.

And now for our story.

And Holy Mackerel, what a story it is.

I have to get the Scotts kneejerk reaction out of my system first, Claudia.  I blame everything on Scotts; when I see that S C O T T S, I stop, roll my eyes, cover my head, sometimes I get up from the computer and walk around.  I see them in the store, right next to the REAL fertilizer, the REAL weedkiller.  What can I say?  They have a great advertising program, they spend a lot of money, and it works.  If they had to rely on word of mouth, they'd be out of business.  But they don't.  They have tons of money and they spend it very effectively on their made-for-TV movies, props, actors, dogs, rented houses...  

So I must say Shame on you for putting down Scotts Weed Control and Fertilizer.  It's bad for your soil, so it's bad for your grass.  Simple rule:  NEVER use ANYTHING with a Skull and Bones on it.  They taught you this in Kindergarten.  It still applies today.  Do NOT try that at home!

The ORGRO -- Good idea!  Bravo!

Now I have to ask a question:  What test did you get to find out the pH was 5?  Not all tests are accurate.  Sometimes the soil sample is imperfect.  Soil tests are scientific measures that require precision.  From sample collection to test tube to results.  Don't count on a do-it-yourself kit to do this.  That's fine for lots of things.  Not this.

If your local Coop Ext Service came up with this pH, what else did they tell you?  Here's the link to your Maryland Cooperative Extension -- they do soil testing and they'll give you a very good one: http://extension.umd.edu/  If your Grass died because of something in your soil, it will not have died in vain.  That's always something of a comfort.  You don't want to do this again more than once.  Clearly you are someone who was not kidding when you referred to 'all my hard work'.  Nobody lazy ever gets excited over their hard work.  They get excited just to get it over with.

Back to your Grass.

Patches of brown in a lawn can be several things.  In early spring, it can be Fungus.  With a soil pH of '5' -- which is way too acidic for most Grass -- lots of Fungi would be only too happy to move in and set up camp.  Cool weather, moisture, spring, perfect soil, Grass left unprotected from predators by your Scotts Weed Control (it wipes out the biomass and all natural resistance to pathogenic Fungi is eliminated overnight), your Grass (whatever Grass you were growing but I'll bet it was the world's favorite, Kentucky Bluegrass, not cheap) was a sitting target.

Ever notice how people who do nothing to their lawns never get Fungus problems?

There's a reason for that.

There are hundreds of Fungi living in your soil.  All the time.  Just like there are hundreds of Mold spores living in your house, floating in the air, all the time, and you don't get Mold and Fungus growth all over the sofa, the beds, the rugs, and the kitchen.  You don't do anything special to keep that from happening.  It just happens by itself.

Until you leave a wet towel on the floor of the bathroom.

And suddenly that wet towel smells like Mildew.  Mold is growing.

You don't run around the house spraying for Mildew, right?  People without Fungus on their lawn don't run around spraying for Fungus.  They just don't leave those wet towels on the bathroom floor.  They keep their grass dry.  They make sure if it's cool, the grass is not being watered and watered and watered by someone with a hose watering 'the normal amount' or, worst of all, the automatic sprinkler, in the dark, at night, where it sits cool and damp, just asking to be hit by Brown Patch or Red Thread or Mildew.  Yuck!

Maybe you have it.  If you don't, and you keep using Scotts, you will.  Because pesticides 'purify' your soil until nothing is left alive.  The Earthworms have a 100 PERCENT KILL RATE after these things are used.  Luckily, Earthworms multiply like Rabbits.  But it would be better for the Grass (and all the neighborhood pets and children) if there were no chemicals in the soil.  Scotts, Ortho, Bayer Pesticides and Herbicides eliminate ALL Flora and Fauna.  When the bad ones return, like Billy The Kid, there's no Sheriff there to stop them.  They can rob every bank, mug every pedestrian, burn every building.

So it's a good thing you came along, Claudia.  Because you can stop these bad guys.

Here's what you can do.

Get a real soil test.  IF you don't have one.  And if you DO, please send me a followup -- or better, since this is quite long and that tends to drive allExperts crazy, another question so we can discuss this better.  Tell me the results of your soil test.  There can be a lot of reasons for a 5 on a test.

Next, assuming you have very acidic soil, you have to begin to raise the pH.

That takes time.

Be patient and do this properly.  I know I don't have to tell YOU that, but someone else with this problem will be thinking, Ha! I don't have time to wait, I'll rush this.  And they mix their Nitrogen fertilizer and their Lime and the next thing they know the lawn is brown and crispy.  Don't go there.  Do this right.

Get yourself some Pelletized Lime.  This could change depending on your soil test but it would be good to get this ball rolling asap.  Lime CANNOT be rushed.  Pelletized Lime will not burn your Grass and it will gently adjust the pH up.  Right now, if the test was accurate, that soil is not Grass-friendly.

Next, watch that Lawn carefully.  Watch the distribution of the Brown spots.  Are they round or oval?  Or irregular patches?  How big -- in inches? One inch?  Several feet?  Variable?  Are they getting worse?  Better?

Do you see any patterns when you look at the Lawn caused by this disease?  Look up close at the grass -- is it dieing from the tip down?  Along the edge?  Reddish?  Yellow?  Brown?  Black?

What color are the dead Grass blades?

Do you get a lot of rain, or was it dry during the weeks before you noticed your lawn go downhill?

This will tell you if you were attacked by Pink Snow Mold or another cool weather Fungus.

Finally, when you pulled up the Grass upon examination did you notice any wiggly little gray grubs under there?  I call them Birdfood.  DO NOT BUY GRUBKILLER.  The Birds will take care of your entire Grub problem FOR FREE, just as long as you don't ruin their dining room with Scotts.

Claudia, there is NO SUCH THING AS A GREEN THUMB.

Every Gardener I know has killed HUNDREDS of BEAUTIFUL PLANTS.

It's how we learn!

Experience.  Just like we learned to walk, we learn to garden.  Just like that, we learn how to grow our lawns.  When grass dies, we overseed... after we learned what went wrong, and how to fix it.

In the end, REAL gardeners -- Intelligent Gardeners -- are the best gardeners of all.  Because we have learned from our mistakes.  That's the best education money can buy, our own mistakes.

Don't worry about this.  It's part of your life experience.  Next year, your own neighbors will be wondering how you grow such beautiful Grass.  I guarantee it.

R.S.V.P.