Question
Problem #1: The lawn (fescue) is a beautiful green but over the past week the tops of the blades have turned yellowish, but not from lack of water. One could almost say it's not yellow but a light (and bright) shade of the grass' natural color.

Problem #2: A low growing weed is slowly taking over parts of my yard. It's got a wood-like stem as opposed to the leafy variety of a dandelion, etc. It's low growing and easy to pull up, but spreads out killing the grass. It produces no flowers.

Here are the details:

I live in southern Louisiana and we've had moderate to heavy downpours on a fairly consistant basis since July 4th weekend. Prior to that we had been going through a drought; however, the lawn was in good shape with only two or three spots of concern.

I typically fertilize in the spring and fall. During the summer months I go with a liquid organic fertilizer ... store bought seaweed or my own mixture of ammonia, iron and liquid soap. This always works very well.

A few days after the heavy rains started I spread Scotts-brand fertilizer. This year I have actually had little time to spend on taking care of the yard and felt the fertilizer could help with some of my problem areas.

There is very little topsoil and what I do have is very compacted. I mow at three inches all of the time and, with the rain, do that every 4-5 days.

For weed control I use Ortho's Weed-b-Gone.

Thank you,

Chris

Answer
I am sorry for late reply.

1. Sounds like a lawn disease. Try to water infrequently and deeply and do not fertilize in summer months. Try to water in morning hours i/o evening hours. Keep it mowed. I doubt it is a big problem

2. I can not determine the type of weed from description, but handpulling sounds like best option especially if it is easy to pull. Try to go systematically about it. Clear one area first and then go by sections until all areas cleared. Before you start on the second area, re-clear the first area and before you start on the 3rd area, re-clear the first and second area, etc, etc. The re-clearing will be fast (faster than original clearing) but required to ensure that the areas cleared will stay clear. This method of clearing weeds has been proven and works.

Do not fertilize your lawn in summer months (forget the liquid soap, seaweed, ammonia, iron, etc). It is not that I disagree on the use of these products, but I doubt you need this much iron and the ammonia may not help you in the way you think. I recommend that you look into preformulated organic fertilizers (Ringer Lawnrestorer, Espoma, or Milorganite for example) if this is what you want. Still, only fertilize in spring and fall. not in summer. It is not good for the grass (even if it temporarily greens up the lawn)

Do not use Ortho's weed-b-gon or any other herbicide on lawns after daytime temperatures goes above 85F. It can be used in spring and fall.

Your mowing pattern sounds just right.

I recommend that you continue to fertilize in spring and fall. If you want to go organic, then do so, but try to buy pre-formulated organic fertilizers or consider manure, seaweed, etc (forget the iron and ammonia).

Water infrequent and deeply when you do water.

Continue to mow the lawn at 3" (that is good).

Do not use herbicides during hot temperatures.