Question
Hi Charlotte,

We moved into our lovely Colorado home 2 years ago. The previous experienced owners had the Kentucky Bluegrass perfect, and the lawn looked like a golf course.

Well that was then, now we have patches of bare dirt with crabgrass trying to take over our large lawn. Last summer Colorado suffered a big drought and we all had to cut back on watering our lawns, so at first we thought it was just from the dry season last year.

Well, as it turns out I think it was a combination of things, and I am very concerned about our lawn at this point.

We fertilized and treated it with Scotts Brand crabcrass and fertilizer mix, which afterwards the crab grass barely wilted then grew back THICKER.:(- CRAB GRASS is evil-:(. I went back again and sprayed it with "Weed Be Gone", the type you hook up to your hose. But the Weeds-be-stayed. This has been happening over the course of this entire spring, and it's starting to feel like a losing battle.:( I read on the back of the bottle that the crab grass stuff works best on "unestablished" crab grass. Well, I guess its safe to say that our crab grass is "established" so these treatments are having little effect. I have pulled it too- but there is alot of this crabgrass and our yard is very large.

That's the first problem. The second is that we were outside and discovered some bad little bugs, I looked up grass bugs on the internet since I didn't know what they were at first and found out they are Rocky Mountain Chinch bugs.  Also we have BTA bugs (adults), so I suppose we have the grubs too, which might explain the bare spots, with all the munching these pests are known to do to lawns. :(

The good news is that my flowers and shrubs I planted are doing great, so I have had some success in the yard this year. But the grass is sooooo frustrating!

My questions are this: Since I have put the Ortho insecticide on the grass (it says its for chinch bugs and grubs, and I bought some more Ortho crab grass stuff, (again, the hose kind). Can I put all these chemical treatments on the grass within days of each other? Also should I wait now to fertilize and will all this poison kill the Kentucky Bluegrass combined? I really would like to return this lawn to it's former glory, any suggestions for Kentucky Bluegrass in Colorado? What about organic solutions, the idea of using all these different chemicals makes me uncomfortable.

Sorry this post was lengthy, but I wanted to share the history of this lawn with you, I was reading that most lawn problems that are current actually began months before the lawn owner could see them, so I hope it helped you to help us come up with the right things to do to have a happy lawn again.

Ah! The joys of being a new home owner :)

Thanks for your help,

Jennifer in Colorado  

Answer
I would let it rest. too much care can sometimes be worse than none at all.
I think the drought was the problem. Bluegrass needs a lot of water.
I live in north Texas, and water shortages is something we had to learn to live with. The town I live in stopped trying to figure it out every year, and just adopted an ordinance that we go on limited watering every year in June.
From the first part of june until the first part of October(I think) we go on water rationing. You can only water with sprinklers from 6am to 8 am, and in the evening from 7pm to 9pm.
Or,,,, you can water at any time of day as long as you water by hand, or a soaker hose that does not spray up at all.
The even numbered side of the street waters on even numbered dates, and the odd numbered side waters on odd numbered dates.
Watering by hand, or with a soaker hose saves a LOT of
water! When sprinklers spray up into the air, on days when the temp is around 80 degrees, about 20 to 30 percent of the water evaporates before it hits the ground. when the heat gets up to 95 or 100, about half of it evaporates, so if you run 400 gallons, you will only put 200 gallons, or even less, on your lawn.
Your grass will still be thirsty, but your water meter will add the whole amount to your water bill.
Water deeply!!! Shallow watering encourages the roots to come to the surface to get water, and exposes them to heat and cold damage. Deep watering encourages deep root systems, and offers some protection to those extremes.
I water to a depth of at least 6 inches, and water again when the top 2 inches are dry.
If you have to go a couple more days without water, your roots will still have enough to stay alive.
I water with soaker hoses, till it begins to run off(ionto the sidewalks etc), turn it off, and let it set for an hour or so, and turn it on again. I do this until I have soaked to about 6 inches down. Water bills are high enough. I want ALL the water I pay rot to go into my soil, not down the gutter into the sewer.

I went about 80% organic about 10 years ago.I have a much better looking lawn and garden, do much less work, and spend aLOT less at the nursery.
I fertilize every 4 or 5 years, only when my grass starts to turn yellowish, and needs iron.
I haven't pulled a weed in about 6 to 8 years. They don't thrive in my yard.
ALL crabgrass killers will harm your grass, or just completely kill it.
Every spring and again in the fall, I put sugar on my lawn.
The article I read advised dry molasses, but none of the nurseries here carried it then. It said you could use sugar, if you couldn't find dry molasses. so I used plain old table sugar. The neighbor next door had a weed farm, and he seeded my yard every year, with crabgrass, johnson grass, chickweed, dandelions etc.I don't use weed killers, because it is poisonous to animals, and it casn make children that play on the lawn, very ill, so i pulled weeds, got on my hands and knees, and cut grabgrass and johnson grass and dandelions out with an asparagus cutter. Spent my whole growing season that way.
The first year I put down the sugar, my back would not allow me to get doen and cut weeds. About 2 weeks after the treatment, half the weeds were gone. I put down more sugar, and in a couple more weeks, no weeds. For the first couple of years, they would come up, but would not trive, and after a couple of mowings, no weeds.
Now they don't even come up. Weeds like poor soil. they don't thrive in rich soil.
Fertilizer kills beneficial microbes that enrich the soil. The dry molasses, or sugar, keeps them alive. In a couple of years, the soil is rich enough not to allow the weeds to come up.
My grass grens up earlier in the spring, and stays green a few weeks longer in the fall, that the rest of the lawns in the area, except for the ones that are using the organic methods. We have very mild winters here, and most Christmases, my lawn is still partly green, while all the others are brown.
If I were you, I would get some dry molasses, or just get sugar, and put it on your lawn, water it in well, and mow. Let the soil rest from all the weed killers and fertilizers. When you do start to fertilize again, if you do, put down the fertilizer, put down the sugar and water it all in together. the sugar will keep the microbes alive, and you will maximize your fertilizing.
I don't put down insecticides. I let the grass snakes, toads and lizards keep my lawn rid of insects. They do a better job of it than the insecticides ever did. We have grubs here (Japanese beetle larvae) and apparently my lil critters do a good job. I seldom see a grub when I am digging, and the june bugs down't swarn when those grubs mature.
I grow roses, and aphids drove me crazy!!!! I would spray my roses with insecticide once a month, and still see aphid damage. I haven't seen aphid damage in so long!! I spray when new growth starts in the spring, with baking soda, disolved in water, and the black spot no longer is a bother. I had to spray with fungicide 3 or 4 times to keep it down,before.We have a lot of humidity here, and until the weather gets up into the 80s, the black spot is rampant. No more, for me.
I don't let anyone put anything down that will harm my little garden critters, and they keep all the bad stuff away.
I use natural repellants for everything, even insects in the house. Also for fire ants in the yard. Orange oil is the main ingredient in fire ant killers. Chopped orange peels keep them away better.
People say if you live in Texas. you HAVE to get used to roaches in the house, and have to just spray and hope. I don't!!!!
I put a fresh sprig of Rosemary on each cabinet shelf, under the fridge, washer and dryer etc, wherever roaches will live, and where any pipes come into the house, like the sinks etc, I stick a little sprig of rosemary in beside the pipe.
There are millions of roaches, tunelling through my lawn, aerating it, but you never see one in my house. They are great aerators in the lawn.
I grow a pot of lavender by each door, to keep houseflies out.It is a lovely plant to grow on your doorstep or porch, and you can leave my doors open, and no flies will come in.
Since I went organic my Astha is about 90% better.If I just walk by the fertilizers in a closed in store, my Bronchial tubes will close up, and I can't breathe.
I don't have to worry about my grandchildren or my animals being harmed by something poisonous on my lawn.My lawn and garden are more lush, and I can spend more time enjoying it, rather than working on it.
I put cedar bark mulch on my lawn, just lightly strewn around, not a heavy layer of it, to keep termites awat. It works!!!!! It also composts and adds nourishment to my lawn.
I grow the herbs I cook with. They make food taste much better that dried herbs do, and many of them work better than pesticides to keep your life free of pasky insects.
I tried every product on the market to keep cats out of my flower beds. I don't like to dig up the surprises they leave in my flower beds. chopped up lemon peels keeps them away.
For every bothersome thing like that, there is a natural, non-poisonous remedy.
Put down sugar at the rate of about 1 pound per 150 to 200 sq.ft. If you use dry molasses, the directions for how much to use, should be on the bag, I would think. I used it once, and I think the sugar works as well, and the smaller bags of sugar are easier to handle than the 40 lb bag of dry molasses.
I hoped I helped you some.If you have any more questions you feel I can help with, lease feel free to write me any time.

P.S. If you try the sugar, and it helps in a few weeks, please let me kow.
Charlotte