Question
I live in Oceanside CA about 7 miles from the ocean in Sunset Zone 23.  I just installed sod 10 days ago. It is the Jaguar Tall Fescue from Home Depot. Since then the temperatures have ranged from 65 to 80 with most days at 70. Knowing that tall fescues do better in shaded areas than many other grasses I felt this was my best choice.  Nowhere in my research did I discover that grass does not bode well under Pine trees and Calif. Peppers.  The literature from the sod co. stated that these trees can kill grass along the drip line.  Guess which two I have in my backyard!  Prior to the sod I trimmed the trees heavily to go from dense shade to partial, dappled shade.  One side of the lawn gets morning sun until 10am and the other side gets late afternoon sun(2-5pm).  Between those times there may be 1.5 hrs of dappled shade.  I have noticed that several areas are beginning to brown. My first thought was that I was watering too much - 3x per day for 10-15 min - because it was getting a little soggy.  5 days ago I backed off on the water.  I am now watering 1-2x per day. The lawn stays damp but the browning continues.  From a distance it looks healthy but a close view shows browning that looks like thatch.  I do see new blades poking through which I hope is promising.  I have not mowed yet and am afraid that if I mow too soon it may harm the young blades.  The mature blades are approx 3.5 inches tall.  They do bounce back when walked upon.  My wife is having a gathering of 30 people in three weeks.  My lawn will be taken over by tables, chairs and scampering children.  What can I do to ensure that my lawn will be healthy for years to come?  

Answer
Hi Todd,

>>"...bode well...beginning to brown...?"

Only Use plants and grasses rated for your climate-zone.
  HORT ZONES from ZIP CODES:
  http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html


Without a visible inspection and/or image or specimen/sample to examine, realize the       limitations here in diagnosing any specifics about your lawn's appearance decline.
 Thank you for the useful data you have provided so far.

Like most living things, turf-grasses can be infected by bacterial, fungal and viral pathogens and parasites. Bugs and other animal pests can also cause problems.  As far as grasses are concerned, by far the most common pathogens are the FUNGI.  A closer look at the grass foliage will often show signs of a fungus.

If your lawn is in the seedling stages of development, and you can verify that a fungus has taken over to any extent, I recommend you destroy the vegetation and start over.  Wait a while before re-starting any seed.

Visit this website and link to "Lawns" for IMAGES of many turf grass diseases and their diagnosis:

http://plantpathology.tamu.edu/Texlab/index.htm

BROWN-PATCH DISEASE Website: http://plantpath.unl.edu/peartree/homer/disease.skp/Hort/Turf/Tubrnpt.html
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Other problems with lawn grasses may not be so much due to pathogens, but may involve soil or sun problems and an associated physiological syndrome.

All grasses like lots of sun-light.  Several cultivars of TALL FESCUE are now about the best there can be that for the shady parts of a lawn.

One to three inches or more of water per week is usually enough for ESTABLISHED Fescues.
Seedlings have to be kept from having their tiny roots dry out; but too much water can cause damping-off fungus disease.   So, you just have to monitor your watering carefully until the seedlings are well-established.

All Fescues are technically rated as 'cool-climate' grasses. In spite of this fact, Fescues are now being used all over the USA.  This may be a matter of big-volume distributors not paying attention to much more than sales when they shut a horticultural product to zones it cannot grow well in.

Fescues will not perform well where day temperatures can hover or go-higher than 85 degrees F.  They also need more water than warm climate grasses. They can usually do alright with a slightly acidic moisture-retentive top-soil.  A pH of less than 6.5 may be excessive; invest in an inexpensive soil-test kit to be sure about this parameter with your soil since old conifer soils can indeed by hyper-acid.  


If your sunny California days can consistently stay below 85 degrees F, and with all other factors being average, I can see no major reason the Fescue cannot perform well for you.

The BROWNING of the grass vegetation is hard to diagnose here without an inspection.  It could be due to a FUNGUS that has taken advantage of the damp situation. Under physiologic stress, fungus diseases can take over and kill vast areas of lawn.
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In summary, make determining the possibility of a fungus disease a priority for you in regards to your lawn appearance problem.  Seedling projects should be destroyed and efforts made to start again in non-contaminated soil.

This may put a damper on your out-door gathering event. Convention suppliers may be able to cover the area with a temporary solution; something like astro-turf perhaps.  I doubt you can have an ace lawn in 30 days, but may be a miracle will happen.

You may have to decide if or not you simply do not have enough sun-shine for growing any type of grass.  If so, do not be discouraged.  You may have a better time of it by working to create shade-garden areas especially where the shade is the most prevalent.


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Visit this web-site for
Interesting HYBRIDS that may work better for you:
http://www.turfmerchants.com/special.html
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!

___JIM Gibbs,
   Microbiologist

Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more facts and links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html

Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com

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