Question
QUESTION: Ciao,
Parli Italiano?
I donot know if you can help whit a problem whit my lown.

We're in Maryland and have about 3/4 acre lawn; last year we hired a lawn care company to help. The soil is not real good -- new construction (3 years ago) and builder carted away most of the top soil, we aerated and overseeded last fall (Tall Fescue). All was going well until this Spring we noticed areas in the lawn changing color -- we were told it was red thread fungus, and the lawn folks treated with fertilizer then a fungicide about a week later.  We saw no improvement and now there are brown patches covering about 2/3 of the lawn -- the majority being in areas that get sun most of the day.   

We water every 3-4 days for about an hour first thing in the morning.

About 2 weeks after the lawn service put down their treatment we spread out a granular fungicide that listed red thread as one of the fungus it treated; again no change.

Is there anything we can do to help the lawn now?
We can't tell if grass is actually dead, dying, or maybe dormant; will it come back next spring or do we need to seed again?

Lawn service fertilized about four times during the year, with some applications of weed control and insecticide.

Please help!

Thanks,
Mirella


ANSWER: Ciao Mirella... si, parlo anche l'Italiano

Vediamo cosa possiamo fare...

I think what you need to do is concentrate on improving the health of the plant itself, by applying some good NPK fertiliser until the fall.

Then take care not to water too much and make sure that you water ONLY AT NIGHT... NEVER during the day!!

In the fall apply what is known as a 'Top-dressing' which is simply a mix of  soil, sand and peat that will create an area of good fresh soil that will permit the grass roots to find all they need in the top layer. Apply this at about half an inch over the whole area, rake in and spread evenly!

Go for another ant-fungal treatment but not more than one - it'll waste your cash... try to sort the problem out from the 'grass roots' up.

Contact me again, by all means...

Good luck

Jonathan www.ecologicagardens.com

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Grazie Jonathan,
For the fertilizer we war going to follow the Scott regiment (next application in August) for the watering of the lawn can you tell me way not to water during the day? I thought that watering late  at night will actually not help whit the fungus.
Is the lawn actually still alive?
Grazie ancora mirella

ANSWER: Hi Mirella

Its unlikely that the lawn is actually dead.

You can't water a lawn during the heat of the day as the heat and water combined is exactly what the fungus is looking for- do we have the root cause of the problem?

Water in the freshness of the night, without sunlight, re-seed and definitely top dress.

Contact a local golf course and try and get a top-dressing bought 'in bulk' and you will see an amazing difference in your lawn - it's the main secret!

Treat the lawn with a Potassium sulphate fertiliser in the fall, to aid root growth and you will need less watering as the roots will be stronger.

Its a game but I've been doing this ALL my life http://europe.google.com/search?hl=en&q=jonathan+radford%2C+gardens&btnG=Google+

Fammi sapere, in bocca al lupo

Jonathan

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Jonathan,
Should we fertilize in August or wait for the fall?
What percentage of Potassiumm should we be looking for when buying the fertilizer?
Thanks,
Mirella

Answer
Hi Mirella

Fertilise with Potassium in the fall, when the leaves drop as it is only absorbed in this period. Top dress at the same time!

Regarding the dose, again contact a nearby golf course or simply ask your retailer, as the application dose is different for every product.

Sei Italiana?

Jonathan