A summer cottage lawn is a kind of visiting card of the owner of a garden plot. The perfectly green lawn is pleasing to the eye; it is pleasant for children to run on it and for an adult to walk barefoot. However, it happens that the lawn becomes a cause for grief: when the grass suddenly begins to lose its emerald color, it becomes covered with spots and rapidly thinns. What should a gardener do to make the lawn stop turning yellow, why does this happen, what are the reasons for this trouble, how can the grass near the house become thick and green again?
Content
How exactly does the lawn turn yellow
To understand why the meadow turns yellow and dries, you need to find out what exactly happens to the grass. And here there are several options:
- The entire lawn has changed color.
It happens that the grassy cover changes color over the entire area
- The grass is covered with yellow spots.
Often, the uniformity of the green color is disturbed by yellowed areas.
- Yellow or reddish bald patches appeared on the lawn.
Cover structure becomes heterogeneous
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Why does the lawn turn yellow and what to do to restore it
The yellowed lawn grass is a distress signal that it sends to a person. Typically, a color change occurs due to:
- lack of water or its excess;
- lack of nutrients;
- mistakes when cutting;
- violations of lawn laying technology;
- mechanical damage by insects, animals and humans.
It happens that the reasons have their effect in the complex.
Taking care of the lawn correctly is a responsible occupation and requires knowledge
It is important to distinguish between problems depending on the type of lawn - roll and do-it-yourself. A lawn created with your own hands is a little easier to "cure". Roll options, alas, are problematic to save: initially they were grown in much more comfortable conditions, and therefore not so ready for severe climatic manifestations and other tests.
Wrong watering, how to do it right
Problem: with the arrival of heat, the lawn (both rolled and planted with your own hands) fades. Areas that are most often exposed to the sun dry up - they are spots and bald patches. This happens both with new lawns and with lawns that have long delighted their owners. This is essentially a burnout caused by a lack of water.
Indeed, in the hot summer months, it is necessary to water the lawn grass regularly and on time: make sure that it receives the necessary moisture in the early morning or evening hours, and not in the sun.
Sprinkling is one of the most effective ways to water your lawn
It is important that waterlogging of the soil is also taken into account. The lawn can be located in an area with a high content of groundwater or in a lowland where moisture accumulates for a long time in spring and after summer rains. It undermines the root system and provokes its decay.
Decision: make a watering schedule and follow it. Give the grass a dose of moisture. The soil should not be waterlogged, the strictest taboo on the occurrence of puddles during watering.
It is very important to observe the water temperature, it should not be lower than 10 degrees.
A sprinkler will help maintain optimal humidity levels
If improper water supply has caused a complete yellowing of the lawn, it is important to change the approach to irrigation technique, it will be effective to use sprinklers that moisturize the soil evenly.
Alas, the spots themselves cannot be quickly removed from the clearing. It will take some time for the grass cover to recover, as well as a set of additional measures, such as feeding and drainage.
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Lack of fertilizer
Problem: the lawn changes color in places, despite careful maintenance and regular fertilization. The explanation is simple: fertilizers are applied unevenly, somewhere more, somewhere, on the contrary, there is not enough of them. After all, the lawn, like any other plant, needs useful nutrients, without them the grass begins to gradually die off.
A properly selected set of fertilizers is the key to the beauty of the lawn
Decision: purchase specialized lawn mixtures, which contain nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. Organize an even distribution of fertilizers.
Incorrect lawn mowing
Problem: the lawn begins to turn yellow with spots, and then changes its color almost over the entire area. This happens soon after the haircut. And the thing is that you need to cut the lawn on time. Some gardeners do not have time to do this regularly and as a result, they are limited to one haircut per month. In one approach, they remove from half to two-thirds of a blade of grass, which becomes stress for the plants.
Avoid very short lawn mowing
Experts say the lawn should be mowed at least twice a month. And in cases where the grass has grown too high, it should be removed not in one time, but in two passes, because the required length of the grass to be cut can be set on the mowing tool.
Getting the right haircut is essential
Mowing the lawn in the hottest part of the day - in the middle of the day - can also be a challenge for him. The fact is that moisture evaporates from freshly cut grass faster and it is these losses that can lead to yellowness.
Decision: do not cut the grass "under the very root". Leave at least 5 centimeters of plant length.
Keep an eye on the tool - it must be “in top shape” to mow the lawn evenly. Poor technical conditions often cause yellow bald spots - due to the fact that in some places the grass is removed by the roots, which is accompanied by damage to the turf.
Errors in laying the lawn
Problem: the grass carpet loses its pleasant appearance, completely turns yellow and dies in the first year after laying. Why is this happening? The culprit is too dense planting, which may turn out to be a "time bomb". The root system of plants soon becomes highly intertwined. The roots cannot take enough water and food for the plant. This becomes the cause of damage to the lawn soon after laying, the owner does not even have time to really enjoy the emerald lawn under the window.
Decision: Alas, this problem cannot be solved. We'll have to start all over again.
With a thickened planting, you will have to remove the top layer of turf
But it is necessary to learn from such a situation:
- when laying a new lawn, carefully prepare the soil - fill it with fertilizers,
- dig up the earth and drain it,
- to level the surface (especially if it is planned to lay a roll lawn),
- distribute seeds evenly when sowing.
Mechanical damage
Problem: the appearance of bald spots on the lawn, located haphazardly.Often they do not appear in the first year after laying, but later. Rolled lawns are especially prone to the problem.
The culprits of "baldness" in this case are people who too often walk on the grass and, as a result, trample it down, as well as insects and animals, for example, moles, violating the root system, which leads to the destruction of the grass cover.
A lawn damaged by moles looks very unsightly
Decision: Of course, it will not be possible to completely exclude a person's walking on the grass, but it does not hurt to limit the activity of vacationers on the lawn. For example, picnics with friends can be moved to another place in the garden.
Red turf ants need to declare war... You can remove them using an insecticide. True, after this it will be impossible for people to rest on the grass for some time. If you don't like the chemistry option, you can try an old folk remedy for insects: a decoction of herbs. It has a pungent odor for pests and makes the ants go away. Low-frequency repellents and set traps are effective in the fight against insects and moles.
What ground cover plants can be used to decorate a summer cottage, we tell here:https://flowers.bigbadmole.com/en/dikorastuschie-rasteniya/pochvopokrovnye-rasteniya-nazvaniya-i-foto-cvetkov.html
Other reasons
Among the reasons for the yellowing of the grass are the following:
- fungal infection (caused, for example, by powdery mildew or brown rust);
- freezing of grass in winter (it is easiest to establish this reason - it manifests itself immediately after the snow melts);
- insufficient assistance to the lawn in the spring (it is necessary to remove all debris from its territory and give the grass a flow of air);
- animal excrement (they can adversely affect the lawn, so the gardener should think about how to treat the edges of the lawn with a special product with essential oils: it will scare away cats or dogs, but it will not harm animals);
- construction waste buried in the ground (it can be concentrated under the focus of yellowing).
Preventive measures
When working in the garden, you need to be more careful about the plants. Have noticed that planted lawn grass crumpled - water it. Together with water, from time to time, it is worth bringing into the ground and fertilizing for prevention. The technology of work is as follows: nutrients are scattered over the lawn, and then watering is carried out.
If you follow the recommendations, your lawn will remain beautiful for a long time
Experts name three main areas of prevention:
- Aeration (it allows you to give air to the grass roots using special tools that pierce the soil).
- Scarification (regular cleaning of the lawn; it is carried out with the help of a special rake that also produces an accompanying sod trimming).
- Mulching (helps to retain moisture).
There are over 10,000 species of herbaceous plants in the world. This figure is impressive, but it is only a small fraction of all plant species on Earth. It is estimated that there are over 1 million plant species and only about 350,000 of them have names.
Video: how to quickly restore a damaged lawn
Having decided to break the lawn, the beginners face difficulties: yellow spots suddenly appear on the brightly colored meadow just yesterday, and they continue to grow every day. Knowing the essence of the problem, a caring owner will not allow what is happening to take a threatening turn. After all, if you start the operation to save the lawn on time, it will become a matter of pride, and not a cause of headaches.
