Hello,
Our garden and house is about 3 years old nearly and we have mostly had a good lawn. But at the moment the grass is dying at the end and also along one edge and around the base of a tree where there is a slight dip. It appears quite wet so I wonder if the problem is poor drainage. The lawn is about 5m x 15m. Can anyone offer advise to improve the grass. Most of our plants appear fine its just the grass that has an issue. There is also moss in some areas which I would think would suggest a constantly wet area.
Many Thanks

Richard Elsmore wrote:
Hello,
Our garden and house is about 3 years old nearly and we have mostly
had a good lawn. But at the moment the grass is dying at the end and
also along one edge and around the base of a tree where there is a
slight dip. It appears quite wet so I wonder if the problem is poor
drainage. The lawn is about 5m x 15m. Can anyone offer advise to
improve the grass. Most of our plants appear fine its just the grass
that has an issue. There is also moss in some areas which I would
think would suggest a constantly wet area.
Many Thanks

Have you fertilized it? Added lime to neutralize acidity. Acid soil will make it
harder for the grass to utilize what fertilizer is there, and moss prefers
acidic soils.

Richard Elsmore wrote:

Hello,
Our garden and house is about 3 years old nearly and we have mostly had
a good lawn. But at the moment the grass is dying at the end and also
along one edge and around the base of a tree where there is a slight
dip. It appears quite wet so I wonder if the problem is poor drainage.
The lawn is about 5m x 15m. Can anyone offer advise to improve the
grass. Most of our plants appear fine its just the grass that has an
issue. There is also moss in some areas which I would think would
suggest a constantly wet area.
Many Thanks

this is very complicated to analyze without seeing it.

3 years is about normal for a lot of problems to
show up.

was the area sod or seeded with the grass?

how have you been maintaining the area? do you remove
the clippings? how high have you been cutting it and
how often?

is the tree blocking more light than it used to?

it could be that the tree is a species which is
toxic to grass (is it a black walnut)?

it could be that the grass isn't suited to the wet
areas. another grass species might do ok.

however, that all said, i'd level the low spots to
spread the water out more, then reseed a variety of
grasses into the entire area to increase diversity
thin layers of compost mixed with the grass seed
would likely help for the bare areas.

moss isn't a sure sign of any one thing other than
itself. there can be many reasons why an area is
compacted and barren. water running off and taking
the organic materials with it. too much traffic
when it was wet. too much shade. etc. in many cases
there are better species to put in such an area than
grasses.

we've got a few areas that are fairly soggy almost
all the time and grasses grow there without trouble.
no moss.


songbird

Bob F wrote:
....
Have you fertilized it? Added lime to neutralize acidity. Acid soil will make it
harder for the grass to utilize what fertilizer is there, and moss prefers
acidic soils.

i've got moss growing in the middle of
crushed limestone in some areas around here.


songbird

songbird wrote:
Bob F wrote:
...
Have you fertilized it? Added lime to neutralize acidity. Acid soil
will make it harder for the grass to utilize what fertilizer is
there, and moss prefers acidic soils.

i've got moss growing in the middle of
crushed limestone in some areas around here.


I did use the word "prefers"

Bob F wrote:
songbird wrote:
Bob F wrote:
...
Have you fertilized it? Added lime to neutralize acidity. Acid soil
will make it harder for the grass to utilize what fertilizer is
there, and moss prefers acidic soils.

i've got moss growing in the middle of
crushed limestone in some areas around here.


I did use the word "prefers"

yep. still much better to actually deal with the
problems than to try to paper over it by spreading stuff.
we don't know if the grass is dying off from the tree or
what. no amount of lime is going to correct that situation.

the OP's post reflects common construction practices and
we're not sure if that is what's going on (sod over very
poor subsoil and perhaps a drainage/leveling problem). it
could also be a sign of other issues (light, traffic,
compaction, water flow removing organic materials, removing
clippings, ...). so many unknowns...


songbird

On Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 7:26:05 PM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
Richard Elsmore wrote:

Hello,
Our garden and house is about 3 years old nearly and we have mostly had
a good lawn. But at the moment the grass is dying at the end and also
along one edge and around the base of a tree where there is a slight
dip. It appears quite wet so I wonder if the problem is poor drainage.
The lawn is about 5m x 15m. Can anyone offer advise to improve the
grass. Most of our plants appear fine its just the grass that has an
issue. There is also moss in some areas which I would think would
suggest a constantly wet area.
Many Thanks

this is very complicated to analyze without seeing it.

+1

Could be lots of things, including disease or insects. Some pics of
the areas, plus some close ups of the grass blades would be a start,
though that's just one step.