Everybody likes the sight of freshly looking green grass. The beauty of grass solely lies on its color. And, we all want to enjoy in a beautiful appearance of the green lawn throughout the year, but at times no matter how hard we try the grass still ends up turning yellow.
When this happens, it gives your lawn a dull and unpleasant look. We can rightly say the green coloring matters, as it is the holder of the aesthetic value of the grass, while yellow grass simply doesn’t look appealing at all.
Grass turns yellow for many reasons. On most cases, it is as a result of harsh environmental conditions, soil contamination, and at certain times – the human impact is the problem. The grass is sensitive to any kind of stress.
Even slightest alteration in its normal biological cell functioning can cause yellowing, and eventually death. It is important to note that not all yellow grass is dying grass. Sometimes, grass may turn yellow simply because you are not taking good care of it as you should.
Below are some potential reasons why your lawn grass is turning yellow, and a couple of useful solutions on how to prevent it.
Grass Fungus
The fungus is a known culprit when it comes to killing grass and there are different types of grass fungi. However, they all have one trait in common – they are making your lawn grass look sick. Dealing with fungus requires some basic knowledge.
Before you decide on which method you want to use, ensure that you know the type of fungus you are dealing with. This will help you avoid the hustle of constantly buying the wrong fungicide and will save you a lot of money.
One of the symptoms of fungus lawn disease is the presence of dark brown grass patches. The good thing is, that you won’t need much time to detect the problem. As soon as you see the first grass patch, you should suspect the fungus.
Necrotic Ring Spot is an example of a very destructive fungus. It mainly affects turfgrass and causes serious damage to the roots. It is caused by a thread of fungi known as Ophiosphaerella karae, which is found in soil.
Most common fungus infections can easily be controlled by regular dethatching of the lawn and also lowering the amount of water applied. Moisture makes fungi to reproduce very fast, therefore the grass should be watered at intervals.
Oil/Petrol Spill
Oil or petrol spillage can occur if the lawnmower you are using is faulty. It may be as a result of some leakage in the tank. At times, the vibrations made by the moving parts of the mower may also force some oil or petrol to gush out of the tank.
All oil products are naturally harmful to grass, as oil blocks the stomatal pores on the grass leaf causing the cells to starve and die resulting in a characteristic yellow coloring of grass blades.
Oil and petrol spills are the hardest to deal with because their effects are long-lasting and whichever method you decide to apply will leave spots on the grass. The only effective way to stop this dying grass syndrome and to handle an oil spill is to dig the affected part out.
After Fertilizing
Grass can also turn yellow recently after you applied some fertilizer. Grass certainly need some fertilizer to grow, but the amount you apply can either make it bloom or kill it.
Application of too much fertilizer will lead to the accumulation of salts, which may later make the soil hypertonic. If this happens the cells in the grass leaf will be sucked dry of the water. This may result in withering and eventually dying of the grass that previously turned yellow and left some patches across your lawn.
This problem can be avoided by limiting the amount of fertilizer applied on grass, depending on the type of fertilizer as well. Make sure to only apply fertilizer when necessary and make sure to take a break from it in a while. The other option is to water the grass properly and adequately in sprays, as water will help in washing away the excess salt that may have accumulated in the soil.
After Cutting or After Mowing
Sometimes, when we try so hard to give our lawns that clean fresh-cut, things can go into the complete opposite direction. The next morning, you wake up and find your grass with a weirdly looking new color. If you are a lawn lover we are guessing you can imagine how stressful it can be to wake up to a lawn that is slowly dying.
If the grass on your lawn turns yellow after giving it a cut or after mowing it, it might be that you cut the grass too low or the blade you used was blunt. Blunt blades don’t cut grass effectively as they should. Oppositely, they injure grass thereby altering the physiological structure of the grass blade leading to the destruction of cells.
This can be avoided by not cutting the grass too short and also making sure that the tools used to cut grass are well maintained if you want to avoid unnecessary damage to your lawn grass.
Too Much Heat
The grass may adopt the yellow color if it is exposed to too much heat, which in most cases is from the sun. The Grass is known to be a very strong plant and can take on some of the harshest environmental conditions, but if not given enough support it may give in to pressure and die.
Watering your grass adequately is the ultimate solution when it comes to solving heat problems. One thing to note is that the watering should be done on a regular interval and always in the morning.
Animal Urine
If you are a dog owner and you happen to find dark brown or yellow patches on your lawn, the first thing you should suspect is your dog. Dogs have a characteristic behavior of marking territories with their urine. Well, maybe not all the time, as at times they are just answering a call of nature. Either way, dog urine has been found to have severe effects on grass. It can damage the grass from the leaf right to the deepest root.
Again, watering the grass regularly can be used as a countermeasure against the effects of urine, but the most effective method is training your dog to use a certain part of the garden exclusively.
Conclusion
The Grass is a diehard plant, especially if given the proper care. It can flourish and give you the beautiful environment that you desire so much. Dead grass is everything but pleasant scenery in your yard. Fortunately, you can resolve all of the potential color-killers by applying simple methods we recommended through the article.
Hi guys! My name is Don and I have been taking care of many lawns across the country for more than 5 years now. Before I hit the road myself, I worked at a lawn care service company where I mastered handling different lawn tools as well. Now, don’t fall back right away even if you are not a lawn guru or a pro. I will be right here – at your service 24/7 to teach you everything about lawn care. Stay tuned for the updates if your goal is to enjoy luscious, deep green grass in your backyard almost all year round. Oh, you can find me on Twitter as well! Happy reading!
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My grass had a yellow patch we cleaned the area planted new st augustine in that area. Now johnson grass is gowing there. Ugh. Help
It is interesting that topdressing your lawn can make the lawn be flat and smooth.
My wife and I were golfing a couple of weeks ago
and we noticed how clean the grass was. Especially compared to our front lawn that has yellow
spots. We may consider reaching out to a professional to mow and care for our lawn so we can have golf-course-like
grass.