My small lawn is slowly dying off.

[SeasideGarden]

I have a 400 sq/ft lawn on the coast of NH. It is bordered on one side by large arborvitaes and a flower garden in the front of it. It is L shaped with the bottom of the L being the larger part and the top of th L being a small side stretch running next to the arborvitaes. As of this year it has slowly been getting more and more dead areas and generally looks like crap. It is so small that getting a lawn care outfit to look at it is a challenge. We have been watering it for an hour day, trying different times during the day, and no change. We fertilize it as well, Scott products. The main part of it gets plenty of sun, the side not so much.

Anyway, here is a bunch of pics of it. Any ideas are welcome.

 

[Sheal]

I think you've forgotten the pictures @SeasideGarden.

 

[DirtMechanic]

The link text has a poor color choice and does not show up in a strong contrast @Sheal.

I suspect shade problems, but once again pictures with no sun are being shown because they show the plants better than a bright glaring day I guess. Which way is south?

The fescue naturally clumps and thatches badly. It needs dethaching, aeration, compost, overseeding and weed control. Some of the thatch is thick enough to prevent germination like the photo of the edge of the brick path.

 

[Susan BBPM]

The pattern of brown looks very similar to my garden - areas where trees or shrubs are taking most of the water I get brown patches. As soon as we get good, heavy rainfall it greens up again.

You're watering daily which makes this seem unlikely. Although I have noticed that in some parts of my garden rainfall has a very different impact to many hours with the sprinkler in. I have a feeling that when we use a hose to water a specific area that water can often run away through underground channels so isn't actually staying where we put it. Rain falls over the whole garden so the water is less likely to run away from your dry areas.

*IF* this turned out to be the problem it might be easier letting clover or similar take over. I never get dry patches in my clover - it always looks lush and green.

 

[SeasideGarden]

I think you've forgotten the pictures @SeasideGarden.

Lawn Issues

7 new items added to shared album

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[Sheal]

Your location says Seacoast, that suggests you have sandy soil which drains and dries out very quickly. There are also a number of hungry conifers and being shallow rooted will also deplete the soil of any nutrients and water. I don't think any amount of feeding and watering will return the lawn to its original state and suggest that you consider changing the area. Susan's idea of clover is a good one as that tends to survive most conditions. My only other idea is to gravel the area and have planters there as opening up a flower bed in front of the conifers would suffer the same way as the lawn.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

The link text has a poor color choice and does not show up in a strong contrast @Sheal.

Yes, hold the cursor over 'bunch of pics'.

I have a feeling that when we use a hose to water a specific area that water can often run away through underground channels so isn't actually staying where we put it. Rain falls over the whole garden so the water is less likely to run away from your dry areas.

I reckon that is unlikely, I remember reading about an experiment where someone measured the sideways travel of water as it went down through the ground and in normal conditions it is a tiny amount. I think the difference between a sprinkler and rain has more to do with the difference between municpal water and rainwater. It is not just that it is chlorinated, a raindrop falling picks up a lot from the atmosphere. Someone gave me a device that swirls the water and fills it with tiny bubbles before it gets into the sprinkler, and though I don't use it much, because I don't like paying for water, it does seem to have an effect when I do.

Sorry, just found that, wrote it a while ago and forgot to hit 'post'