Here’s Another Reason Your Field Or Lawn Does Not Want To Recover

We are now beginning to figure out how much of our turf damage is related to summer weather and asking if there is another explanation needed. Cooler days and nights will provide our landscapes with some much-needed relief and recovery; however, most of us will experience some turf that continues to look like mid-August.

At this point, it’s time to consider another cause for our problems. The cause that is usually the easiest to ID is grubs. Picture one is from a soccer field that “just didn’t want to recover no matter how much we watered.” This is always a good sign something else is going on.

The second picture was just over a square foot from the same field. Since it is early into the grub season and it was already loaded with grubs, not treating this field would most likely result in a complete renovation in the spring.

The last picture is from an irrigated home lawn that told a similar story: “we kept watering, but everything just kept turning brown.” Like the first case, if water and cooler temperatures don’t provide some recovery, there’s definitely another problem. In this case, it was chinchbugs that took out neighboring yards. Similarly, treating now will help minimize further damage and minimize the amount of seed work required.

Remember though, both of these diagnoses required getting your hands dirty to properly identify. Don’t ever wear anything to work that you’re afraid to get dirty!

Dan Garling
ATS Sales Representative