# Why is my lawn still not green?



## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

Hey guys! Some upfront info... my lawn has been one of the worst lawns on the street for a few years. Life happens and just haven't had the time or money to devote to it... until this year. And now my goal is to have the best-looking lawn on the street. With that, I've done a lot so far including scalping, dethatching, scarifying, ferting, ironiting, etc... but my yard is still very patchy and has a bunch of yellow stolons and such. I also sprayed some fungicide to make sure I hadn't gotten a fungus with all the moisture. All my surrounding neighbors have very thick and green yards. They are all mowing theirs considerably higher, but they still have very thick grass. What do I need to do? I am DFW and the weather has been rain almost every day for the last few weeks... but I'm confused because my neighbor's lawns look great. My only thought is that because it's never been this low before, it's just trying its hardest to make its way to green at the low HOC. Any thoughts?










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## kc8qpu092200 (Feb 29, 2020)

Be patient. It will green up. It doesn't happen over night. It has to be trained to grow short. Just keep cutting and watering and adding fertilizer when needed. It will green up.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

kc8qpu092200 said:


> Be patient. It will green up. It doesn't happen over night. It has to be trained to grow short. Just keep cutting and watering and adding fertilizer when needed. It will green up.


Thanks for the encouragement.. I probably just need to hear that and to grow some paitence.

If I have sections of my yard up next to the curbs that are too tall... is there any option other than ripping the sod up, removing soil, and relaying the sod? Or is that really my main option?


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

Looks like it's just getting scalped. You want to do a couple of things. The first is to reset the height of cut. That means you initially scalp it lower than you plan to maintain and then keep it slightly higher than the initial scalp each subsequent time you mow. Otherwise you are just continually cutting off the green each time you mow. You may have to adjust as the season goes on and move up your height of cut or scalp midseason to reset it.

The second thing you might look into is leveling. If you want to go reel low, you need to have a very level lawn otherwise it will scalp in some places. This is a multi-year process that a lot of us are perpetually adjusting. There's a whole thread on what to do for this.

Good luck with your lawn this summer. Lawncare can be a rabbit hole so be prepared.


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## kc8qpu092200 (Feb 29, 2020)

The post above brings up a great question! What type of mower are you using?


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

kc8qpu092200 said:


> The post above brings up a great question! What type of mower are you using?


It's a 10 blade Mclane reel with flat roller


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

Did you scalp and bring the height of cut back up?

Looked scalped, as someone mentioned, and like you are maintaining it low, but aren't letting it grow. If you like that height, go lower, and bring it back up.

I bet the green areas the grass is taller due to bumps and lumps. That will confirm the suspicion.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

FATC1TY said:


> Did you scalp and bring the height of cut back up?
> 
> Looked scalped, as someone mentioned, and like you are maintaining it low, but aren't letting it grow. If you like that height, go lower, and bring it back up.
> 
> I bet the green areas the grass is taller due to bumps and lumps. That will confirm the suspicion.


This is a good point. I originally, way back when the season started, took it almost to the dirt... but since then it's been a lot of weird rain that I think basically reset my HOC from the beginning of the season. I also didn't have my reel mower when the season started... so I took it almost to the dirt with a rotary. The yard is really bumpy, so I'm hoping I can start to get some more thickness coming in once the rain goes away and the temps rise finally... then I will do a good leveling.

If I have some sections of the yard next to my sidewalk that are too high... almost little mini "mounds"... is the only real way to level that to fully cut the sod out and pull out some dirt and then re-lay the sod back in place? The edges of my sidewalk and driveway are incredibly inconsistent. To the point that if I roll my reel over them without lifting up the front, I completely scalp to the dirt the grass next to the sidewalk


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

You could try pressure washing that high area and see if that works. I think some have had some success doing it. Removing the sod and lowering the dirt is a lot of work so if it were me and I had access to a pressure washer, I'd try that first.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

Bermuda_Newbie said:


> You could try pressure washing that high area and see if that works. I think some have had some success doing it. Removing the sod and lowering the dirt is a lot of work so if it were me and I had access to a pressure washer, I'd try that first.


Is there a link somewhere explaining this process? I do own a pressure washer but am not certain how exactly they would work. Thanks!


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## Bermuda_Newbie (Jun 15, 2018)

I'm not sure if there's a thread for it but if you search it you can see me mentioning it from time to time and some people saying they've tried it. You could try starting a thread asking people who've done it to post their results. There was one guy on here with a super flat lawn that did it so I know it's possible.


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## girevik (Jan 8, 2021)

Your yard looks almost exactly like mine. With the rain we've had lately in DFW it grew basically 4" in 7 or so days before I could cut it. Just reset with another scalp and did round 1 of many leveling passes.

Sounds like you're on the right track. Be patient, even though it's hard, and keep working towards the result you want.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

girevik said:


> Your yard looks almost exactly like mine. With the rain we've had lately in DFW it grew basically 4" in 7 or so days before I could cut it. Just reset with another scalp and did round 1 of many leveling passes.
> 
> Sounds like you're on the right track. Be patient, even though it's hard, and keep working towards the result you want.


Ya this makes me feel better. I've felt a bit confused with the amount of rain we have had and the true inability to mow at all


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## DeepC (Aug 12, 2020)

jondraper said:


> Bermuda_Newbie said:
> 
> 
> > You could try pressure washing that high area and see if that works. I think some have had some success doing it. Removing the sod and lowering the dirt is a lot of work so if it were me and I had access to a pressure washer, I'd try that first.
> ...


I'm going to start a post on this here in a second. Please feel free to add your experience


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

I'll take some of your rain! I think I have had 2 inches of rain the last 70 days. 
Be patient! My yard looked worse than yours at one point. It took me a few seasons to get it decent. It wasn't till I found this forum when it went from decent to respectable. (I've got a long way to go) But this site is filled with a lot of liked minded individuals all striving for the same thing and posting valuable info that we've learned from trial and error. 
Keep reading and keep trying new things until you've dialed it all in.
I would have never dumped 8 tons of sand on 2500 Sq ft of front lawn over 2 seasons without the lunatics on here! :lol: :lol:


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## girevik (Jan 8, 2021)

Can't imagine putting out that amount of sand but lawn turf is definitely an ongoing year-to-year project. Have yet to meet someone on here that isn't super helpful.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

rjw0283 said:


> I'll take some of your rain! I think I have had 2 inches of rain the last 70 days.
> Be patient! My yard looked worse than yours at one point. It took me a few seasons to get it decent. It wasn't till I found this forum when it went from decent to respectable. (I've got a long way to go) But this site is filled with a lot of liked minded individuals all striving for the same thing and posting valuable info that we've learned from trial and error.
> Keep reading and keep trying new things until you've dialed it all in.
> I would have never dumped 8 tons of sand on 2500 Sq ft of front lawn over 2 seasons without the lunatics on here! :lol: :lol:


I would give it to you if I could... just had another crazy day of rain where my street was so flooded that it looked like my sidewalk strip was on a beach with waves rolling over it during high tide. Rough.


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## AZLAWNGUY (Apr 25, 2020)

•2 in of water a week is where I would start
•Then I would rent a dethatcher, and you will take mounds of dead debris out
•cut it as low as you can, .25 in, then core aerate and remove the cores, and either do a fine sand top dress to level out the yard
• use a balanced fertilizer and water, and you should see some great results!

You have to train your grass.


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## jondraper (Mar 27, 2021)

AZLAWNGUY said:


> •2 in of water a week is where I would start
> •Then I would rent a dethatcher, and you will take mounds of dead debris out
> •cut it as low as you can, .25 in, then core aerate and remove the cores, and either do a fine sand top dress to level out the yard
> • use a balanced fertilizer and water, and you should see some great results!
> ...


Will be doing this - thanks for tips. 2 in. water not too much? I guess more spread out? Any balanced fert recomendations?


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## MarkV (Mar 22, 2017)

I don't know about you guys but, Oklahoma is clearly cooler than normal. Soil temps on average are about 10 degrees lower than normal. I still have some spots in the front that don't get a lot of sun that are still bare dirt practically.


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