# Lawn Growing Unevenly



## Bhendley (Jul 9, 2019)

Hey everyone,

I inherited a lawn that was in terrible shape when I moved into my home back in February. The previous owners did not take much initiative with their yard and were also water at night which led to an ongoing gray spot disease/brown patch disease. I have been treating with Scott's Disease EX which has taken out brown patch but not gray spot. I have been fertilizing every few months with Scott's southern lawn food (the Florida formula). The yard has come a long way since I have taken the wheel, but still has a long way to go. I have some areas that are nice and lush like I would like. Other areas just never seem to grow. The blades on the grass only grows 1-2 inches. I have been mowing every 3-4 days at the highest mower setting in attempt to thicken up my grass. From my perspective my biggest problems that I can't seem to solve are:

1)uneven lawn. It appears to have dimples in some areas. Will these fill in as the yard thickens? 
2)some areas are growing very little if it all as I stated earlier.
3)I am treating with disease ex, but gray spot still remains.

I have attached some pictures after the yard has been mowed. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Blake


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Looks like sand is in your future for a leveling job. When you get into chemicals pick up propiconazle and azoxystrobin for your grey leaf spot problems


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## ctrav (Aug 18, 2018)

Looks like the ground itself is very uneven. When you walk on it are there big dips (almost like holes)? Does your mower bounce all over the place when cutting? How high are you cutting the lawn (HOC)?


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## weevil07 (Jun 12, 2019)

Looks like localized areas of compaction or areas of bad soil to me. Core aerate would be a good start. Sand as well like others have mentioned


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## LawnRat (Mar 22, 2019)

I have identical patches in an area that I cleared of trees and brush two years ago. There was minimal or no grass there. I'm not sure if this is unestablished palmetto or some other dwarf species that maybe was planted by a previous owner decades ago to combat the shade from the now gone trees. I've been pushing it with N and it has grown some, but still not tall enough for the mower blades to hit (the "good" grass needs mowing twice a week). I probed the area and there is no debris or compaction.

I planted some test pieces of palmetto sod in the spring, and while they are growing many runners they look identical to this mysterious dwarf grass. So my guess is that it is palmetto that is not fully established yet. Lucky for me my nearby floratam is sending runners through these patches and beginning to choke out the weaker palmetto.


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## Bhendley (Jul 9, 2019)

Thank you all for the suggestions. Yes my mower does bounce like crazy through these areas. I try to go slow and pick up the mower so that it doesn't fall in the dips. I also alternate mowing patterns each time. My mower height is around 3.5". This home was built less than two years ago so maybe compaction could be part of the problem with the grass not growing well like you have said. I will give aerating a try. In those areas it is almost like a thick mat of runners that never grows, but it does stay fairly green. The ground just not being level makes sense as well. I have filled in some dips with Scott's top soil. Is there a better/cheaper material to use since it seems that I will need quite a bit?


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## LawnRat (Mar 22, 2019)

If you have the typical Florida sandy soil there's no real need to aerate. You can level with sand but I'd wait till the grass is growing in those areas first. Keep those areas fertilized and maybe they will start growing.


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## Bhendley (Jul 9, 2019)

Ok. Can I use construction type sand or should I use top soil? I have grass covering my yard, but some areas have grass that grows no longer than 1-2". Maybe more fertilizer will help.


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## SwBermuda (Jun 9, 2019)

Bhendley said:


> Ok. Can I use construction type sand or should I use top soil? I have grass covering my yard, but some areas have grass that grows no longer than 1-2". Maybe more fertilizer will help.


most here use either masonry sand or play sand. I believe using top soil just in certain areas may effect the color of the grass in those areas since there is likely some type of fertilizer in the topsoil.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

Go with sand. You will 100% get weed seeds in top soil; additionally, sand will distribute more evenly into the canopy of the grass. I'm sure you can't go as heavy on the sand leveling on St. Aug as you can with bermuda. It's going to take a couple of sessions for you to get a level lawn that you're satisfied with. Buy 1 more yard than you think you'll need.


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## weevil07 (Jun 12, 2019)

@Colonel K0rn is correct. I used top soil to fill in a huge hole. Planted Bermuda seed and am getting a nice crop of goat weed. Never know what all seeds are in that top soil


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