# What the hell happened to my lawn?



## LemmyCat (Apr 24, 2019)

Hey everyone, so after the snow melted a few weeks ago I finally got to see my grass again. And what I saw doesn't look good. 
Most of the lawn was brown and matted down, the more shaded areas had some snow mold spots but what I'm most concerned about is how much soil I'm seeing. 
The grass is a tttf, I planted it 2 years ago. It looked great all last summer, had some heat stress but never went dormant. In early September I aerated and over seeded. Everything took and was looking great. I put down some urea in late October.
What's really weird to me is the problem is in the backyard, the front yard has the same grass but it looks fine.
I'm thinking i need to oversees, should I aerate again as well. Or is it possible for it to bounce back?

Thanks for all your help


----------



## LemmyCat (Apr 24, 2019)

Here are some photos of how it looked before winter


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

If it is snow mold dethatch, it should come back. Snow mold is a desease of the leaf. Dethatch to get rid of the older material and increase air flow


----------



## Guarddawg30 (Aug 8, 2020)

The first thing I would do and I am far from an expert is give it a light raking...It will pull some of the debris up. It will also stand the grass up and let some air get to the soil..Give it a few days and then possibly cut it a setting higher to clean it up a bit.


----------



## dicko1 (Oct 25, 2019)

In my lawn, the tttf does that every winter. Mine is a mixed ryegrass, bluegrass, tttf lawn and it appears that only the tttf turns completely brown and mats down in the winter. Give it time. It'll perk up when warmer weather arrives.


----------



## jimmythegreek (Aug 7, 2020)

No expert but a gentle raking to open it up amd pull up any dead stuff is first. You could bag now to suck it up amd let warmer weather help it grow out. When temps are better feed it amd push growth.


----------



## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

I would use a leaf rake to get it to stand up get some air in there then cut to pick up what ever you raked. It will bounce back don't panic just yet. I don't recommend a mechanical de thatching to aggressive.


----------



## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

honestly dont worry, it will regrow and produce new blades, try to go light on the nitrogen and it should do rather well. Time is your friend


----------



## Harts (May 14, 2018)

^+1 It's snow mold and matted down grass. No need to do a heavy dethatch. Just rake it to allow it to breathe. The mold will get cut off once you start mowing. For reference, here is my front lawn before and after raking last weekend:


----------



## LemmyCat (Apr 24, 2019)

Okay, thanks for the advice. I should have mentioned that I had raked it prior to those photos.
I looked yesterday and can see some nice green blades popping through the yellow stuff.
I am still concerned about the amount of bare soil. I have two bags of Milo that I'll put down and then put down some seed later in April and hope for the best.

Again, thanks everyone


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Hey rather then the milo try soemthing a little more potent to spur the growth...save the milo for the summer time. Milo does best when the warmer temperatures are present. Right now you want to get some growth.


----------



## Jersey_diy (Sep 5, 2020)

Hey rather than the milo try something a little more potent to spur the growth...save the milo for the summer time. Milo does best when the warmer temperatures are present. Right now you want to get some growth.


----------



## Bowhunter (Apr 16, 2020)

Boy do I feel better viewing the snow mold posts. My turf always looks amazing when I put it away in fall, then it looks horribly dead come spring. 
I typically dethatch in fall renting a blu bird or similar heavy duty machine at rental center.
This spring I purchased an inexpensive $129 (Amazon)Greenworks de thatcher only a 14" wide, very light weight and didn't in my view was not aggressive. 
I couldn't top seed, as I followed up with Jonathan Green pre emergent fertilizer. 20-0-03? 
Fingers crossed. I'm encouraged after reading others. Good luck all.


----------



## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Bowhunter said:


> Boy do I feel better viewing the snow mold posts. My turf always looks amazing when I put it away in fall, then it looks horribly dead come spring.
> I typically dethatch in fall renting a blu bird or similar heavy duty machine at rental center.
> This spring I purchased an inexpensive $129 (Amazon)Greenworks de thatcher only a 14" wide, very light weight and didn't in my view was not aggressive.
> I couldn't top seed, as I followed up with Jonathan Green pre emergent fertilizer. 20-0-03?
> Fingers crossed. I'm encouraged after reading others. Good luck all.


How did everything work out? Was it worth dethatching?


----------



## M32075 (May 9, 2019)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> Bowhunter said:
> 
> 
> > Boy do I feel better viewing the snow mold posts. My turf always looks amazing when I put it away in fall, then it looks horribly dead come spring.
> ...


What's the update ? Did the lawn bounce back?


----------



## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

https://mobile.twitter.com/uwpaul/status/1380588092243943424


----------

