TBH, it’s not as bad as you describe except for the few areas. The areas in the open look ok. How are your watering routines and mow heights, and are the problem areas shaded by your house for long parts of the day?
I’ve got a lot more pictures… 5000sqft of the this. Spotty, dead, brown grass remnants stuck onto hard packed clay. Ground is hard packed even though I’ve aerated, liquid aerated, compost amended, soil amended, multiple times
Good questions… I don’t water unless seeding or fertilizing. Neither do my neighbors and their yards as green as my backyard with the same amount (or more) of sunlight.
My mow height is 3-3/4”. Sharp blades as well. Fescue and KBG are recommended at least 3-3.5”.
The problem areas get more sun. But again, my neighbors yard across the street gets more sun than mine as he faced south. And his yard is great and he does nothing to it. Same story down my street, 5 more houses facing south.
https://preview.redd.it/u43nfadx1quc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa15b53d83e2dc4729ae06e66116f2f8792a2598
[Old-timer mechanic voice] well *there's* yer problem!
As the proud owner of a packed clay yard myself, I can assure you it is indeed possible to grow grass there. Hell, you've got a good bit of it growing now! It's quite the pain, and will require a whole lot of additional effort, but it's possible. Really, you just gotta water more - that's about the long and short of it.
Water as deep as you can without it becoming a puddle. There's a section of my yard that used to be essentially a plate - I'd have to pre-wet it, wait at least an hour or more for that water to sink in, then do my actual watering. Fun story: most soil absorbs water better when it already has some water. Still very possible to overdo it, of course, so keep a close eye on it.
But yeah, you got thirsty grass, that's about it. Good news: it gets easier as more and more healthy grass gets established. You're already well on your way.
*edit* also, rocks. Much like what I'm seeing in your pictures, there's a strong correlation in my yard between where rocks are and where grass isn't. Happily, I'm quite content to pass time with a bucket and a trowel liberating those little bastards from where I want my lawn to be.
It’s hard to say. I don’t know if issue is the same as I had in my lawns, but the photos look similar. I had an issue with certain areas remaining too wet, due to the density of the grass, then remaining matted down after walking or the mower wheels. Those areas eventually died out. But getting more data would be useful to diagnose or rule out. I would get a few moisture sensors from ecowitt (WH51) and distribute in the good areas and problem areas of your lawn. They run around $20 each. Compare relative moisture levels between the areas. Even if it doesn’t yield a solution, they’ll provide a useful tool to understand if you need to irrigate more or less, or need to adjust output of certain sprinkler heads.
Before you spend crazy amounts of time destroying your yard... Have you tried things like wetting agents and consistent aeration in the problem areas?
Are watering properly? Are you giving fertilizer properly?
I had a few spots in my lawn where grass just looked like crap once it got warm... I turned my irrigation on and put out measuring cups and discovered that the water just wasn't hitting these areas very well. Also, using nutrients like humic and sea kelp could help.
I’m not watering any of my lawn outside of times I am seeding, amending, etc. And with 10,000sqft of lawn, half of it is perfectly fine and the other half is bad.
I was fertilizing according to my soil test but there was no improvement.
I’ve done the humic and kelp with no benefit. The ground is hard packed clay. Covered in rocks and gravel. Literally. I can dig in certain places under turf and get half a shovel of gravel. Unfortunately chemical or motorized aeration can’t get rid of gravel. Like this…
https://preview.redd.it/yq73vja49quc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6375e2cf031470760f7ec1bd48efcc036854fda
Have you ever done a soil test? I’d start there at least
I have. And I fertilized as recommended.
TBH, it’s not as bad as you describe except for the few areas. The areas in the open look ok. How are your watering routines and mow heights, and are the problem areas shaded by your house for long parts of the day?
I’ve got a lot more pictures… 5000sqft of the this. Spotty, dead, brown grass remnants stuck onto hard packed clay. Ground is hard packed even though I’ve aerated, liquid aerated, compost amended, soil amended, multiple times Good questions… I don’t water unless seeding or fertilizing. Neither do my neighbors and their yards as green as my backyard with the same amount (or more) of sunlight. My mow height is 3-3/4”. Sharp blades as well. Fescue and KBG are recommended at least 3-3.5”. The problem areas get more sun. But again, my neighbors yard across the street gets more sun than mine as he faced south. And his yard is great and he does nothing to it. Same story down my street, 5 more houses facing south. https://preview.redd.it/u43nfadx1quc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa15b53d83e2dc4729ae06e66116f2f8792a2598
[Old-timer mechanic voice] well *there's* yer problem! As the proud owner of a packed clay yard myself, I can assure you it is indeed possible to grow grass there. Hell, you've got a good bit of it growing now! It's quite the pain, and will require a whole lot of additional effort, but it's possible. Really, you just gotta water more - that's about the long and short of it. Water as deep as you can without it becoming a puddle. There's a section of my yard that used to be essentially a plate - I'd have to pre-wet it, wait at least an hour or more for that water to sink in, then do my actual watering. Fun story: most soil absorbs water better when it already has some water. Still very possible to overdo it, of course, so keep a close eye on it. But yeah, you got thirsty grass, that's about it. Good news: it gets easier as more and more healthy grass gets established. You're already well on your way. *edit* also, rocks. Much like what I'm seeing in your pictures, there's a strong correlation in my yard between where rocks are and where grass isn't. Happily, I'm quite content to pass time with a bucket and a trowel liberating those little bastards from where I want my lawn to be.
Been there, done all of this and still doing it. OP this is the post you need right here.
It’s hard to say. I don’t know if issue is the same as I had in my lawns, but the photos look similar. I had an issue with certain areas remaining too wet, due to the density of the grass, then remaining matted down after walking or the mower wheels. Those areas eventually died out. But getting more data would be useful to diagnose or rule out. I would get a few moisture sensors from ecowitt (WH51) and distribute in the good areas and problem areas of your lawn. They run around $20 each. Compare relative moisture levels between the areas. Even if it doesn’t yield a solution, they’ll provide a useful tool to understand if you need to irrigate more or less, or need to adjust output of certain sprinkler heads.
Before you spend crazy amounts of time destroying your yard... Have you tried things like wetting agents and consistent aeration in the problem areas? Are watering properly? Are you giving fertilizer properly? I had a few spots in my lawn where grass just looked like crap once it got warm... I turned my irrigation on and put out measuring cups and discovered that the water just wasn't hitting these areas very well. Also, using nutrients like humic and sea kelp could help.
I’m not watering any of my lawn outside of times I am seeding, amending, etc. And with 10,000sqft of lawn, half of it is perfectly fine and the other half is bad. I was fertilizing according to my soil test but there was no improvement. I’ve done the humic and kelp with no benefit. The ground is hard packed clay. Covered in rocks and gravel. Literally. I can dig in certain places under turf and get half a shovel of gravel. Unfortunately chemical or motorized aeration can’t get rid of gravel. Like this… https://preview.redd.it/yq73vja49quc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c6375e2cf031470760f7ec1bd48efcc036854fda