What is wrong with our lawn?

This was our back yard in May.


And this is our back yard today..


It has happened this way every year. We built in 2012 so we started with a dirt back yard. We've seeded every year, aerated the last two years, we have a lawn service come and apply fertilizer and/or pre-emergent at scheduled intervals. In the spring, it looks lush and green and thick (except for a few spots where the dogs go), then in the summer it looks horribly patchy or just downright brown.

I know it's typical for lawns to go dormant in the summer heat, and we could certainly do better about watering, but our yard is by far the worst looking one on our block and I know our neighbors aren't all watering regularly, and some are clearly not tending to their lawns at all, yet they look way better than our patchy brown mess. I'm at a loss!

We are also seeing a bunch of mushrooms back there now, even when it hasn't rained recently. Also not seeing that in other yards. I'm worried we have some kind of fungal issue back there.. But I had no idea something fungal could survive 90+ degree weather with very little rain and zero shade (no mature trees).

Help!!!!

 

I bet it's thatch.
It's hard slog if it is but worth it.
Tools: any thatch rake will remove it be prepared for the lawn to look a mess till grass grows.
It could of course be some insect/slugs/worms.
K

 

Sounds good Toni.
I am having a company called Greenthumb to remove the thatch I have this Autumn.
K

 

What are you seeding with ? Many of the lawn seeds you buy are not right for all areas. Some can not tolerate the heat.

 

Thanks for the replies. I have seen a few June bugs around here and some grubs when gardening, but nothing major. We've had Trugreen doing our seeding, I believe they used tall fescue. They've also done our aeration the past two years, which I thought would have helped control thatch?

Whatever the cause, what stumps me is how it goes back to green and thick in the spring and fall, which tells me the grass isn't actually getting killed. It just seems to really, REALLY suffer during the heat. It's mowed every 10 days and not too low.

On a separate note, how do we get rid of all these dang mushrooms? Other than knocking them over with my foot every few days!

 

Fescue is a cool season grass which is why you are having problems. For an all season lawn,, see if anyone you know has bermuda grass. If so ask if they will let you get some runners and place the runners in the worst areas . Water well and soon they will spread, Bermuda takes heat well with a minimum of water and that will give you cover till the fescue comes back in fall.
Mushrooms do not hurt anything so I just leave mine alone. I like to watch them grow.

 

Will the fescue and Bermuda live together without one taking over? A couple of our neighbors have all Bermuda lawns, which are nice in the summer but then totally brown in winter, so it's the same kind of problem just in a different season.

 

Here are the mushrooms my daughter mentioned...those suckers are BIG!! I should have put something beside the close ups so you have a scale. Think salad plate size though of the biggest..that'll give you an idea.

Also a closer view of the grass.

And as I've been reading, I've been wondering. At first I figured it just needed to be watered more. Y'know, because this is Tennessee and it gets blazing hot and humid here!! High 90's weeks on end, so humid you can't breathe, hot hot hot! But I'm looking out my 2nd floor window right now and I can see a half dozen back yards. They are all, one for one, much greener than Paige's yard, and I NEVER see sprinklers out there...not in the back yards anyway.

\

 

It doesn't surprise me so much that the back yards are greener than ours, because most of them are weed lawns as the homeowners never put down seed or sod. But the front yards all began as sod from the builder, and while some are weedy now, most of them are still thick green grass even in summer while ours is ugly, patchy, and brown.

 

Wow what big Mushrooms!
We get fungi if it's too damp but very small one which I remove.
K

 

Paige, bermuda will take over--fescue can't fight it off. Why not have a dormant lawn in the winter? Most plants need a rest, which is called "dormant". Frankly, here in central Texas we look forward to the time when we don't have to mow weekly!

The mushrooms may be an indication that there are old tree roots rotting underground. Each time we have a tree taken out, mushrooms show up about a year to 18 months later when the roots rot. Mushrooms won't harm you, the children, nor the pets as long as they don't eat them, and probably do no harm even if they DO eat them (but don't experiment!).

What kind of fertilizer is the company applying? There are fertilizers that are nitrogen heavy and give a quick boost to green plants, and then there are the types that improve the soil.

Perhaps if you start applying twice a year applications of 2" to 4" of compost to the yard, cut back on the weed killer, and let your lawn grass go dormant in the appropriate season, you'll be happier with your yard.

 

We use corn gluten on our lawn (natural) and we just had 2 neighbors ask what we use because our grass is so green. We also use milorganite in between applications. They use a company that comes and spray their lawns and they look pretty brown and sick. We do have weeds but I would rather look at green clover than brown areas. I hope you can get some help on the type of lawn you want. It can happen if you can find the right applications for your area.

 

Go with the professional landscaper help. You can renovate it by planting some flower plants.