The rest of the yard looks pretty good. Interesting… What do you think it could be?
(Location: PNW)
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I suggest digging down about 6 to 10 inches. Be mindful of utility lines. If there’s broken concrete from the sidewalks as backfill, it’s likely messing with temperature and water retention. I had a similar issue and it was the fix.
@Zora
I dug up right along my sidewalk because my grass would die every summer. 4 inches down revealed a lot of gravel used for the sidewalk base. I had to remove about 8 inches and backfill with good soil. I ended up with about a yard of gravel from a 30ft stretch.
It looks like my lawn where my dog usually pees.
Thorn said:
It looks like my lawn where my dog usually pees.
I got in trouble with my wife for the same reason. In my defense, I always aim for weeds.
Thorn said:
It looks like my lawn where my dog usually pees.
I got in trouble with my wife for the same reason. In my defense, I always aim for weeds.
Please don’t pee on roaringpenguin’s lawn.
Thorn said:
It looks like my lawn where my dog usually pees.
I don’t think it’s that since it only happens in the summer. My neighbors’ dogs go out all year, and we don’t see problems for most of the year.
@Niko
I vote dog pee too. In the summer heat, grass is more stressed and can’t handle the excess urea from dog pee, especially if it’s been dry or if you’ve been fertilizing regularly, which can ‘over-fertilize’ the grass.
@Niko
It could be heat/drought stress combined with fertilizer making urine effects more pronounced. Or, you might have solid debris like rocks or concrete below the surface. It’s worth pushing a metal rod down to check below the yellow spots.
@Aubrey
I noticed that last spring. I rented a jack and broke up areas along the edge (street side). I’m curious why the dead spots extend several feet back though.
I would sod cut it and dig down about 4 inches. Chunks of cement and gravel are common in new construction areas.
Is that a sidewalk? Do people walk their dogs along here?
Put cayenne pepper along there; it should help next year.
Could it be burning due to excess nitrogen in those areas?
It’s celebrating St. Augustine; nothing to worry about.
I think radiant heat from the pavement and darker mulch areas might be causing this. These areas get warmest during summer and could lead to the grass cooking on the edges. You can alleviate this by manually watering the edges more frequently next summer.
@Aris
That’s definitely a factor. This is a common issue with grass. Spike aeration near edges is effective for mitigating that stress from radiant heat and enhances watering effectiveness.
Remy said:
Grubs.
I didn’t see any grubs while pulling some of the dead grass up. Right now (October), it looks healthy. The issue only appears in the summer months. This pic is from around August. I want to prep a fix for next summer.
@Niko
Wouldn’t grubs already have caused damage to the roots and exited by August? You may want to apply a preventative treatment around June.