I had a new lawn leveled and hydroseeded in early October, but it started turning yellow after about a month. The lawn guy suggested I might have overwatered it, so I cut back to watering twice a week. However, the grass has stopped growing and doesn’t seem to be doing much at all.
I fertilized with a new lawn starter fertilizer about three weeks ago, which is around the same time the yellowing started.
Could the new topsoil be absorbing the nitrogen from the fertilizer, or did I wash it away by watering too much? Do you think it needs more fertilizer? I haven’t mowed yet since the grass isn’t growing. Any ideas?
The colour looks kind of typical of a burn from the chemicals in my opinion. I don’t know that it’d be hot enough in NZ for morning and arvo watering yet either, so it could be a watering problem.
It’s ugly. Lmao gottem. For real though, how rocky is your soil/how deep is it just first? Has it been excessively rainy? Have you gotten a soil test? Tbh you have green from edge to edge, which is already better than most.
What exact fertilizer did you use and how much of it? The rate is important. Contrary to other comments, this doesn’t scream over-fertilization to me. About a month after germination is typical for new growth to show chlorosis due to nutrient deficiency as that’s often the point when the seed has used up all its inherent nutrients + whatever it can grab from the soil - and if the soil isn’t already nutrient rich, it’ll start to look hungry. I often see discoloring like this in anaerobic soil conditions. Funny enough, hydrophobic conditions can appear similar. How much rainfall have you had since seeding/how much have you watered if no rain, etc.
There are so many factors at play, and without knowing all the details combined with the at-a-distance pictures which don’t show enough detail in the damage to the blade, accurate diagnosis is difficult.
What did you seed? What’s the environment like currently?
The pH of the soil, if offset for turf purposes, can cause nutrient lockout which means it doesn’t even matter how much fertilizer you put on it. The roots can only take in nutrients in the appropriate pH range.
You can get a cheap soil sampler/probe which will take a long thin plug out of your lawn. If the soil at the bottom of the plug is wet - obviously it’s had too much water. Some close up photos of the yellowing blades would be helpful too.
Looks a lot like what leaf spot looks like from a distance. Check to see if there are brown spots up and down the leaf. New lawns are extra susceptible.
