Patchy lawn - frustrating, dreadful and eliminating joy from my life

[Username]

Dear colleagues,

This is my first post so I would like to say hello to all.
I am a 35 years old mainframe specialist, married, kid, dog two cats. Than my yard. My yard is not ok. Last year I’ve had someone and plow it with some machine to plant new lawn ( most expensive I could find some English lawn etc ). However my lawn is growing in patches. Some patches are thick, dark green, healthy and grow big strong with thick blades, and some, mostly of it, anemic, yellowish …. I’ve given it water, I’ve raked it, I’ve basically picked up a pitch form and aerated the hell out of it : sticking the spikes in the ground and lifting delicately to losen the soil. Nothing works. The empty spots you can see are where the dog used to pee, for about a months she’s not peeing on the lawn anymore. I’ve done everything I could, water, rain, fertilizer. Nothing works. My last solution, except posting here for help, is to pick up a shovel and start digging and start fresh, where the grass is unhealthy. Back breaking work.
My question is, this yellow unhealthy grass with shallow roots. Does it eventually grow under the right conditions or is it stuck in its current state no matter what I do?
Thank you kindly for your time and attention.

 

[Username]

PS, I forgot to mention, that anemic yellowish little fragile grass is like this for at least a year.

 

[Tetters]

Welcome to the forum @Username.
I think you are taking this all a bit too seriously. Gardens are a place to enjoy. More important is a happy family, and happy dog and cats.
If you see your child or animals as less important than the grass you will never be happy.
You will always have limited use of your space anyway with all those conifer trees sucking the moisture from the soil.
As it stands at the moment, your grass looks very good to me in only one year. Now you have to be patient. Why worry so much? Cut your grass often, and do not have the mower blade too low. Let it stay a little longer. It will improve over time, except for the areas near the conifers.
You have a lovely space there for your child to play. Maybe you could build a playground with a slide and swing. Enjoy it.
Will you grow some vegetables somewhere and some flowers for the wildlife ?

 

[Username]

Good evening,
My sincere apologies for the very late reply, however, you were kind to devote time to hear my plea. We have a local garden shop, quite a big one and i guess the owners are tired of me complaining about my lawn that they sent their son for a visual inspection. Actually they are good people we get along fine I just exaggerate for amusement. Anyway, he recommended I cut the gras, aerate and use a rake to get the big grass and let the little one stay and decompose, therefore acting as a natural fertilizer. I e dine just that. I’m keeping it moist most of the time, all the time actually after reseeding. Unfortunately here it’s a very cold summer so I might have to reseed later on in the summer.
I love nature and gardening.
We got from the previous owners (used house and property ) a mature peach tree, rhododendron bush, a large beautiful magnolia, and a beautiful large black chokeberry bush. I’ve planted a nectarine, apricot, apple, 2x cherry, pear and a quince tree. Also a lilac bush. We have lots of strawberries and raspberries. Last autumn I also planted lots of tulip and hyacinth bulbs that wild pigs ate.
In the autumn I want to plant in the shady areas tens or hundreds of lily of The Valley, since I reas they tolerate shade well.
Anyway, just a little update and in a few weeks I will inform on how the lawn is doing.

Have a wonderful evening ahead

 

[Susan BBPM]

It looks to me as if your dog has been peeing on the grass? Dog pee has lots of nitrogen so it causes rapid, lush growth (if it's diluted enough by rain) or death if it's dry. So that explains the lush patches and dead spots.

We have four Beagles. Short of running out every time the dog pees wit ha watering can to dilute it there's not much you can do.

Our solution was to introduce clover and other 'weeds' into the lawn. That way our lawn always looks lush and green. From a distance, if you look down our street our front lawn is the greenest and best. Yet in reality it's full of weeds. In the summer it's full of clover, daisies etc.

 

[oneeye]

Just bring in a truckload of composted compost every year and in five years you will have a super yard that's better than anyone else's. Your lawn could also benefit now by just adding a few bags of composted manure to top-dressed about 1/2 in on the lawn. Your soil is dying from the over applications of fertilizers over the years. If you keep putting a lot of chemical fertilizers on your lawn it will just get worse. Feed the soil not the grass.

 

[DirtMechanic]

@Username that grass looks like some kind of fescue. Does it have a proper name? The reason I ask is I looked up Ruda Śląska, Poland and see that you are at about 50 degrees latitude and that grass could fit the bill. Did they grow it from seed? Another clue. Anyway it has two characteristics: A tendency to clump and a real talent for producing thatch. The thatch can cover soil and prevent spring growth so it is usually dethatched annually. The fescue grass is also usually reseeded as the clumps separate.