Phoenix Winter Lawn Dying

[Jake J]

Hi there, I planted a new lawn consisting of rye grass seeds the first of October. The lawn took really well the first couple weeks, super lush. The last two weeks it has started to die off. The tips on much of the grass also had turned purple/red before they died off. I was doing a little research, and it seems that it may have a disease? I watered 2 to 3 times a day, and did normal prep work before planting. I also had a small species of mushrooms that sprouted up, leading me to think maybe some sort of fungi problem? Any help is appreciated!

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

Stop watering your lawn two or three times a day. This might help. From now until April, try watering about once a week.
After that... I suppose you will need to water more often.

In all seriousness, consider putting cardboard mulch over the lawn and replace it with a drought-tolerant landscape. Perhaps, think of this lawn as a seasonal cover crop to add biomass to the soil. Yes, I know a lawn is possible in Phoenix, with enough water, time, labor, money, chemicals, and, did I say water?, but it really is a resource sink beyond reasonable justification.

 

[cpp gardener]

The mushrooms are feeding on organic matter in the soil and are not a disease. Any warm-season grass such as Bermuda, St Augustine or Buffalograss are better than ryegrass for a lawn in Phoenix. As Marck said, there are lots of other landscape options unless a lawn is essential as a play surface.