Rabbits ruining grass?

[ReadWriteLearnLove]

I have large, growing patch in my front yard where the grass is dying and/or already gone. The rest of the lawn is doing fine, considering the drought we've been in. We follow watering restrictions and have verified that our sprinkler system is, in fact, hitting the trouble spot. My neighbor had a similar spot in her yard that she was able to remedy, but she can't remember the name of the product she used to regrow her grass. She was told that the abundance of rabbits in our neighborhood is the culprit. Their waste contains an enzyme or chemical of some sort that kills the grass. Has anyone heard of this, and does anyone know what I can do to gain back my front yard?

 

[Chuck]

I have large, growing patch in my front yard where the grass is dying and/or already gone. The rest of the lawn is doing fine, considering the drought we've been in. We follow watering restrictions and have verified that our sprinkler system is, in fact, hitting the trouble spot. My neighbor had a similar spot in her yard that she was able to remedy, but she can't remember the name of the product she used to regrow her grass. She was told that the abundance of rabbits in our neighborhood is the culprit. Their waste contains an enzyme or chemical of some sort that kills the grass. Has anyone heard of this, and does anyone know what I can do to gain back my front yard?

Where do you live? What is the variety of grass? How long has this been happening?

 

[ReadWriteLearnLove]

I live in North Texas and the grass is a mix of St. Augustine and Bermuda. This has been happening since last spring (2013), the spot started small and just spread, so it's almost half the lawn now.

 

[Kansas Terri]

It would take a huge amount of rabbits to hurt that much lawn!

So, unless you have literally been over run by rabbits, I would suggest you consider another cause. Are grubs a problem in your area? Bare spots in my area are often caused by grubs eating the roots of the grass.

With your currant drought I suspect that a mold disease is NOT a problem, though there may be other diseases of grass in your area.

Is there a nursery in your area that does more than sell seeds? In my area we have a nursery called "The Grass Pad". They specialize in lawns, and they have experts who will tell you what grass problems are common in our area. And, of course they also sell remedies to these problems! Can you find such a business in your area?

 

[ReadWriteLearnLove]

I'm sure I can; I was just hoping to find some sort of answer to have an idea of what I'm working with. The lawn is pretty much at the point to where I'm going to have to call in the experts! We do have a huge amount of rabbits around here, but I was curious as to whether they could do that much damage...thus the question here! Thanks for your help.

 

[Kansas Terri]

I suppose that in theory a lot of rabbits COULD do that much harm, but I think if you had THAT many rabbits you would no longer need to mow because they would be grazing down your lawn!

In my area it would be from either mold or grubs, but you are in a different climate than I am and so your pests would be different.

If your lawn was in Kansas I would suspect grubs, as you are in a drought.

 

[Chuck]

It ain't rabbits, jacks or any other kind. Your lawn is probably dormant now or at least the Bermuda is. How large is this area and if you fertilize what is it fertilized with? Is the St. Augustine declining at the same rate as the Bermuda?

 

[ReadWriteLearnLove]

We used some Scott's fertilizer that we bought at one of the big box stores back in May. It didn't seem to help. Would the grass be dormant all through the summer too? My backyard stayed nice and green, even with the drought and restricted watering schedule. It's pretty much a big bare area now, and has been for several months, no grass of any kind has survived. At this point, I'm pretty sure we'll have to reseed or even put down sod, but I'd like to find the root of the problem so I can stop it or prevent it from happening again.

 

[Chuck]

We used some Scott's fertilizer that we bought at one of the big box stores back in May. It didn't seem to help. Would the grass be dormant all through the summer too? My backyard stayed nice and green, even with the drought and restricted watering schedule. It's pretty much a big bare area now, and has been for several months, no grass of any kind has survived. At this point, I'm pretty sure we'll have to reseed or even put down sod, but I'd like to find the root of the problem so I can stop it or prevent it from happening again.

What you more than likely had or have are grub worms. The June beetle arrives in the spring, lays its eggs in the soil, the larvae hatch out and immediately begin to eat the roots of your grass. If you lay more sod or re-seed you will still have the problem come next spring. And you can't re-seed Bermuda until it gets hot anyway because it will not germinate in cool or cold weather. What you can do now is to sow a bunch of winter rye seeds. Then in early spring apply beneficial nematodes. They will eradicate the grubs or any other soil dwelling pest like fleas or earwigs. When warm weather arrives the winter rye will die. At this time you can re-sod the St Augustine but wait on the Bermuda until about June. If you are going to re-sod lay the sod and then apply about 1/2" of good manure based compost like Lady Bug or Revitilizer and then add a good organic granular fertilizer like Medina GrowingGreen on the top. Forget Scotts. It causes more harm than good

 

[ReadWriteLearnLove]

This sounds like great advice, Thank you so much, Chuck. I really appreciate it. I will definitely give this a try.