Changes

Well, life happens and things change and what has changed the most as of late is my amount of free time, which has dwindled down to nearly nothing after the birth of our precious son - it's a wonderful change! What this means for this blog, for anyone who actually still follows it, is that my posts will be few and far between and likely sparse in content. I'm planning to continue trying to post things that I do for my records, but the story-like format will likely cease. We'll see what happens, but I'm already behind as it is.

As it stands right now, we finally got our irrigation system fixed and turned on today, which is good because it has been quite dry lately and the grass was starting to show the stress (footprints stay after walking on it)!

Backyard is doing great and still going strong after fertilizing it a few weeks ago. It's also liking the water I gave it today. The backyard is my new pride and joy - it's simply amazing how much it has filled in so quickly. The supina bluegrass seems to be doing great, and it's so soft to walk on. I love it.

The front yard - not good. The rust just took over and infested the new grass and much of it has died. My hope is that it might spring back, but I don't give it very good odds of that happening. We'll see. I sprayed the rust and powdery mildew with some fungicide today - I hate doing that, but it's that or I watch more of the lawn get killed off. I'll hopefully have a post on this as well. It will have some sad photos. I should have paid more attention to this line in the Purdue leaf rust publication:

On newly seeded stands, apply fungicides at the first sign of disease.

Live and learn...

Turf problems

What else is new?

So, something isn't quite right. While the rest of the lawn has been greening up quite well, the new Kentucky bluegrass that I planted in the front yard last fall just isn't. It's still very short and hasn't been nearly long enough to mow even though I've mowed the rest of the lawn several times already.

Some shots I took today of the lawn:

New grass (in center)

New grass

Mmm, look at that grass!

Recovering from weeds

New gress

Also, I have noticed some patches of disease.

Up close

This looks a lot like the disease I noticed last year, but contrary to what I thought last year, I'm thinking that it's actually leaf rust. When I rubbed it with my fingers it left an orange coloring. The Purdue publication on the disease says (my emphasis added):

Rust outbreaks are most common in late summer and early fall, although sometimes the disease is active in the early spring (especially on poorly nourished turf). Rust is a disease of slow growing turf, so factors that contribute to poor growth tend to favor rust development. Such factors include summer heat and drought stress, low nitrogen fertility, compaction, and shade.

I can certainly rule out summer head and drought stress. Also:

Maintaining a healthy and vigorous turf stand is the most effective and efficient method of rust control. Since slow growing turf in mid- to late summer is most vulnerable to outbreaks, small amounts of nitrogen fertilizer (0.2-0.5 pound of N per 1,000 square feet) in chronic trouble spots (shaded and possibly compacted areas) will help control the disease. The nitrogen will promote leaf growth and allow for regular mowing, which helps the turf outgrow rust's relatively slow infection cycle.

Additionally, I'm seeing another apparent disease that looks like this:

Up close

I'm thinking that this is likely powdery mildew. Thankfully the Purdue publication on this disease describes it as being more or less harmless:

The disease is rarely responsible for any lasting damage to turf, so its effects are primarily aesthetic.

And:

Powdery mildew occurs most often on slow-growing turf, usually in shaded areas. Pathogen activity is favored by cool, cloudy conditions that prevail in spring and fall. Prolonged periods of dew or wet weather are not needed for disease establishment and spread, although periods of high humidity favor disease development.

So, I'm starting to think that all of the above problems could be caused by malnutrition. Perhaps it needs some fertilizer? I applied some with the crabgrass preventer a few weeks ago, but since I only applied a half "dose", I only ended up applying around about .33 lbs N/1000 sq ft. I think I'll give it a try and put down some fertilizer and see what happens (as usual).

What's this?

I noticed some yellowing areas of grass after mowing yesterday and upon closer inspection of the blades, this is what I found:

Kentucky bluegrass blade with disease

Kentucky bluegrass blade with disease

General appearance of grass

What is it? I don't know. I've been doing some research online and reading the Purdue publications on various diseases, but I'm still not sure. It looks like it could be either leaf spot or leaf rust disease. I can test to see if it's rust by seeing if it rubs off easily. I'll test for that when I get a chance. I could see it being leaf spot going by this description from the Purdue publication on the disease:

Leaf spot (caused by Drechslera poae) is a summer disease that requires long dew periods, warm evening temperatures, and ample precipitation to establish and spread. Close mowing can aggravate disease outbreaks by increasing stress on plants and allowing spores greater access to crowns and roots.

I have been mowing closely for several weeks since planting and have irrigated frequently (not so much any more). It also appears that only the old grass is infected, which also gives credence to the theory since the newer varieties are likely more resistant. I'll keep an eye on it, but I sure hope it doesn't get worse - that would make me sad...