How to Green Yellow Grass

Yellowing grass is a sign that your lawn is in need of some tender loving care. Water, food, pests and pH levels all need to be monitored carefully to keep your grass in tip-top shape. Disease, pests, a lack of nutrients and exposure to pet urine can all contribute to a lackluster yard. Diagnosing and treating the problem is simply a matter of examining the symptoms.

Instructions

1. Sprinkle rye grass seeds over your freshly mowed lawn in the cold season to treat yellowish brown grass that goes dormant during the winter. Follow this with a good watering. Spread compost or manure over the area to help the rye seeds to germinate into a beautiful winter lawn. Rye grass is a perennial grass that grows well in cool weather and dies off for the warm months.

2. Apply fertilizer regularly during the the height of the growing season to remedy yellow grass. Grass needs to be fed regularly during the busy summer months and especially when there is more sunlight and foot traffic over the grass blades.

3. Apply iron supplements to patches of yellow grass that are near sidewalks and driveways. Consult the instructions on the iron supplement packaging for the appropriate dosage.

4. Water grass after it has been exposed to pet urination. Pet urine contains high levels of nitrogen that grass can not tolerate. Flush potty areas immediately with water to dilute the damage.

5. Measure the pH level of your lawn using a pH meter. Imbalanced pH levels make your grass susceptible to disease and pest infestations. Treat pH levels below 7.0 with lime pellets. Treat pH levels above 7.0 with sulfur granules. Follow the instructions included on the packaging to determine what quantities of lime pellets or sulfur granules are best for the size of your lawn.

6. Apply pest-killing granules where it can be determined that there is an infestation.

Tips & Warnings

• The cold seasons are the best time to apply lime and sulfur treatments for pH restoration.

• Preventive pest treatments can be applied two to four times a year based on the product packaging instructions and the type of pests that are most common to your area. Products are available for general pest infestations while others are used more specifically for the treatment of grubs.

• The natural properties of concrete soak up iron in the nearby soil. The alkaline soils of the West and Midwest are particularly vulnerable.

References

• All About Lawns
• Your Gardening Tips
• Grass Greener