Hidden under the lawn?

[diy_dude]

I recently due over my entire garden and seeded a new lawn. For the first 3 months or so it looked lovely, lush and green all over. In the last couple of weeks part of the lawn looks yellow and is not growing very much at all. The are that is now yellow is the area that was not grass in the garden before I dug it over. The area where the old lawn was is still lovely and green. Have a look at this photo to see what I mean. The area to the top left is the area of concern.

What can I do about this please?

 

[nelsy]

Looks as though there has been a fair amount of walking to and from the play area. When seeding a new lawn, you really need to stay off it for as long as possible to allow it to establish. You could try some lawn repair(buy in garden centre) on that area. A good watering and lawn tonic and stay off the area. Water it daily and you should see an improvement. If there is going to be a regular path through the lawn, the same thing will happen again. You could try using some stepping stones to the swings, either temporary or permanent to give the rest of the lawn a chance to flourish.

 

[diy_dude]

I don't think it has been caused by walking as the back door to the house is in the lower right corner of the picture, not the lower left. The line of change between green grass and yellow grass follows the line of the previous lawn, is this likely to be a coincidence?

 

[numpty with a crowbar]

1) Remove affected lawn
2) remove the bodies underneath and rebury in woods
3) relay fresh turf and fence off till spring to stop kids running across it

 

[masona]

Poor drainage?

 

[diy_dude]

Might be drainage... but it has not rained in Leeds for about 6 weeks now - until today
I thought it might be to do with the soil quality though. The bit that was grass before looks green and lovely. The other bit was bare soil before, could the nutrients have been washed or eroded away? If this is the case, do I need to feed that part of the lawn?

The soil is very heavy clay and forms into very hard lumps when dry. The lawn has cracks in the soil too, mostly visible in the yellow areas.

 

[MasterAbacus]

Well, interesting photo, if its not due to usage, or over usage, id say its not down to drainage, its down to lack of water / moisture in that area.... past couple of weeks weve had a bit of a dry spell, so how often have you watered your lawn? you say its new, id be watering it with the hosepipe at least every other day in an evening....

Dont soppose the sun hits that part more that the rest of the lawn?

As our summer s over, well not that we had one, but id be temted to do a repair job on it now, so is nice for next year... Run a rake over the effected area, (It will look messy) then throw on some more seed... keep watering.... if it doesnt rain.... and see how you get on....

I can see you having problems if we get the forcasted snow this year... kids are gonna want to build snowman... and run all over lawn.... so is it worth trying to fix this year? or should you wait to rake and reseed in the spring....

Maybe try a couple of weeks of watering.... to see how you go

 

[MasterAbacus]

Might be drainage... but it has not rained in Leeds for about 6 weeks now - until today
I thought it might be to do with the soil quality though. The bit that was grass before looks green and lovely. The other bit was bare soil before, could the nutrients have been washed or eroded away? If this is the case, do I need to feed that part of the lawn?

The soil is very heavy clay and forms into very hard lumps when dry. The lawn has cracks in the soil too, mostly visible in the yellow areas.

Defo get the hose pipe on it... well this rain will help you out today.... if we have more than 2-3 dry days again this year, get the hose on it... new lawns love water.....

EG I put down a new seeded lawn this spring, well several... a couple o f people i told didnt bother watering every other day for the first 2 months or so, and their lawn is now really patchy.... others a lush green, One guy even fitted a timer sprinkler system on his so it got a soaking every night at about 10pm.... and is lush..... A well watered lawn will grow more than one less watered, so id expect a cut twice a week on an established lawn to keep it in trim...

 

[JohnD]

I have a feeling that the yellow area lacks topsoil and texture.

you say you have a heavy clay soil, and the yellow area was not grassed before. Was it a flowerbed, paved, concrete, shed or what?

 

[Thermo]

is the area in shade at all?

 

[OLD]

Could be compacted soil so the roots can not grow try to loosen it with a fork and water it.

 

[diy_dude]

The yellow area was partly part and partly cleared border. Before we bought the house, the elderly couple who lived here had the gardener clear the whole garden. I added about 10-15cm of topsoil when I leveled the garden. I guess the soil below that will be fairly compact and will have a quantity of sharp sand where the path used to be.

The yellow bit gets roughly the same amount of sun as the rest of the garden. My son is not yet 2 so does not cause too much wear on the lawn (the reason I did it this year)

I have not been watering it, whoops. I'll try raking, adding new seed and watering if it does not rain.

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice, fingers crossed now...