Lawn & Water Butt questions

Hello,
My first post !!
Recent new build and lawn has been down 6/7 months. Has areas of thatch where grass not growing. I have fed miracle grow, watered regularly and cut the top lightly and left to mulch but any other help would be appreciated.
Second question, I have 76mm metal downpipes and would like to install water butts. Anyone recommend one that fits this type & size round pipe ? Most seem to say smaller

Thanks in advance
Paul

 

Hello and welcome.
its not thatch thats your problem. Thatch is a general name, there are 3 types, litter, fibre and thatch or also known as mat.
has these areas always been there?
what type of grass was used?
did these spots start with grass changing colour then dying off before the patch appeared?
when did you first notice the problems?
has any type of herbicide been used to spot spray?
have you been watering the lawn?
how are you applying the feed?
what mower are you using to mulch the grass?
What is the soil makeup, have you checked to see what depth of top soil was added?

New builds and their lawns are often laid by the builders who shall we say have limited experience when it comes to turf. its not uncommon to see rubble or poor soil that has a very light covering of top soil and this creates issues.

 

The lawns where all laid by a professional Horticultural team but the lawn was laid in November last year as its a ex show home and needed to be ready.
The patches are alot in number and have been there since we moved in three weeks ago.
No spot spray used
Water every few days
Feed applied by watering can
Soil make up is clay mostly
Mower is a manual cylinder

Thats as much as I can answer at present

 

is that what they told you or did you employee the landscaping company?
you need to lift or take a plug to test soil depth.

Normally its very hard to tell whats going on unless I'm there and can see whats going on i.e. lift a section.
It could be a grub issue dating back a few weeks, poor turf, a disease, or an issue with the preparation work.
there should be at least 100 to 150mm of top soil but I can see in the first photo that the colour is not uniform and that there is a grey or yellow tint on the grass.
Normally a uniform yellowing is a nutrient issue, if the depth of top soil is low and the soil is poor feeds tend to be very short lived and the turf suffers due to poor root structure.
the grass looks course, probably a rye grass mixture.
If the feed is applied correctly as the miracle grow has a high N and contains some iron you should see the turf respond and turn greener with increase growth.
Rye tends to fill in quickly but again sadly I'm not there to see first hand whats going on.

 

Thank you Liz I will take up a section and look. I have met the lad who does the landscaping and he is on site regularly so I know it to be true. This development is a local builder who is doing a small 50 off development and not the large Persimmon, Story type. He too is here and drops in regularly so decent people. I spoke to the gardener and he was the one who recommended feed and watering and it has grown/become greener. He suggested scarifying but much later if the lawn does not respond.

 

personally i thinks its way to early to scarify, have a look carefully to see the depth.
if they are on site they should be able to see whats going on if they are good with turf.

 

I did notice yesterday in the sun Liz a lot of tiny like fruit flies that came off the grass when me and my son was having a kick about. Could this be a bug issue you referred back to ?
I have read some of your past threads and advice on lawns, unbelievably knowledgable and glad I joined the forum☺️

 

Added some pictures of neighbours lawns. The first is neighbour to the left who moved in a good month or so before we did and my lawn looked the same until I fed and watered. My lawn is second picture and third is neighbour to the right who never has done nothing other than he has a Robo mower that constantly cuts and mulches. I know pictures are not great and difficult to see anything but thought may help

 

Does your neighbours have dogs or cats ?
Notice the deep green spots, have you seen these on your lawn?
This could be an animal that pees on that spot.

Here’s a link that shows some of the grubs.
Turf Pest & Disease Control

The damage I related too would be leather jackets from back in the spring to very early summer time. Only way back then to check is to lift turf and check for the grubs.

The only other and one we may have missed is leaf issues from trees. I can’t see any major trees in the photos but a leaf or two left on the turf can leave a bare spot.

What you could do is simply plug the spot with some grass that you may have been clearing or when edging. That way it’s the same grass type used so it merges in.

I would expect those spots to fill in as the summer continues and you feed to be honest.

 

Hi Liz, yes they do have a dog. The weathers heavy rain today but tomorrow I am going to have a look underneath. The gardener did cut a patch of the bald area out and you could see grass growing underneath and I have been mowing with a cylinder manual mower and just taking the top off, leaving it on the lawn and not collecting so grass cuttings are on the bald areas as you suggest. Will keep feeding and follow your recommendation in another thread to use the miracle grow hose attachment.
Fingers crossed it works out ok
And thanks again

 

just see how it goes, I tried the spray adaptor out last year on my companions lawn and while its not accurate it worked but at some point you could try other means.
a lot depends on the weather, a hot summer like last year is a pain but liquids do well and most likely I was under the rate recommended but lawns fed high N will fold over quicker than lawns not fed or fed on a liquid with low N feed if you don't water the grass.
Its just getting the feed correct for the turf so you end up with a grass plant growing a a more natural rate.
High N is found in domestic stuff as people want to see it grow thinking its working but in reality a good lawn needs as little as 3 to 5 N.