New seeded lawn turning yellow in places

Hi

I put grass seeds down at the end of september having prepared the ground as advised from various sources

The grass is growing really well although a bit patchy at this moment in time

My main concern is there is a slight yellow tinge in patches. Do i need to worry about this at this stage and at this time of year?

Also one or two other questions

Am i ok to walk on the lawn at this early stage?

Will the lawn thicken out as time goes on as i don't think there's much i can do about it at this time of the year

Lastly am i ok to leave it without attempting to mow it until the spring?

Thanks for looking and i appreciate any hepl/advice

Stuart

 

I am not the lawn guru on here but yellow lawns could be a number of things , have you cut the grass since you have sowed it , and what prep did you give the soil before planting ?
also any patches you could of re seeded as it gives the chance of weeds getting a foot hold in the lawn , I only cut my lawns last week as its been so mild but mine is a established lawn

Spruce

 

Its hard to be sure without a photo, but if it is only very slight, I wonder if it is just because the grass germinated late in the year, when although warm, sunlight levels are still fairly low. So the grass has raced away with two much warmth/not enough light combo, that makes it grow fast from the energy reserves in the seed, but can't photosynthesise enough. If it is only very slight, I think it will be fine now that proper November temperatures are coming to slow it down.

I would avoid walking on it as much as possible at this stage. Its not so bad with a spring sowing, when growth is accelerating and the ground is relatively dry. At present though, the ground is going to be getting more soggy, meaning it will compact easier, and your grass will be slowing down to dormant before it has any real roots, or energy reserves, so there is a great risk you'll just trample it in.

Yes. Not likely much between now and spring though.

Don't mow it. At this stage, if you put a mower on it, you're more likely to rip the young grass out by its roots than make a clean cut.

 

Thanks spruce and clueless

Tried to upload a pic but the File was too large

Yes a would describe it as slight at the moment. It only became noticeable last week

I haven't walked on it at all but just want to go over it to pick up a few leaves that have fallen on it. i will just do that then leave it till spring

I feel more confident now about leaving things until spring and i will try not to worry about the yellow

Thanks again

Stuart

 

So it is shaded out by trees then? This further supports my theory about yellowing due to lack of sunlight for photosynthesis. But it also gives a new minor problem.

If you let the leaves sit on the surface for more than a few days, not only will the grass be further starved of light, but also the worms will come up to feed on the fallen leaves, so you'll get worm casts in your new lawn. Not that much of a problem in itself, but if you then trample on them then you end up with muddy patches.

I know I said avoid walking on it if you can, but on dry days, I'd go on to remove fallen leaves. Its a trade-off between trampling it but keeping the leaves off, or not trampling it but having the leaves stay there and further shade out the grass. So I'd probably go on maybe once a week at most for now, and only when there are more than a couple or so leaves there.

It will all be ok though. Worst case scenario, you might have to chuck a bit more seed down in spring just to help any sparse patches along.

 

Thanks again for that

No it's not massively shaded by trees but there is a small section that is shaded by conifers at this time of year but it's not only this shaded bit that is yellowing

The leaves problem is minimal to say the least but I will remove what there is to help get as perfect end result as possible

 

The conifers will also be sucking all the water and nutrients out of the soil, which will make the grass struggle. Its probably not an issue at this time of year, but throughout the growing season, you'll need to keep it well fed and watered.

 

The conifers are in next doors garden and around 4 ft away from the edge of my lawn and on a lower level so I'm confident they won't cause a problem that way...just shade around this time of year. During the summer the lawn will get plenty of sun all over...if we get any :-)