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There’s nothing worse than a lovely green lawn that is marred by patches of yellowing grass. Read on to find out the common causes on why your lawn could be turning yellow and how to fix it.

If the tips of your grass have turned yellow, but the rest of the blade is green then there is probably a quick and easy solution. You may just need to replace the blade on your lawnmower. A dull or blunt lawnmower blade might be tearing the grass and fraying the edges which then yellow as the tips of the grass dry out.

If the entire grass blade is yellow then you may need to consider a few more causes to find the right fix:

Petrol Spills

Spilt petrol can easily turn your lawn yellow. If you use a petrol lawnmower then you should fill it up away from the grass. If you do spill petrol on the lawn, then you should clean the spillage up as quickly as possible and flood the area with water to dilute the fuel. You may need to dig this area of the lawn up in order to get a green lawn once again.

Prolonged Heat

Prolonged periods of heat can cause the grass to dry out and lose its colour. This could happen in just a couple of days depending on your grass and the temperatures reached. This could be a sign that your lawn’s root structure is quite shallow. To get the colour back into your lawn, you could water your lawn, however to tackle the cause of the problem and reduce the likelihood of it happening again you will need to encourage your grass to root deeply. To do this water deeply but less frequently.

Too Short

If you cut the grass too short then it may turn yellow. The grass ends up not having enough moisture which causes the yellowing. You will often be able to recognise this as it will happen soon after cutting the lawn. Allow your grass to grow longer and provide it with sufficient water to grow. Next time you mow your lawn raise the cutting height of your lawnmower. If you seem to get patches of yellow or brown grass after cutting the lawn it may be because you are cutting the lawn too short or scalping the law in these areas. This is often caused by the lawn being uneven. To prevent this you can increase the cutting height of your lawnmower when cutting these areas or consider flattening the lawn or applying a top dressing for a more even lawn.

Nutrient Deficiency

Your lawn could be lacking the required nutrients, specifically iron or nitrogen. To fix this issue you can add a fertiliser to your lawn that is rich in these vital components and it should regain its colour in a few days. Always follow the instructions on the packet. Too much nitrogen will also turn the grass yellow. This is the reason why dog urine damages your lawn. If you have a dog you should encourage them to use areas of the garden that do not have grass and that you do not mind them using or use a product such as Dog Rocks.

Backyard Equipment

If the grass has turned yellow around chicken coops, lawn furniture, children’s play equipment, swings or other areas of the garden that gets a lot of use, it’s probably caused by soil compaction. This is where the soil particles have become too close and stop oxygen and water from circulating correctly. To fix soil compaction you need to aerate your lawn. This can be done using an aerator or by plunging a garden fork into the ground in regular intervals.

Contact the Daleys Turf team to learn more.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Hi. I had moved into a new Villa with a lovely back garden last September 2015 but the rear grassed area was awful. It had a lot of ‘bindy’ in it. The Gardener I used laid new Sir Walter Raeleigh Lawn for me just prior to Christmas. First of all he killed off the old grass and left that for 2 weeks.
    Now my new lawn looks awful. Some of it looks like it has died.
    I tried to water it as often as I could using Tank water. What is the solution?

    1. Hi Margaret,
      So you now have “Sir Walter”, it will take a little while to get establish to this new environment, especially in this hot period. The new lawn will brown off to conserve energy, and should put this energy into growing stronger roots. Keep your lawn well watered, morning and arvo, it will respond, the installer should have fertilised before installation, if he didn’t then you will need to do this. Sir Walter is remarkable how it recovers.

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