Anyone who has a space in the garden with grass or is in charge of caring for a grassy area has come across the dreaded yellow stains more than once. This problem, which can have many causes, is one of the most headaches for gardeners and gardening enthusiasts around the world, but luckily there is always a solution.
If you want to know why the lawn turns yellow and what are the most important care for lawns to improve it, join us in this EcologíaVerde article in which we clarify the Causes of yellow grass and how to get it back.
Yellow grass due to excess temperatures
There are a large number of species and varieties of grass, each one is suitable for certain climates and conditions. If you live in a warm and your lawn is in direct sunit is very possible that you will find large yellow areas where the light makes more incidence, especially at noon.
The lawn gets very stressed under the intense sun and the species or varieties that are not prepared for very hot environments do so even more. Pay close attention to the characteristics of your climate before planting the grass and try to match its needs to what you can provide.
Yellow grass due to drought
In the same way that an excess of sun can weaken the grass and make it turn yellow, a lack of water will have a very similar effect: dry, yellow, brittle grass. Again, each type of lawn has very different irrigation needs, and these are greatly affected by soil drainage and the climate of the area. Pay attention to how you water, trying do not leave areas without water and other waterlogged ones, and to the possible unevenness of the terrain, which can cause the water to concentrate in certain points.
Diseased grass from waterlogging
If it is possible for the lawn to turn yellow due to lack of irrigation, it is also possible for the opposite to happen. People without much gardening experience tend to think that the more water a plant gets, the better for it, but those of us who have been around for a while know that too much water tends to be more dangerous than too little.
When the ground becomes puddled or flooded, the roots lose the ability to breathe, and tend to rot quickly. Without a root system to feed it, the aerial part of the plant is left without a food source and soon dies. In addition, excess moisture tends to encourage the appearance of all kinds of mushroomsespecially in mild or hot temperatures, which will soon attack the grass and leave yellow zones.
Yellow grass due to lack of sun
Yes there are trees in the area where you have your lawn planted, it is possible that one of them will too much shade on a certain area of the grass that, if it is deprived of light for many hours a day, can end up yellowing and drying out. It is even possible that the roots of the tree have spread superficially under the lawn and are depriving it of water or nutrients.
Yellow grass due to excess nitrogen
Nitrogen is one of the main plant nutrients, and also one of the elements in which almost all fertilizers are richest. However, although nitrogen is essential for the development of vegetation, an excess of this changes soil pH and burns roots.
Yes your lawn yellows evenly you are likely overpaying, so you should reduce the dose of fertilizer or look for one less rich in nitrogen. The excess of the other elements is usually much less important, and really large amounts are needed for it to be a problem.
Another substance very rich in nitrogen is urine. If one or several dogs urinate frequently on a certain area of the lawn, they will end up with the characteristic yellow spots bordered by green, in which the outer area is rich enough in nitrogen to make fertilizer for the lawn, but in the center the concentration is excessive and has burned the grass.
How to get yellow grass back
Once you have found the reason that causes your sick lawn, do what you can to change that element that is harming it.
- If your lawn is getting too much sun, water it more often it can help.
- It is also possible that the ground has become very compacted by the passage of time: stepping on it and the accumulation of dead roots can make the soil impermeable, and it is necessary scarify the ground to aerate itusually at the end of summer and winter.
- You should also make sure that your lawn is not under the fungus attack and, if so, can you treat them with some antifungalalways preferably homemade and organic, are very easy to make.
If you want to learn more about lawns, don’t hesitate to read our articles on When and how to plant lawns and How to remove weeds from lawns.
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