Lawns. Why they die. How to make them live.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I have a little chunk of earth in back of my house under a big orange tree. When I moved here in spring 2003, it was nicely green. Nothing special, just alive and green and lively. I have sprinklers and a gardener.

Well, every year from 2003 - 2007, the grass would mostly go away in the winter (I’m in Los Angeles, yes, we do have a winter. It’s wimpy, but it’s enough to make the lawn go away), leaving some scraggle and mud. Then, come spring, it would come back thick and green and stay that way for 6-8 months.

I do have dogs, now one dog. They did use it for toilet, and I cleaned up religiously, and we did play. But it never affected the lawn noticeably.

Then, two summers ago…poof. Nuthin. Dirt. No lawn. It didn’t come in funky or thin…it just didn’t come in. Like…it was over. All done. Bye. See ya.

So last summer, in the midst of my legal junk, I messed around jsut planting random stuff, and if I broke the earth and amended it, stuff would grow.

I noticed when I was digging that the entire thing has green netting about an inch down. I’m going to guess that this is evidence that at some point in the past someone put down sod? Does sod just give up after a few years?

And what’s the absolute cheapest ways to get anything to grow. ANYTHING that’s low and can be walked on. I just don’t want dirt, and I’m willing to do some work, but not a lot. And not a lot of expense.

So is the soil exhausted? Im stumped…

Any cheap sources for large amounts of nitrogen-fixing seeds would be welcome.

2

No clue why your particular grass died, but I just had to say that I hate that green mesh crap. Hate it with the intensity of a thousand burning suns.

As for something besides grass that can be walked on, check out this site: http://www.stepables.com/.

3

We live in Las Vegas and probably shouldn’t have a lawn at all, considering water conservation and all. Still, it is a small patch in the backyard, not exactly a golf course.

At any rate, for the first few years it was great…had to mow it twice a week; lush, thick grass.

Then things start turning funky. For no particular reason, it started to die. Tried fertilizers, more water, less water, add grass seed, put new layer of soil…nada. Talked to the local nursery and they had lots to sell, but nothing has worked.

Have considered installing fake grass, but it is expensive and is also supposedly quite hot to walk on in the summer here. So…looks like the backyard will soon become another patch of gravel soon.

4

Grass needs sunlight - a lot of it.
I had pretty nice lawn when I first moved into my current house. As I planted trees and hedges around the backyard, and allowed them to grow taller, the grass has died everywhere it doesn’t get full sun. It’s pretty striking how the outline of the dirt follows the shade.
So, you might want to try some low-light grass.

5

Grass needs nutrients (fertilizer), water and light. Soil pH must be within certain limits. Barring excess traffic or some toxic or unusual situation, a grass that’s adapted to the region where it’s planted will grow when these requirements are met.

I’d check with my county Extension Service and get some suggestions. Your tax dollars are paying for the service, you might as well benefit from it.

6

The key phrase in your questions is “under a big orange tree.” Orange trees have very dense foliage which blocks nearly all light. Getting grass to thrive under them is nearly impossible. Whoever sold you house put down sod just before putting the house up for sale to make the yard look good. Under a dense tree, the sod will live for a year or so.

Getting grass to grow under an orange tree will be a constant battle. I recommend putting down whatever mulch is reasonably priced in your area.

7

Also, grass is pretty much a weed. Don’t want it where your garden is, POOF, THERE IT IS and it is a bugger to pull out. Want a manicured front lawn, it just freakin’ dies.
Grass is alot like a cat.
The dog’s urine may have something to do with it too. Female dog’s urine will burn grass right up. Male dogs, I dunno.

8

I appreciate the input, and I recognize much truth. The only thing is that it doesn’t follow the shade line, it lasted more than a year, and it kinda happened all at once all over, so dog pee doesn’t seem likely.

And what is an “extension service”?

9

Many Universities (especially in rural or once-rural areas) have a “cooperative extension” which is a clearinghouse for agricultural information, for farmers and homeowners.

http://ucanr.org/

10

I have a large lawn with many ‘sub terrains’ going on.

Grass loves light, but not full sun all the time. Grass seems to grow better near trees where they get alot of sun but are blocked from the sun some of the time. HOWEVER - I do have a competing theory - that the grass is not liking the partial shade but is thriving on the tree blocking the water with it’s leaves and dripping said water straight down. This would mean the grass woudl prefer full sun but the additional water more than compensates.

Water.

LOTS of water. Grass LOVES water.

Fertilise…not too often…but often enough.

Aeration - the ground needs to be aerated or the grass will slowly strangle off. The more you walk on it, the more often it needs this. IME aeration is EXTREMELY important.

Grass doesn’t like some trees. Evergreens for instance. Something about evergreens and grass not coexisting well together. Maybe Orange tree is the same (we don’t get them fancy orange trees up here!)

Cutting grass too short. I cut to 3" which is what most neighbors allow their loawn to grow to BEFORE they cut it. I cut it to 3". My grass always seems to be in better shape than theirs.

Also, grass can be some finicky bastards. Every once in awhile an area of the grass just dies or gets really anemic looking. It can linger for awhile (like a full year) then comes back like nothing is wrong.