We need help with our lawn. We moved into this house a little over a year ago and fertilized last spring with organic fertilizer. The yard had a lot of weeds and still does. But now the grass has gradually just disappeared and there are places of just dirt!! We're not sure what is happening. We know we need to fertilize again but don't know what else we should do. The yard definitely needs something! Would putting out winter rye help any? We get really tired of mowing dirt and the dust storm it makes is embarrassing. We live southeast of Dallas in Kaufman County and our soil is pretty sandy. Any suggestions?

Lots of sprinkled compost and corn meal products is usually all that is necessary for all healthy organic lawns.

The compost supplies humus and healthy beneficial microbes.
The corn meal supplies extra available nitrogen, and it is a natural fungicide.

You can also sprinkle dry molasses powder on your lawn to even more greatly increase microbial growth and health in your lawn soil.

The healthier and thicker your lawn grass, the less weeds you will have.

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The entire Kingdom of God can be totally explained as an Organic Garden (Mark 4:26)
William Cureton

Diagnosing lawn problems is the hardest part of having a lawn. Fortunately there are basically only a few problems lawns have. If you go organic, then there are a few less problems. The remaining problems in an organic lawn are these.

1. Not enough water. That is probably not your problem this year. Water should be applied infrequently but heavily. This means that you water no more often than one time per week during the hottest part of summer but you water for an hour when you do. If you watered more like every day for a few minutes each time, that likely contributed to your bare spot problem.

2. Fungal disease problems. Too frequent watering often leads to fungal problems. These are easily treated with ordinary corn meal applied at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Get the corn meal at a feed store near you for about $6.50 per 50-pound bag.

3. Insect problems. There is a product called beneficial nematodes that kills most of the pest insects without harming most of the beneficial insects. The nematodes are pest-specific.

Next year be sure you water heavily and infrequently during the summer. In the cooler months, water no more often than monthly. But continue to water even in the coldest months. Water a full hour to keep the soil microbes healthy.

Also set your mower to the highest position and leave it there. You didn't mention what kind of grass you're growing, so I'll assume it is St Augustine. St Augustine loves to be tall and tends to get very dense when left tall. It also remains green longer in the year and greens up earlier in the spring. Tall grass keeps weeds out better than short grass, too.

Fertilize regularly. If you fertilized in the early spring, you were due again on July 4th and again on Labor Day. If you use corn meal at the rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 at those three times, you should have no serious fungal disease problems.

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum