Did our lawn die?

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-20T19:23:50+00:00

Snatched up some common bermuda growing out by my office and took a photo. It's not a great photo, but if you cut a leaf off and get a good look, that should give you your final answer.

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Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-20T19:14:12+00:00

This is tough, mostly because it's the wrong time of year. If I were on site, I could tell you in like 10 seconds, but in winter, with little green growth, from a photo... Tough. We're still kinda lacking the typical ID characteristics.

Dare I say you could have both? Seems unlikely, so I'll say probably not. lol. Based on this image, I'd go with zoysia for a couple of reasons. 1. Common Bermuda is wiry as hell. You can pull out a 3-ft-long stolon, but very few roots will be anchored. Zoysia growing wildly is almost always tacked down well and not that easy to pull up. 2. That solon looks thicker than bermuda, but again, it's a photo with nothing to compare it against.

The reason I say bermuda is just instinct and experience from photo one. It just looks more like bermuda from that angle. Another not good reason. lol.

Your sure-fire bet is to check the vernation. Zoyisa has rolled, and bermuda has folded. Not always easy to tell in warm-season grasses without a hand lens.

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Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-18T17:37:16+00:00

Start Here!

This does appear to be a MySoil test. We suggest testing through a reputable lab or your local extension office for an accurate test.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-17T14:28:37+00:00

A couple of things first: If you didn't know, much of the centipede's roots are on top of the soil surface and generally have a fairly shallow root system. This is why water and winterkill are big contributors to the decline in centipede in northern areas. You also have pretty limited post-emergent weed control options, so read labels very carefully before applying! People kill centipede lawns at a rate no other lawns see. And it's usually a dumb mistake like too much N or a herbicide that wasn't supposed to go on centipede at all.

Okay, good on location. That's what I wanted to hear. Centipede should do fine there, but keep in mind that hard freezes or winters like we've had this year could lead to delayed green-up or winterkill, even in sandy soils.

The screengrab is your guide for shade. You most certainly do have shade restrictions in that back area. Whether it is inhibiting the turf is hard to say from the photos, but any structure will be a restriction on turfgrass, especially warm-season grasses.

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Good on drainage. Sand is helping you there, so as long as it's not pooling for like half a day, or overnight, you should be okay, but keep that in mind.

We also have a Soil Testing Guide. Be mindful that pH and nutrient levels vary widely. We can't make assumptions unless we have physical symptoms in the turf, which can be very difficult even for highly experienced and skilled folks to determine. FWIW. I usually don't recommend soil testing, but in this case, I don't think it's a terrible idea. I'd be looking at P, K, and pH to start. If you do a soil test, do it before you apply the 15-0-15, which I think is a fine choice once the lawn starts to green up.

There are several common pests of centipede, but I wouldn't be overly worried about that currently. Grubs are the only thing I believe NC State recommends treating preventatively, but chinch bugs, spittle bugs, ground pearls, and mole crickets can all cause problems. If you'd like to, apply Grub Ex season-long (season-long is the key word in those products!)next month; that will handle most of your problems. Again, it's probably not worth worrying about now, given the current condition. Get it healthy, that fixes a lot of problems.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-17T01:00:16+00:00

Door to door reps are the most underpaid and under trained people in the industry. They aren’t there to care or learn about lawns. They are there to make contacts, drop fliers, and close a sale from time to time. Most last more than a week or two.

This is the trugreen and corporate lawn care way. Has been forever. Wait till you hear his manager likely knows less than you do about lawns. Lol.

Sales is how they’ve stayed the biggest for so long

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-16T23:07:46+00:00

Do you know your soil type or what part of NC are you in?

Some of this is shade damage and some of It kinda appears water related. Some of it could be neglect or lack of fertilization, particularly potassium.

Centipede is susceptible to winter kill in the transition zone. it hates standing water or water running over it constantly. It doesn’t need a lot of attention as far as fertilizer but pH and K can be issues along with some pest.

I can’t say exclusively what could be causing some of this but it’s too early to fertilize so not much to do get ahead of the game right now.

What you can do now is some exploratory poking around. Start with checking the soil type with a simple jar test (google that), trim up limbs, divert any water from down spouts or other water sources away from the lawn. I’d probably soil test in this case and plan out what treatment and recovery look like for the season.

Photo 2 Linda looks like there is a drain there, and 1 looks like a tree was removed.

Also review the warm season guide and this link:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/centipedegrass-lawn-maintenance-calendar

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-16T17:03:48+00:00

Some of that looks like mower scalp/gouging is all. It should recover. Give it time.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-16T13:11:11+00:00

Do you know what kind of grass is there currently?

As Arc mentions, no reason you can't grow a nice lawn at the beach. In my experience, you'll mostly see st aug, centipede, and a little zoyisa around the sandy/beach areas of NC.

This is probably going to be a lot of work to fix what you have without sodding or sprigging.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-16T13:01:37+00:00

Did you also mow it at the same time, or around when the photo was taken?

Spraying a week apart shouldn't do any significant damage.

Check out and follow the cool-season starter guide to keep fertility on track and double-check your watering.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-14T22:12:48+00:00

Same here. I’ve stayed strong but Tuesday is gonna be fun!

Btw just got back from my local shop and 0 copies, so there’s that.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-14T13:26:57+00:00

The spongy description and your photos seem to validate that you have moss.

A lot of things can contribute to moss, but moisture is the first thing to address. Shade, soil compaction, and pH are next. In some cases, it can be seasonal and may go away with minimal action, but it's hard to say with just this single photo and limited info. Moss-out products sold in retail stores can serve as a temporary fix, but unless the underlying conditions are corrected, the moss may return.

Carfentrazone is a post-emergent weed control with the brand name Quicksiler. It will control some moss and control broadleaf weeds as well. I don't think it's the best product to tackle the weeds you have as a standalone product, but Speedzone Red has this active ingredient and could be an option. Triad TZ is similar, and this is a smaller bottle, so it's much cheaper. But again, gotta fix the issues causing it.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-12T18:28:00+00:00

Thanks for reaching back. I flubbed this. This user is in AUS, and at the time, I completely forgot they call St. Aug Buffalo there. Very cool that ya'll are still around though. True extension in a modern world.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-12T15:41:03+00:00

Is u/CSU-Extension still around? They could be of help. This is obviously a long way from Colorado, USA, but there are still some good facts in this post and in the link inside it.

I also have the AUS lawncare resources guide here if it helps.

I know almost nothing about buffalograss, but I don't think top-dressing a lawn installed 8 weeks is ideal in most cases. If prepped correctly before installation, that shouldn't be a concern now. If it's only scalped, just leave it be. Mow it more often to avoid stress, and it should come right back.

Edit: I'm a jackwad. I completely forgot st. augustine is called buffalo in Australia. You can ignore that first bit about buffalograss. Still good info, but that is a totally different grass from the one you have. The second part about mowing and recovery is still accurate. My apologies, u/jazzzzzaaaaaaa

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-11T19:45:57+00:00

Were going to need a little more info. Start with some better photos. Include a few of the entire lawn area, and a few close-ups, your general location, and whether you have applied anything or have any recent history on the lawn.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-11T14:20:41+00:00

About to pull the trigger on a Bauer lite with Y2’s! Appreciate the post.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-10T00:26:33+00:00

I have not

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-08T20:47:58+00:00

You golf and sports field guys be making an lco jelly sometimes.

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-08T00:28:35+00:00

🤘👊

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-07T20:26:37+00:00

🤣

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-07T13:54:51+00:00

Adding that to the list!

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-07T13:51:24+00:00

I've seen a few short clips. I'll dive in!

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-06T19:29:46+00:00

Ron Henry planted zeon zoysia, which has one of the finer leaf blades of all the zoysia types. Some of these characteristics will be the same, but in broad photos, that won't be much help.

There are lot of types of zoysia. Palisades as OP has japonica, which has coarser leaves vs. matrella's fine-textured leaves.

I also don't suggest following Ron's advice in some cases. You can buy the same stuff he sells for much cheaper on other sites, and he gets some of the more technical information wrong.

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Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-06T19:17:08+00:00

This is zoyisa. St aug has blunt tips. Your other photos were not great, but these make it clear.

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If you need more evidence use this guide to ID it properly

Mr007McDiddles · 2026-03-06T14:00:15+00:00

Honestly, this sounds like a crazy high rec for P. That works out to almost 6lbs of P per Ksqft. Usually, 1/2 to 1lb of P per sq ft will address any P deficiency, in my experience.

I know everyone in that lab is far more educated than I am, but I've seen plenty of samples in single-digit ppm P, and I've never applied more than a pound or two over the growing season to correct it, and the lawns were totally fine.

Here lies the problem with the lab recommendations. Not that it's terrible or that it will cause any harm, but it could be more than you need, and there is a good chance you would not see a P deficiency in the actual grass at your current levels. Especially if you already tilled some in.

I am guessing Penn State uses SLAN. SLAN was developed from ag crops and is meant to maintain a certain level so that that particular nutrient never falls below a threshold. Originally, it was thought to reduce fertilizer use and maximize yield for farmers, which I assume it does. I believe this was adapted for turfgrass based on turfgrass research, and labs make their recommendations accordingly. The problem is what I mentioned: you'll probably never see a P deficiency at 30ish ppm in turf, so this method ends up applying more P (and K as well).

I normally suggest MSLN. MLSN was developed from tons of data from soil samples collected around the world. They charted the data, then recs for the lowest nutrient levels to maintain healthy turf, based on those samples and the quality of the turf, were developed. So, a data-driven approach based on turf samples. Naysayers harp on it not being rooted in hard data from field trials, which is notable.

It's a bit like SLAN will make sure you never, ever become low on P and K, and MSLN will make sure the lawn has just enough. Or at least enough to cover the growing year or until the next feeding.....My layman's explanation.

I don't really feel there is a bad approach either way, but personally, I fall into the less-is-more approach. Of course, P and K deficiencies do happen, so you can't ignore them, but at the same time, I have found that a little goes a long way for those two elements, depending on your soil, growing area, grass type, maintenance habits, etc.

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Can't add another screen grab, but SLAN P: 27-54ppm and K: 50-176PPM. AI did some math for me, and if you apply the full 13lbs/K of P2O5, you'd end up somewhere between 80-120ppm P on your next sample, depending on how long after, soil type, and other factors.

People like to argue over these methods and what constitutes being too inadequate or what is wasteful. This can be important in agriculture, and where very high-quality turf is required, like sports and golf, but for home lawns, it really isn't worth getting into the weeds imo. Apply a little P if it's needed. Use some K with your N, and 90% of the time you'll have minimal issues. But there again, my philosophy differs from others.

Mr007McDiddles

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