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Last November I had a healthy looking lawn out back. It's mostly buffalo I believe as it has lots of runners so I can't dethatch it. I had carefully improved it (it was never bad) over the course of the year with seed + fertilizer, regular watering, and mowing.
I set the sprinkler to a timer (and made sure it worked), went travelling, and came back in early Feb. This is my lawn now. (I had someone come and mow it regularly, and they noticed it going brown)
The funny thing is the nature strip out front — which I don't even water — is fine! Here's how the nature strip looks (pretty much the same as the day I left it)
No, the nature strip isn't perfect, but it's fine for a lawn I never pay attention to (other than mowing, raking, and trimming).
How can I restore my lawn to its former glory without buying a bunch of random products? I don't think it's a watering problem, as other lawns have survived without the same watering. I don't think it's a grub problem as it's evenly brown. Is it a fertilizer problem? I saw a post on Reddit suggesting just spreading manure over it (not sure how much), or maybe blood and bone. Maybe the soil is no good out in this yard.
I'm pretty sure the lawn is all still alive, but it's so brown.
One thing I may have done wrong is using the wrong lawn seed (kikuyu) over it to try to build it up before leaving. I maybe suffocated it... not sure.
For context, this is Melbourne. It didn't rain much in Nov/Dec, and got hot a number of days.
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @averagebloke. It's terrific to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about lawn care.
I can think of a couple of issues that would cause this. Overwatering or the grass grew too long without being mown, and when it was eventually mown, it was cut too short.
How often and for how long were you watering during this period? Since your grass out the front with no water is fine, there's a chance it was overwatered.
When grass gets long, the lower sections begin to brown. So you could have had a very lush, longer lawn over this period, and then when cut, you now have a brown lawn.
I, too, believe the lawn is still alive, and my suspicions are that it's just been cut quite short after growing out quite long. I'd suggest applying some Seasol to help it recover and only water it when the soil begins to dry out.
I don't believe this is a fertiliser, grub or an over-sowing issue.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
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