Your lawn may have a disease called Spring Dead Spot. This disease is very difficult to control. Rake the dead areas to encourage fill in from healthy grass plants growing adjacent to the spot.

This could be the result of billbug damage. Bluegrass billbug is a weevil species that lays eggs in the stems of grass plants in late spring. The eggs hatch and bore into the stem as they migrate to the base of the plant, emerging in the soil and begin to feed on the grass plants roots. The small tufts of dead grass result from their feeding behavior.

Lightly rake the surface inch of soil to remove dead debris and properly prepare the area for seeding. Select a grass seed that is the same type as already growing in your lawn. Lightly apply seed to the soil surface and gently pack to firm the seed into the soil. Apply a light layer of straw or seeding mulch to encourage rapid seed germination. Water lightly until the seed has fully emerged. Do not apply crabgrass preventer to newly seeded areas of your lawn.

Giving your lawn the correct care early in the spring is very important to having a good looking lawn all year. You need to apply fertilizer that has a heavy nitrogen content, such as 30-8-8 (where the first number is the nitrogen content). Applying lime is also important to neutralize the soil. In South Jersey we tend to have very acidic soil, which grass doesn't like very much, applying lime helps to even out the pH level and make it more favorable to grass's growth.

In late summer, many lawns that appear dead are simply dormant. Many will green up again with the arrival of fall rains. However, maintaining a lawn on a steep slope is a constant difficulty. Many homes in the hillier sections of Seattle and in many maritime Northwest suburban areas have lawns installed on slopes.Watering is difficult and mowing is a challenge. Lawns do best when placed on sunny, well-drained, level spots.

Three major insect pests can cause dead areas in the lawn. Chinch bugs, mole crickets and sod webworms can infest St. Augustine type grasses. Chinch bugs do not affect Bahiagrass but the other insects do. Insects are seasonal and defensive action should be take when they are most likely to attack.

Be willing to accept a less than perfect lawn. Respond to the brown spots by hand watering not by watering the entire yard. Check the coverage of sprinklers and look for broken lines or heads and clogged nozzles. Also check for disease or insect problems. Not all brown spots are caused by water problems.

Mole activity in your lawn, golf course or fields can mangle water lines, which can lead to expensive flood damage. Mole activity may break cables, which can affect phones or any other utility you receive through underground lines. Moles destroy sprinkler systems by uprooting sprinkler heads and warping underground water lines. Mole tree damage is a huge concern. Their burrowing can expose tree roots, girdle and clip trees—all great ways to kill a tree in your yard or golf course.

There could be several reasons, such as an iron deficiency, too high a pH or a lack of iron in the soil. I would suggest a soil test to determine the pH. We offer this service here at the Volusia County Extension Service, 3100 East New York Avenue (Route 44), Deland. The cost is $1 for three samples. We test each Thursday morning, so bring it to the center before then. If the pH is okay, try applying iron chelate in the area. Sedge is an indicator of over-irrigation.

Maybe you shouldn’t. If grass can’t compete with moss, it may not be the best location for it. We sell many good shade ground covers. If you’re determined to grow grass, remember:

Sometimes residents place rocks along the roadway in front of their homes to keep vehicles off their lawns. This is done primarily on residential streets that don't have curbs. These rocks can be real safety hazards. If a vehicle leaves the roadway, rocks won't stop these out-of-control vehicles, just damage them and possibly injure the occupants. A rock could be hit by a vehicle sending it flying and possibly injuring residents.

SpeedZone® Lawn Weed Killer in the ready-to-use (RTU) gallon or quart will give visual results on most broadleaf weeds in just hours.

Pencil Marks. Pencil marks contain graphite. Graphite is a conductor and will interfere with proper functioning of the digitizer. Erase any pencil marks from the tablet. If the plans or paper resting on the tablet have pencil marks, remove the plans and see if this action corrects the problem. Objects in contact with the digitizer. Be sure there are no metal objects (such as staples) on or below the digitizer. A Roll-Up cannot be used effectively on a metal surface.

Cellular phone service is a tower based system that uses radio-frequencies to transmit information back and forth. This is basically a line of sight communication--that is, if there is something blocking the line of sight between phone and tower, the quality of the signal will deteriorate. In tugged terrain such as regions of mountains and valleys, cellular communication can experience static or even complete interruptions of service.

When you see new growth appearing, usually in the spring, cut out all the browned grass. For more lawn and garden questions, see our article library or FAQs. I also recommend the National Gardening Association web site for questions that are not answered by our site.

Early spring applications of nitrogen cause a surge of top growth. I'll grant you, that makes the lawn look nice in the spring, but it depletes the plant's energy reserves. Consequently, when summer stress periods occur, plants are weaker and less able to survive. It is recommended to apply fertilizer in late October or early November, when top growth is minimal but soil temperatures are still warm enough for nitrogen absorption.

Like any application made to the lawn, It is subject to weather conditions such as rain. Moisture can effect how long the preemergent is effective. If you apply a preemergent in early Spring and still have a problem in the Summer with crabgrass, it would be a good idea to make a second application about a month after the first to help control it. Even under the best circumstances, a preemergent is about 85% effective.

We recommend you water your lawn as needed to keep the soil moist to a 2-inch depth. You can measure this by inserting a nail or screwdriver into the soil. It will easily penetrate soil to the moisture depth. Spring raking or dethatching is a common old time practice that we do not encourage. If you do dethatch your lawn do not perform this if crabgrass preventer has already been applied. The destructive nature of dethatching will disrupt the crabgrass preventer barrier.