New laid turf - but grass now dead

tstevens99

I laid new turf on 3/10/2019.

The size was 13sq m. [small].

Now the grass looks very bad and has died.
I thought it maybe some kind of grass pest? But it very much looks like the end of my attempt at turfing the rear lawn.
Not sure what todo...


Terry Stevens
Dorset UK

Obelixx

When was it laid?  What soil prep did you do?  Did you select a grass variety suited to shade?  

tstevens99

I laid new turf on 3/10/2019. I have just done some more investigation. I made some surface digs and found lots of the following bugs ....

Palustris

Leatherjackets, they feast on grass roots.

Ladybird4

Hello tstevens. I think that could be the cause of your problems. It looks like a leather jacket which is the larva of a crane fly (daddy long legs). These feed on grass roots causing damage. There is useful information here to help you deal with the problem.

https://www.rolawn.co.uk/leatherjackets

tstevens99

Thanks. I think it is too late to deal with the damage. But I may try and lay new turf...but at least I can better prepare the soil.

Obelixx

First treat the leather jackets if you can.   Then prepare teh soil well and consider sowing seed for a shady area as this will be much cheaper and not much slower than laying turves.

leather jackets will certainly have a bad effect on a new lawn trying to establish a decent root system.  Have a look on this page from the RHS - https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=651 

Have a read too of this info on lawn care and scroll down to "sowing seed" so you can recover your lawn once the leather jackets have been dealt with.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=413

stuarta99

I feel you're pain, I'm on my third year and despite being treated every year, I'm reseeding every year

Obelixx

That looks like  a drainage problem to me!