Straw like Patches in my Lawn

janken25

Hi All,
First post on here, so here goes.

Just recently started cutting the lawn again for this year and I've got a problem arisen again that I recollect I had last year too. I'm on my fourth cut of the year and have taken the mower down 1 notch from the highest setting. Since this cut I have developed a number of straw like patches in the lawn. I at first thought I may have scalped it a bit as my lawn is rather uneven, it's on clay and is always on the move over the winter, but the patches are not really contained to just the high spots.

I did a bit of digging around on the tinternet and then thought I might have Red Thread. However, I had a closer look at the patches and can't see any red colour at all and no pink stuff either (symptoms I believe) When looking at the patches I noticed that the grass is made up of really thin blades and appears dead right back to the ground. This also leads me too think that it's not scalping, but I'm no expert.

Any thoughts or guidance would be most gratefully received. Cheers

Fairygirl

Hi @janken25. It may just be a bit of thatch.
Do you have a pic? If you click on the icon that looks like a  mountain, you can follow the instructions. Photos load quicker if they're about 1MB or less 

janken25

Hi Fairygirl. I did think about putting a couple of pictures up but it'll have to wait until tomorrow now. I'm working tonight ;(

Fairygirl

No probs @janken25
It'll wait 

janken25

Hi Fairygirl. Hopefully there will be a few pics to show my problem. And yes I did click on your photograph of a mountain to try and upload them! Doh! 

Fairygirl

I think that might just be a bit that's been scalped by the lawnmower.
Or, if there's a dog/cat around, it can be caused by pee. 
The grass looks quite short though. It's usually better to keep it a bit longer at this time of year until the weather's warmer and growth is stronger and quicker.
Mowing regularly, but only taking a small amount off,  also helps the grass grow sideways [tillering] and it's therefore stronger, and more able to cope with dry spells as the roots are deeper. 

janken25

Damn that's a shame. Really thought I was doing ok with the mower height! The grass is dead right down to the ground, is that typical for scalping? @Fairygirl

Fairygirl

Yeh - if you keep cutting it right back hard, you weaken it and lessen it's chances of doing well. 
I just noticed you said it's the fourth cut you've done. I've only just cut mine for the first time. Starting too early when grass isn't really thriving doesn't help either.
I appreciate that your conditions might be more favourable than mine, but four cuts seems a lot. A blunt blade can also tear rather than cut cleanly, so it's a good idea to check that. 

janken25

Other than raising my blade and also checking it's nice and sharp, what is the remedy now? Can I rake out the dead grass? @Fairygirl

Fairygirl

If it's dead, you could certainly remove it. If it's completely bare, you can always sow a little seed, conditions permitting, and you need to also broadcast some over the surrounding area too, so that it all blends in.
If the patches aren't too big, you might find that the existing grass often spreads into the gaps. 

janken25

Thanks @Fairygirl Your help is very much appreciated.