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It’s easy to panic when your lawn turns from green to brown. Seeing what looks like dead grass can make you feel like you’ve failed to care for your yard. Should you rip it all out and just have a lawn full of dirt and gravel?
Before you make any big decisions (and mistakes), let’s figure out what’s really happening. Keep reading to learn the difference between dead grass and dormant grass. Plus, get professional tips from the experts at Fairway Lawns!
Dormancy isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s like the grass is hibernating. So your lawn is simply saving its energy until things get better. Dead grass, though? That’s when the roots and crown have checked out completely.
So how can you tell what you’re dealing with? First, you should actually kneel down and part the brown blades. Look at the base. If you see even a hint of green near the crown (that little spot where roots and shoots connect), your grass is just dormant.
You can also try the pull test. Grab a handful of your grass and give a gentle tug. Dormant grass holds tight because the roots are still solid. Dead grass comes up easily without any resistance.
Remember, brown grass in a state of dormancy has the same color all over, with blades still standing. It’s just tan or straw-colored. However, if your brown yard is patchy, mushy, or smells bad, those are red flags. It might not be dormancy. Instead, the problem could be much more serious.
During winter in the South, your lawn’s grass may become dormant or suffer from frost damage. But it’s far from dead. Visually, you’ll notice that warm-season grasses (Bermuda, Zoysia, Bahia, and St. Augustine) stop growing and/or turn brown or become less vibrant.
But why? Because less sunlight makes photosynthesis more difficult. Cooler temperatures also cause warm-season grasses to slow their growth and/or turn brown, which is normal for the plant.
However, a lot is going on beneath the surface. Mother Nature continues nurturing the soil through decomposition and nutrient cycling. Microbes are still breaking down organic materials. It’s a process that slowly releases nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium for use when the grass becomes active again in spring.
During dormancy, those nutrients are stored in the roots and crown, where the plant’s roots and shoots meet at ground level. The crown is the lifeblood of grass, responsible for storing energy and producing new growths.
As temperatures rise, grass “wakes up.” Spring comes, your lawn begins actively growing again (when temperatures are more conducive to warm-season plant growth), and a green color returns.
Without enough water, cool-season lawns, like fescue or bluegrass, go dormant in the summer. They’ll turn brown in July and August, waiting out the hot, dry months until September cools things down.
Warm-season lawns do the opposite. They turn brown in winter and come back strong in the spring, staying green all summer when cool-season grasses would be toast.
Where exactly you live makes a difference to your grass type, too. In North Carolina’s transition zone, warm-season grass might start going dormant when nighttime temps drop below 50°F in late fall. In the South, those same grass varieties might not see dormancy until December.
Brown grass that’s actually dead is obviously a real problem. First, you’ll need to figure out what’s going wrong before you can fix it.
Watering mistakes. If you underwater, your grass gets stressed out, the roots shrink up, and eventually, the whole plant gives up. Too much water? That’s not any better. Roots suffocate without oxygen, and then you’ve got root rot and fungi moving in. And don’t forget that uneven irrigation can leave dry patches.
Compacted soil. Maybe you’ve got heavy clay, lots of foot traffic, or you just haven’t aerated in years. The soil gets dense, roots can’t spread, water can’t seep in, air can’t move. Your lawn’s grass will steadily worsen over time.
Thatch. This is the spongy mat of dead roots and stems between the green grass and the dirt. If it piles up thicker than half an inch, water just runs off, and disease organisms thrive underneath.
Lawn diseases and fungi. These can create uneven brown patches. For instance, brown patch fungus leaves big dead circles. Dollar spot makes small, round dead spots. Red thread shows up as a pinkish tint before the grass fades.
Dog urine causes brown spots with a bright green ring around them. The big blast of nitrogen burns the center but feeds the edges. It’s a headache for any dog owner.
Insects. Grubs feast on roots, harming grass from the bottom up. You probably won’t notice anything until it’s too late. Other bugs like crane fly larvae, billbugs, or chinch bugs attack too, depending on where you live and what kind of grass you’ve got.
Soil pH. If the pH is way off (too acidic or too alkaline), your grass can’t absorb nutrients. Most lawns want a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. If yours isn’t in that zone, the grass just gets weaker over time.
Mowing too short. Cutting off too much of the grass blade at once is a big no-no. The grass can’t photosynthesize well, roots get shallow, and the grass gets stressed. Then disease or drought finishes the job.
Lawn care timing. If you overseed warm-season grass right before frost, it won’t grow. Pouring on nitrogen during the hottest part of summer? That’s just asking for disease when your lawn is most vulnerable.
Start with a soil test. You’ll find out your lawn’s pH, what nutrients are missing, and how much organic matter you’ve got. Then check for drainage problems. After a good rain, walk around and see where water pools.
Pull up bits of grass in a few spots and check the roots. Are they brown and mushy, or white and healthy? Shallow, dying roots mean you’ve got a soil or watering problem. Deep and firm roots point to something else.
Begin this portion by getting rid of weeds. Next, mow the grass down to between 1 and 2 inches. You want those seeds to reach the dirt, not just sit on top of old grass and dry out.
Also, be sure to rake up everything. Leaves, sticks, acorns, etc. And if your thatch layer is thick (over half an inch), you can dethatch as well.
Last, aerate your lawn. Aeration breaks up compaction and lets your lawn breathe, so it can more easily receive water and nutrients.
When grass seed sits on hard-packed soil, it dries out before it even gets a chance to sprout. And without starter fertilizer, any seedlings that do manage to pop up struggle to survive.
Timing matters, too. For cool-season grasses, early fall is perfect. Spring is your backup. By then, soil has cooled off from summer but still holds enough warmth (about 50-65°F) for seed to germinate. Warm-season grasses do best when you seed in late spring or early summer, once soil temps hit 65-70°F and stay there.
After you spread the seed, rake lightly. This helps the seed make contact with the soil. Some homeowners even add a thin layer of compost or topsoil to help things along.
You need to keep the soil moist, as in evenly damp, for the first 2 to 3 weeks. Usually that means watering every day, sometimes twice a day if it’s hot, dry, or windy. Light, frequent watering works best for this. The top inch of soil should feel slightly wet when you touch it.
Once you see grass come up and it’s about 1-2 inches tall (usually after a few weeks), switch to deeper, less frequent watering. This encourages roots to grow down and get strong.
By week 4 to 6, you can settle into your regular routine of 2 inches of water per week, delivered in one or two good soakings instead of daily sprinkles.
Mow often, but don’t chop it all down at once. Never take off more than a third of the blade height in one mow. And don’t forget to keep watering, even after the new grass is established.
Finally, feed your lawn regularly to give it the lush, vibrant look all homeowners want!
Where you live changes everything. What works up north can flop hard in the south.
Southern Warm-Season Lawns
Spring is your big window for a comeback. Late April through June is prime time for Bermuda, Zoysia, St. Augustine, and Bahia.
Late summer or early fall is when you get your lawn ready for next year. That’s the time for a final round of fertilizer, knocking out any stubborn weeds, and setting things up so your grass can go dormant and bounce back strong in spring.
Northern Cool-Season Lawns
Best times to revive your lawn in the Midwest? Early spring (late March through May) and early fall (late August through October). Fall’s actually your best shot since you avoid summer stress right after the grass comes up.
After a tough summer, overseeding in fall thickens up thin spots and lets you plant newer, hardier grass types. Your soil will probably need a nitrogen boost after winter because a lot of it leaches away or gets locked up in the cold.
In spring, keep an eye out for fungal issues like snow mold. You’ll notice gray, matted patches after the snow melts. Rake them out and, if needed, hit them with a fungicide to stop it from spreading.
Can brown grass turn green again?
If it’s just dormant, absolutely. If it’s truly dead, it’s not coming back. Do the pull test and check the base of the plant for green.
Can you reseed right over dead grass?
You can, but it rarely works well. Dead grass blocks seeds from reaching the soil, shades out new sprouts, and can carry disease.
Will fertilizer bring dead grass back?
No, fertilizer only helps living plants. It can help healthy grass grow faster and fill in bare spots, but it won’t revive dead patches.
Should you mow dead grass?
Yes, especially if you’re adding new seed. Cutting it low helps you see bare spots and gives new seeds a better shot at touching soil.
How long can grass go without water?
It depends. Cool-season grasses can survive 2 to 4 weeks before you see real damage. Warm-season types like Bermuda can hang on for 3 to 6 weeks in dormancy, but after that, they may die without rain.
What if only some patches are dead?
Just fix those spots. No need to redo your whole yard. Figure out what killed those areas, treat the problem, prep the soil, and reseed. Use the same type of grass for best results.
If you don’t want to use your free time (and energy) to take care of every little lawn care detail, reach out to Fairway Lawns! We proudly serve seven states and dozens of communities, ensuring high-quality lawn care and pest control services across the South: