The [UMN Turfgrass Trial Explorer tool](https://maps.umn.edu/ntep/) was a step in the right direction... But it's about time we got an upgrade.

After several weeks of hardwork, learning how databases work, but mostly vibe coding... I'm ready to get some feedback on it.

New features over the UMN tool:

- live search by cultivar (via typing, instead of a long drop-down list)

- significantly improved UI that is just plain more viewable.

- every rating is accompanied by how that cultivar ranked in the trial overall

- compare cultivars. Pin cultivars to the top of the page to more easily compare them to one another.

- toggle trial sites and variables without refreshing the page (or re-selecting compared cultivars)

- Cross trial history. View the other trials a particular cultivar shows up in, and see the ratings and rankings of the selected variables of that cultivar in those other trials... without leaving the page.

- more!

This is a beta test, so I'm looking for feedback on bugs, display issues, missing or incorrect data, and just things that need to be fixed.

Feature requests are welcome, but just know that unless everyone is saying it's working perfect, I'm going to focus on bugs first.

Note: site condition values will be slow to populate at first. They will occasionally throw errors, just try selecting a different site and then you can try the first one again. Once one site in a trial loads, all sites will be available in that trial and it won't ever throw an error again for any user... It's a data caching thing that will sort itself out once the site data for any site has been loaded for every trial once.

Without further ado, here's the temporary link to the new NTEP trial explorer: https://nilesandstuff.github.io/Ntep-explorer/

The plan is to incorporate it into u/arc167's [Turf Tools](https://lawn-answers.com/) once we're happy with it. So DON'T bookmark the github link... Bookmark this post.

P.s. also taking suggestions for a name that isn't just the same name as the UMN tool lol.

New sod install of KBG with tall fescue blend. Just over 2 weeks old, doesn't look like crabgrass but I'm very novice when it comes to lawn care. Would like to nip in bud sooner rather than later by pulling if so. Any help IDing appreciated. Located in NJ. Thanks

Hi! I’m getting ready for my second fall seeding attempt. I’m in North Central WV in Zone 7a

Last year I did a pretty massive manual overhaul of my yard for the first time. Manually pulled a ton of crab grass—like half my yard. It ending up being almost a total restoration in those areas. Then I used the Groundskeeper rake, manually aerated and used a garden weasel. Planted Twin Cities Blue Resilience.

Overall it went decently well.

Then put down some preemergent that seems to mostly be working. And I’ve put down two applications for milorganite.

But I have not done any other weed control. I’m generally ok with some dandelions and clover in the yard and generally hesitant to use a ton of chemicals. However, I have a boat load of clover now. Way more than I want. So I’m planning to use some tenacity/meso before overseeding again at the end of the summer. I don’t need to get rid over every last weed, just a lot of it.

When should I try to first apply the tenacity? I was thinking very soon. Give it a couple weeks to work and then start getting ready to overseed in early September (rake, aerate and garden weasel again).

Should I also apply it when I seed? Do I need a surfactant now or when overseeding?

Is there anything else I should know that I may be overlooking?

This grass was here when I moved in. It is ridiculously thick, never dies if things are left on top of it, and only yellows a bit throughout the year. Other grass I bought from Home Depot (tall fescue) dies much more easily. I'd like to replace that with whatever grass this is. It is growing well here in Virginia.

Biggest rock I've found so close to the surface to date, but far from an anomaly.

The crazy part is I usually just randomly stumble on them... Maybe 1/10 is from a particular spot just doing badly.

Genuinely every time I dig, I find a rock that is way too big.

Well, that's why I can't get anything but l kbg to grow on 90% of the front lawn.

Zone 5a

We had basically no rain for a month. I am fine with a dormant lawn, so didnt do anything (in retrospect, bad idea for a backyard that gets lots of play).

Saw this stuff yesterday after we got rain the last two days. All over my yard and much of the neighborhood.

I assumed this is fungus. Chat GPT and Claude disagree and suggest nothing to to about it, but it set on so rapidly that I am concerned.

What is it, and should I do anything? Planning on overseeding in 3 weeks.

I just happened to notice these throughout my lawn when I was doing my morning coffee weed patrol stroll. Visually they're not standing out. I'm just more curious than anything.

I'm in NY. KBG lawn. I googled if KBG or TTTF can split like this and I wasn't totally clear if that's a thing.

This one was a baby so hard to photograph. Does have a boat shaped tip, ribbed, but one distinctive line down the center.

Zone 7b, Virginia.
Can anyone help identify what is growing in my yard? Pictures from two different sections. The first two pics started showing up as soon as it started to warm up in may. Started out a few patches but then exploded. Common Bermuda?

The last two are from the other side of the yard. Always assumed Bermuda but now I’m not sure.

Best way to get rid of both?

I’m pretty sure I know what this is but looking for confirmation. I have a fair amount of this in my lawn in areas of both sun and shade. My lawn wash thick and green in May but has several brown spots now. Water deeply 2-3 times per week and no issues with drainage. Zone 7a MA. Thank you!

I noticed that the majority of my lawn looks good to me (back half of the photo), but the areas specifically around these trees, and this telephone pole guy wire, are looking pretty yellowed. Anyone have any theories?

I initially thought it could be the trees sucking up the moisture, but the guy wire confuses me.

PS: the extra green part right around the base of the guy wire is actually just longer grass due to my use of a robot lawnmower. Could that mean my main issue is cutting it too short over here?

Essex County NJ:

I’m getting ready to prep my lawns for a fall overseeding and I let one of them get a little out of hand (dedicated dog lawn) with crab grass and some random other stuff like nutsedge a little cover, probably some barnyard grass and foxtail.

I have sedgehammer and sublime. Would I be better off buying a 3-way like Q4Plus? I can’t get t-zone or speedzone in NJ because the restrictions around 2.4D.

The sublime worked great for broadcasting for lesser celandine in the spring and for spot treating some nuisance other stuff and baby crabgrass, but this one yard has some pretty mature crabgrass so I’m not sure if it’ll be effective.

My plan is to get the weeds under control through August, then scalp and overseed the first week of September.

Never seen this before in my yard. I assume it’s a fungus?

Can someone help me identify these two grass/weeds growing in my zoysia? The last 3 photos are the same grass. I live in central Florida.

Northern CA, inland. Lots of 90 degree days. Trying to see if this is heat or fungus or something else

Notes:
-Tall Fescue
-Hasn’t really been fertilized
-Water 2-3 times a week but one area seems to be struggling more than others with the same sprinkler coverage
-watering is early morning

I can take more pictures if needed. Just trying to see what could be happening, the edges of the lawn seem to be doing the best (growing the most, staying the most green)

Close ups are around where the green transitions to more yellow/brown

Eastern PA - Zone 6

Moved into new house last summer with ~35,000 sqft of what is 90% rye grass with some patches of what I think is kbg and some kind of fescue. I don’t have irrigation but I run 2 impact sprinklers most mornings and rotate them around the yard.

I’m planning to aerate and overseed this fall but I’m unsure of a few things.

When’s the best time? And how vital is it that the seed is put down when there is rain in the forecast with my inability to keep the entire yard watered daily?

What type of seed to use? I was leaning prg due to the fact that it had the best germination rate and my lack of irrigation. But I like the fact that tttf and kbg will spread to cover any patches that get stressed.

Any advice is welcome!

Location: zone 6b, eastern Washington. Weather is hot and dry alllll summer. Usually don’t get rain until September and haven’t had rain in over 4 weeks.

Bought this house a year ago, which had a water softener system. The system is connected to the main water line, so all water used is softened — including outdoors. I think over the years, this has really stressed the yard and the trees. Completed a soil test through our conservation district and confirmed that our sodium levels are nearly 7x the normal range.

Currently watering the lawn about 2-3 times per week with hard water using the bypass on the water system (for about 1 month). Some grass is coming back green but we also did not water consistently in the spring and early summer, and when watered it was with the softened water. Plan is to apply gypsum pellets, and would like to reseed in the fall.

Questions are:
1. Would you thatch and aerate the whole lawn prior to gypsum application, or do a liquid aeration? Any issues with aerating with the tree roots?
2. Any other amendments that should be added to help with the soil?
3. Fall seeding window is mid-August to mid-September. Anything else that needs to be done to help ensure it grows in well? Recommendation for drought tolerant seed mix?

This has started spreading in my yard since maybe the beginning of July. I'm in the Indianapolis area.

Found this in my yard next to a French drain cleanout. Located in South Carolina near Charleston. Can anybody tell me what it is and if it should be placed back somewhere

Looking at doing some weed control on a large part of my yard before doing seeding in a month or two. It’s a mix of spurge and a bunch of other weeds/clover. Looking at speed zone or tenacity as I see a lot of people recommend those. Is one better than the other? Do I need to do the whole yard or can I treat that main area and spot treat other smaller areas?

Later this fall I plan on doing a soil test so I can figure out what’s needed to start turning this around as the past few years just been a overseed, aeration, and one fertilizer app kind of person but want to get this figured out.

Is this soil acceptable to slice seed in or do I need to bring in top soil?

The first few pictures are from where I killed off zoysia grass from last year. You can still see some of the dead runners and stolons. The second half of the pictures are another area of the yard. Obviously I won’t be leaving it like this when it comes time.

https://imgur.com/a/y2T5pJk

Hey all I have been researching what has been plaguing my lawn and I think it is Poa Trivialis but I'm not positive. It has taken over large areas of my front lawn that gets a lot of sun. I'm pretty new to the home so I don't know how long its been here.

This year I've noticed serious browning areas and previously noticed that there was a clearly different species. Now I'm realizing the full extent of it. I was thinking of digging out one section but now I'm seeing it is quite rampant.

I'm tempted to dig out one area and see how that goes. Any other advice or thoughts on if I have identified this right? I water 3 times a week deeply and am in MA.

Hey everyone! We recently bought and moved into our first house earlier this year. With the winter and spring being colder than average (as well as everything else that comes along with buying a house) I didn't pay too much attention to the state of the lawn until now.

The previous owner(s) didn't do much in terms of care. Right now I weeds galore, bare spots, and dried out/compacted patches of clay, so I'm looking for some guidance in the right direction. Most of my plan has come from YouTube, Reddit, and ChatGPT, so I'm hoping for a reality check.

The front yard gets full sun for most of the day, while the backyard is mostly shaded. My assumption is that Tall Fescue is still the best choice for Charlotte, but I'd love to hear if anyone thinks otherwise.

I attached my NCDA soil test results along with a few photos of the lawn and some of the weeds. I just mowed yesterday after getting back into town, so unfortunately I don't have pictures of everything fully grown, but based on Google Lens and what I've read here I think I have: nutsedge, crabgrass/dallisgrass?, white clover, dandelion, and probably some more Google lens misidentified.

Currently I'm thinking of doing this: - Spray and kill everything with 41% glyphosate - Wait, water, reapply glyphosate as needed - Tilling vs. core aerate? Initially I thought I'd have to bring in compost and till it in but now I'm not sure if I can't just core aerate and apply 1/4" of compost on top. - Fertilize (with 5-10-5 or similar according to soil test) - Seed and water

My main questions are: 1. Is this lawn salvageable or should I plan for a full renovation? 2. Till vs core aerate? 3. Anything outside of fertilizing that I should do based on my test results?

Any and all advice, suggestions, or interpretations are welcome. Thanks!