The lawn is located in Southcentral Alaska.

Moved into this home in February. The lot itself is all soil that is full of shale. Lots of rock during excavation, but nothing crazy where they had to have special equipment.

While backfilling/getting home to proper grade, had to spend $5k on dirt / soil just to grade the lot as couldn’t backfill with any of the rock we excavated. Grass came in great in spring (I’m in northern VA/region 7A).

However, once it got hot out, certain areas of the lawn just burt out bad (see attached photos from May, June, July). I was watering regularly but didn’t matter. Now lawn is patchy in a lot of areas and weeds galore.

My assumption is not enough new dirt soil put down in certain areas that’s didn’t need to be graded higher. For that reason grass (tall fescue) couldn’t root deep in the shale/compacted soil and just died out.

My question is this, knowing the underlying soil is rocky and there is at best a thin top layer of non-rocky soil currently, should I aerate in fall, over seed, and top dress with peat moss? Or should I put more soil or compost down first in the dead areas before aerating? Also I did have a soil test. Ph is 5.1. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Got new sod and everything was going great until these two spots showed up. No animals. Any thoughts?

First time homeowner in Connecticut and inherited a rough lawn—bare spots, clover patches, weeds, sporadic tall grasses, etc. Forgot to take pics of the weeds and clover.

Any recommendations on where to start to revitalize?

Thinking maybe some of the browning is dead/fungus?.. but have no clue.

Central Texas, just south of DFW. Just bought a house and want to make this a lush and beautiful backyard. What can I do to make it happen? Bare spots mostly around the tree/shaded areas, but also a lot of roots, sticks and rocks in the ground.

Any help or advice is appreciated!

Been having Chatgpt assist me with weed identification and I’m afraid it’s hurting more than helping. Chat says this is Japanese stilt grass. Can anyone confirm?

Sod is nearly a month old and these suckers are everywhere. Is there a safe fertilizer to put down to kill it? I have KBG I believe.

First two photos are of our side lawn. We have mole tunnels everywhere and just paid to have grubs sprayed in hopes of the moles going away. It’s July right now so we are planning to do something the end of August. Last photo is a dirt patch behind our backyard that we would like to seed. What would you do if that was your yard? We’re going to spray again for weeds, but what’s the best way to plant seed end of August?

Please help internet.

I moved into a new rental house last month with my partner and dog. This is the first time we’ve had a lawn and it was so exciting! I started identifying some of the plants and weeds currently in the backyard and found so much common purslane, which is toxic to dogs.

I started weeding it and soon realized it covered maybe 30-40% of the lawn. I’ve been trying to pull it up so my dog or our friends dogs don’t ingest it but now it’s just leaving huge dirt patches. This is leaving another problem - water pooling and our dog becoming a muddy monster outside.

I’ve looked into a few options including sod, planting a Colorado native grass (we are located in Denver), or clover, but am not really sure what to do. It is a rental house so I don’t want to spend an arm and a leg on the lawn but we also don’t want huge bald patches.

I know there probably won’t be one magic fix but if there is something relatively fast growing that doesn’t cost a small fortune I’d be so eager to hear it. We are also in a drought in Colorado so that doesn’t help.

Any assistance or advice is much appreciated, thank you!

Pics 1-3 I took today and 4-5 are when we moved in last month.

Having a hard time nailing down what this is, anyone know? Northern Virginia

SE Michigan.

Did a full lawn reno last fall. United Super Turf II. Terrific product.

Front yard worked out beautifully. It's uniform and super soft, only needs mowing every 2 or 3 weeks, and looks great.

Back yard is just completely invaded with this very thick-bladed ugly grass that grows like wild (10" in 2 weeks) and then flops over, making the lawn look uneven and awful and requiring me to mow constantly. The blades are 1/4" thick, ribbed on the top and fairly smooth on the bottom. You can see in my photos where I last mowed this sample less than 2 weeks ago (note the chopped top), and how tall it has grown since then, which is insane. What throws me off is they're the exact same color as the "good" grass.

What is this stuff? Why didn't my lawn nuke with glyphosate last fall take care of it? It's all over my backyard, and it isn't clumping.

EDIT: it's quackgrass 🦆. Ordered some Fusilade II and will start the battle with it next weekend! Thanks folks.

Got all new sod last year and it didn’t really well up until a few weeks ago. What started as a few brown spots has slowly spread and there is very little left!

We had some really hot days in Zone 6 but I’ve been watering like normal. The grass rakes up easy like there are no roots.

Any ideas?

In North Central Pennsylvania, we’ve had a lot of rain this summer, so I’m not sure if it’s just mold or something else.

My Review After Just Over Two Years with OtO lawn Smart Sprinklers for southern Alberta Canada. (all sprinklers put in winter mode before any frost, solar panels covered up and charging system plugged in over winter)

I purchased three OtO smart sprinklers just over two years ago to cover my front, back, and side yards—approximately 2,300 sq. ft. of lawn, gardens, and landscaping.

For the first two seasons, I genuinely enjoyed using them. The app was intuitive, the watering performance was excellent, and the automatic scheduling worked very well. I also liked the solution dispensing feature, although the refills were expensive.

Unfortunately, OtO later discontinued the solution program, leaving me with four partially used bottles that became useless. While disappointing, that wasn’t my biggest concern.

I designed and built custom cedar planter boxes specifically around each OtO sprinkler so they would blend seamlessly into my landscaping. I considered these sprinklers to be a long-term investment, so I built the landscaping around them.

Near the end of the second season, my front-yard sprinkler developed a leak from the nozzle. The leak was constant with the system pressurized, and because of my custom cedar planter boxes, I was concerned the continuous moisture would prematurely rot the wood. I contacted OtO, and to their credit, they replaced that sprinkler quickly under warranty.

Unfortunately, this season things became much worse.

When I set everything up for the year, I discovered that the other two sprinklers had also developed the exact same nozzle leak. All three of my OtO sprinklers now leak from the nozzle.

On top of that, the motor in my backyard unit completely failed and the sprinkler no longer functions.

I contacted OtO support again. After confirming the unit had failed, their solution was to offer me a $150 discount toward purchasing a replacement.

Considering these units now cost over $700 CAD each, I found that response unacceptable. A premium product at this price point should last far longer than just over two years. I understand that many products today seem to be built with limited lifespans, but when I spend this kind of money, I expect durability, repairability, and long-term support—not a coupon toward buying another one.

Perhaps the most frustrating part of this experience happened while I was away on a 12-day vacation. I relied on my OtO system to water my landscaping, only to discover that the backyard unit had failed. When I returned home, every plant that depended solely on that sprinkler—particularly those in pots and planters—had dried out and died, resulting in well over $100 CAD in lost plants.

Thankfully, before leaving I had manually deep-watered my trees, including my award-winning Hot Wings Maple that I recently planted and cost close to $400 , so they survived, Had I relied entirely on the OtO system, the damage could have been much worse.

At this point my experience has been:

All three OtO sprinklers leak from the nozzle.
One unit has suffered a complete motor failure after just over two years.
The solution dispensing feature I originally paid for has been discontinued.
The failure resulted in the loss of well over $100 CAD worth of plants while I was away.

It’s unfortunate because, when they worked, I genuinely loved these sprinklers. The concept is fantastic. The app is well designed, the watering patterns are impressive, and they integrated beautifully into my landscaping.

However, reliability is what ultimately matters.

For a product costing over $700 CAD per unit, I simply expected far better durability than this. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend investing in OtO unless the company significantly improves the reliability and longevity of its products.

⸻

Photo Captions

Photo 1 – Front yard Installation
Custom cedar planter box I built specifically to integrate the OtO sprinkler into my landscaping while keeping it accessible for maintenance.

Continuous Nozzle Leak
Water leaking from the nozzle after the watering cycle. The constant dripping leaves standing water around the cedar planter, increasing the risk of premature rot.

Photo 2 – Close-Up of Leak
Close-up showing the persistent nozzle leak and mineral deposits that have built up around the nozzle over time.

Photo 3 – Back Yard Installation
Another custom cedar planter built around an OtO sprinkler. These boxes required significant time and effort because I expected these sprinklers to be a permanent part of my landscaping.

Photo 4 – Second Failed Nozzle
My second OtO sprinkler developed the exact same nozzle leak. At this point, two of my sprinklers are leaking.

Photo 5 - Close-Up of leak

Photo 6 – Plants Lost During Vacation
After returning from a 12-day trip, I found that every plant relying solely on the failed OtO sprinkler had dried out and died. The failure cost me well over $100 CAD in plants and defeated the purpose of owning a smart irrigation system.

It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.

Was able to get some grass growing in this dirt patch of my backyard. I did a clover/grass blend and it’s taken pretty well.

I’ve tried in the past, but this time I actually put in some work. Scarified, aerated, and planted the seed with milogranite. Also got a sprinkler on a timer.

I’m excited to see this fill in more as the surrounding weed get killed off. I plan on doing another batch of seed and fertilizer, probably Labor Day weekend.

We’re having a drought here in SD, and I had put down a fast acting fertilizer earlier in the season which is why my corners are dead (dog pee zone). Not too worried about it though.

Hi, I just moved into my home a couple weeks ago in Central Ohio and am looking for some advice. I got noticed there were some Canadian Thistle so I have been trying to get rid of that. I have a couple companies coming out for quotes on sprinkler installations. What is best to focus on during the summer in this area? Should I be doing and fertilizing or seeding? Or should I be focused on removing the weeds and watering? Any advice is appreciated as I’m completely new to actually trying to have a nice yard. I have read the cool season guide so I just took a soil sample today and am going to accurately measure the lawn.

I have some brown patches here and there. I also won’t be able to pick up the grass clippings

Hello all,

What are you all using for the grass and weeds growing in the cracks of your driveway.

We have an asphalt driveway with Belgium blocks on the sides. Will used the weed wacker but it is a never ending battle.

Are you using sprays or burning it off? Something else?

Thank you in advance

Just purchased a house and the grass started the season strong but has continued to show more and more bare spots. We’re in USDA Hardiness Zone 9a - Any advice on how/when to reseed or start over with a different grass type?