The library
Telling lawn problems apart
Almost every piece of bad lawn advice comes from treating the wrong one of two things that look alike. Each of these covers one pair, ends with the physical check that settles it, and is complete — there is nothing held back for the app.
Brown Patch or Dollar Spot? Check a Single Blade at Dawn
9 minTwo summer fungi, two circular brown problems — and fertilizer helps one of them while feeding the other.
Compacted soil or Thatch buildupCompacted Soil or Thatch? Cut Out a Wedge and Measure It
9 minBoth thin the grass and make water pool instead of soak in. One is below the soil line, one is above it.
Dog urine or Fertilizer burnDog Urine or Fertilizer Burn? How to Tell Them Apart in 30 Seconds
8 minBoth are nitrogen burns, and both leave a darker green edge around dead centre. The give-away is not in the patch — it is in the pattern.
Nitrogen or IronYellow Lawn: Nitrogen or Iron Deficiency? Look at the Veins
8 minBoth turn a lawn yellow. One is hunger, the other is a lock-out — and more fertilizer only fixes one of them.
Too much water or Not enough waterOverwatering or Underwatering? The Screwdriver Test Settles It
9 minBoth go limp and off-colour, and both look like a lawn asking for the sprinkler. One of them is asking for the opposite.
Heat dormancy or Dead grassIs my grass dormant or dead? One look at the crown tells you
5 minStraw-coloured either way. One recovers on its own in a fortnight of cooler weather; the other never does.
Grubs or Chinch bugsGrubs or chinch bugs? How to tell which one is killing your lawn
6 minBoth brown off irregular patches in high summer. One cuts the roots from below; one drains the blades from above.
More pairs are being written. If there is one you keep getting stuck on, say so — the ones people actually ask about get written first.