It’s all too tempting to assume that lawn infections are to blame for your yellowing grass. That is true in some cases, but in others, inappropriate lawn care practices cause yellowing.
Your grass turning yellow in small places could be due to a number of factors. Frost burn is the most prevalent cause of yellowing tips, but dog pee, over-fertilization, and overwatering can also cause them.
Let’s take a closer look at these.
However, if you want a quick fix for most yellowing spots in your lawn, consider joining up for a Sunday Lawn Care plan tailored to your grass type and lawn.
Contents
- 1 What Causes the Yellowing of Grass?
- 2 Overwatering
- 3 Overfertilization
- 4 Overfertilization manifests itself in the following ways:
- 5 Lawn Diseases
- 6 Deficiency in nutrients
- 7 Urine Spots in Dogs
- 8 How to Quickly Turn Yellow Grass Green
- 9 Reseeding urine stains
- 10 Make changes to your irrigation schedule.
- 11 Apply fertilizer to your lawn as needed.
- 12 Identify and treat lawn diseases
- 13 Sharper blades should be used for mowing.
- 14 References
What Causes the Yellowing of Grass?
Any grass, including St. Augustine grass, Bermuda grass, Buffalo grass, Kentucky Bluegrass, and other varieties, can turn yellow. The yellowing of grass blades could be caused by lawn maintenance operations.

Overwatering
Overwatering causes poor root development in your lawn. Due to waterlogging, too much water causes a shortage of oxygen in the soil. Because your grass has shallow roots, it will have a hard time absorbing nutrients, oxygen, and even water, leading the lawn to turn yellow.
Due to lower resistance, overwatering your grass can lead to fungal illnesses and insect infestation.
So, can yellow grass be caused by overwatering? Without a doubt. Remember that providing your lawn with proper nitrogen and water can help it withstand disease attacks.
You won’t be able to feed your lawn correctly if you drown the roots with water, and you’ll see indicators like thinned and discolored leaf blades.
Overfertilization
Your lawn can easily be burned if you use too much fertilizer. This is particularly true in the case of synthetic fertilizers. After applying fertilizer, your grass may become yellow, indicating that you used too much.
Synthetic fertilizers with too many nitrogen salts tend to damage your turfgrass leaves. Leaf scorch is a term used to describe this condition.
Overfertilization manifests itself in the following ways:
- At the base of the leaf blades, there is a yellowing.
- The tops of the grass blades are browning.
- Grass grows slowly.
- On the soil surface, there is a crust of fertilizer.
Lawn Diseases

Some lawn illnesses show up as yellow to brown patches on the lawn. Yellowing leaves and undergrowth are indicators of lawn fungus, dollar spot, and other illnesses.
Frost burn and severe rain in the winter can cause yellowing leaf blades, although the grass may not die as a result. However, treatment may be required to prevent the grass from discoloring any further.
Deficiency in nutrients
Nutrient insufficiency could be the cause of yellowing areas and strips on your lawn. You’ll see a slightly yellow or fluorescent discoloration on the leaf blades if you don’t fertilize certain portions of your lawn, while the rest of the grass exhibits evidence of deep greening and thicker, faster growth.
One of the indicators of nutrient insufficiency caused by incorrect fertilization, according to the University of Massachusetts Turf Extension, is “brown streaks laced with extra green growth can appear in regions of application overlap.” In regions where nutrients are inadequate, yellow nutritional streaks may appear.”
Urine Spots in Dogs

Dog urine contains a lot of nitrogen molecules by nature. You may notice yellow patches all over your lawn if you have pets that pee on them.
How to Quickly Turn Yellow Grass Green

You should begin mitigating steps as soon as you observe yellow spots and streaks on grass blades.
Here’s how to get your lawn back to green:
Reseeding urine stains
Dog urine patches may not always heal, especially if you wait too long before applying a dog urine neutralizer.
If you want to keep your grass from turning yellow and dying after a dog pees on it, you should follow him about the yard and apply a neutralizer as soon as he pees.
If the damage has already been done, you can get rid of the yellowing and dead spots in your lawn by simply reseeding or re-sodding it.

When you buy a Sunday Lawn Plan, you’ll get a pet neutralizer and a Green Powerhouse product to spray on your lawn when it starts to yellow. Consider signing up for Sunday Lawn Care to get rid of your yellowing problems once and for all.
Make changes to your irrigation schedule.
Only water your lawn when it is absolutely necessary. If you find your grass turning yellow after a lot of rain, you may want to cease watering for a while before restarting.
- Water your lawn only when the top two inches of soil are completely dry.
- Make sure you’re watering according to your grass’s maintenance regimen.
- Watering your grass 2-3 times per week is beneficial to most lawns. Reduce the frequency to 1 or 2 times only if this generates yellow spots.
- Reduce the amount of water you use to the suggested level for your grass type while irrigating your lawn.
- Different species of grass necessitate different watering schedules. The yellowing of St Augustine grass could indicate a fungal infestation or waterlog.
To avoid this, speak with a local lawn care expert about the right care routine for St. Augustine grass and how to get rid of yellow spots on your lawn by modifying the watering schedule.
Apply fertilizer to your lawn as needed.
It’s a sign that you used too much fertilizer if your grass turns yellow after fertilization. Slowing down your programs can help you solve this problem. Alternatively, an excellent slow-release fertilizer, preferably organic, could be used. It will not cause your lawn to burn or be yellow.
- Perform a soil test to discover which nutrients are lacking, and then purchase a fertilizer with the appropriate NPK quantities.
- Apply fertilizer according to the label’s instructions.
- To help nutrient-deficient fading grass become green again, feed it the correct amounts of fertilizer.
Organic fertilizers with a high nitrogen concentration are always my first choice. Even if you don’t read the instructions on the label, they won’t burn your lawn.
Identify and treat lawn diseases
Grass diseases inhibit the growth of your lawn and can cause signs like spotting and wilting on the blades. Treat any fungal infections or other diseases as soon as symptoms appear to turn yellow grass green faster.
The majority of lawn diseases are caused by moisture and are fungal infections. As a result, keep a fungicide like DiseaseX on hand to treat grey spots, brown patches, and other comparable diseases.
Also, you may need to treat your grass right after the winter to get rid of any fungus that grew over the frosty days. This will aid in the rapid greening of your lawn.
Sharper blades should be used for mowing.
Does your grass become yellow after mowing in the spring or autumn? Then there’s the issue of your lawnmower blades being dull.
The grass blades are hacked, leaving them unprotected and susceptible to disease. Your grass’s crowns will next begin to turn yellow.
There are two options for getting your lawn to grow greener again. Sharpen your mower blades first. You want a crisp cut that looks like you just snipped the grass blades. Second, mow at a lower height than before to encourage fresh greener shoots to emerge. You might also want to consider using a reel mower, which cuts more cleanly than gas-powered mowers.
References
- The University of Massachusetts Amherst: What’s Wrong with My Turf
- University of Georgia Extension: Turfgrass Diseases in Georgia: Identification and Control
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