I have a newly sown fescue lawn that has died off. What could cause this to happen and how do I fix it?

• Your lawn has burnt off, possibly due to a lack of water, or insufficient watering, or if the lawn has been fertilised recently this may also have caused the burning. 
• With the high temperatures we have been experiencing, you will need to increase the watering to daily using a sprinkler, (an automatic timer for the tap is a good idea) and water for at least 15-20 minutes a day to maintain a green lawn. 
• Early morning is the best time, watering at night isn’t ideal as the lawn will be damp overnight until the sun comes up and this leads to fungal disease affecting the lawn.
• Is the soil well drained? Clay soils are poorly drained and in summer can cause lawns to burn off. Look at ways to improve the soil structure, apply gypsum in autumn to help improve the soil.
• If it is caused by over applying fertiliser, watering will help leach out the excess fertiliser.
• If a high nitrogen fertiliser has been used on the lawn then it could be causing fungal disease, talk to your garden centre or hardware store about a suitable fungicide for lawns.
• A product called Saturaid may also be helpful to keep the soil moist, it is a wetting agent that helps retain soil moisture as well as breaking up the soil surface tension so that water penetrates deeply into the soil and down to the roots. Saturaid can be top dressed over the lawn at a rate of 50g per square metre and watered in.
• Could grass grub be a problem in your region? Grass grub feed on the roots underground and the lawn dies off, but not usually in such big patches. If there are a lot of starling birds visiting your lawn that can be an indication of grass grub. Dig down to a spade depth and look for grubs. Talk to your local garden centre or hardware store for a suitable control if you suspect grass grub.
• One other thing about fescue type lawns is that they do not like high humidity and are best suited to regions south of Hamilton, it could be that the grass type is not suited to Northland.
• To rejuvenate your lawn it is best to wait until autumn. Keep the water up to it now, and in autumn apply Tui LawnForce New Lawns which also helps repair damaged lawns, wait and see if the lawn revives, otherwise you may need to re-sow in autumn and try a different type of lawn seed.