Need to revive our home rental's front lawn - Louisville

Question: We're looking for some advice on what to do with this lawn situation. We are new to Colorado and new to caring for lawns, and don't know what to do.  A few details: This is a rental home, so we would like the most cost friendly but very effective thing to do to save it. Our sprinklers were turned on relatively late (beginning of June), but are now on a good schedule We were told that it's okay to dethatch, aerate, and reseed but aren't sure if that would hurt the lawn at this point in the season. We haven't used any fertilizer or products. Our lawn is quite popular with bunnies. We've been told by many neighbors it could be a plethora of things: I.e just not enough water, its the bunnies, we have grubs, heat intolerable grass... ANY suggestions on how to revive our lawn or what to do would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 03, 2024, 8:45 PM EDT
response: Hi Hannah,  The good news is there are lots of things that are possible!  When you were setting up the watering system did you put out containers to catch water to evaluate if the law was getting evenly watered? I also noticed in the pictures that some of the lawn near the sidewalks was more yellow, what exposure does the lawn get (south, west, east, north?). Depending on the species of grass growing it actually has better health at different heights (some do better shorter or longer). It's hard to tell for sure what your lawn is from the pictures, could you send another with a close up on the individual blades. If you can include the base of the plant that would be very helpful in narrowing it down.    Here's a great very informative infosheet on general lawn care guidelines (it also discusses thatch and power raking effectiveness).   I hope this helps!  Best,  Boulder County Master Gardeners

responder: The Question Asker Replied July 04, 2024, 12:54 PM EDT
response: Hi thank you so much for getting back, we appreciate it so much.  When maintenance came to dewinterize the sprinklers, we hadn’t done any testing or measuring of how much water the lawn was/is getting. Is this something you recommend doing now? I’ve also seen water meter tools to stick in lawns, is that sort of thing applicable?  Our front yard is facing West/slightly Southwest. Direct sunlight throughout the day through the evening too. A couple spots in the pics are completely dead and we “think” they just got totally fried.   We currently have lots of bunnies and are beginning to be proactive to keep them out.  Not sure what breed of grass so hopefully the pic I attach will shed some light on what it could be (seems to be different kinds in different places. Ie thicker and thin blades).   We’ve extended periods between mows due to not wanting to keep too short. And I have the blade set higher so it doesn’t cut too short either… Willing to change any of that if need be!  Thank you SO much for your help again!  Hannah and Josh    On Wed, Jul 3, 2024 at 6:45 PM Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:

responder: An Ask Extension Expert Replied July 05, 2024, 12:12 PM EDT
response: Hi Hannah and Josh,  Regarding water monitoring: putting out a container, particularly in a spot where the lawn seems to have died and a spot where the lawn seems to be greener will be helpful and more cost effective than buying a tool to measure soil moisture. Also, just confirming: what time of day are you running your sprinklers? It's best to run them either at night (10PM-Midnight) or in the morning (8-9AM) to ensure the best water uptake by the lawn.  It's a great idea to keep the grass a little longer. Because our sun is so intense, it's recommended to keep lawns at a height of 2.5-3 inches and not less than 2 inches. This is especially important given that your house faces west/southwest so your lawn is getting lots of intense sun. Also, when mowing, it is recommended to mow often enough so that no more than 1/3 of the length of the grass is removed per mow.  For lawn restoration: aeration is one of the best things you can do for the lawn. Typically this is done in the spring, but I think your lawn would still benefit from aerating. You can either rent an aerator from a hardware store such as Home Depot or Lowes. If you coordinate with your neighbors, you can split the cost of the rental and all aerate at once - this would be the most cost effective option. If your not going to split the cost of the equipment rental with anyone else, it is likely more cost and time effective to pay someone to aerate the lawn (or at least this has been my experience with my own lawn). It may be worth getting a few quotes for aeration from a company and then making a decision from there.  Here is a resource with some more information about lawn aeration: https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/lawns/1559-proper-lawn-aeration/  From your pictures, it looks like Kentucky Bluegrass to me, but I can't be 100% sure of that. If this is a high traffic area, this is likely the type of grass you would want to overseed dead areas of the lawn with. Typically, reseeding is recommended in late August or early September  Here is a resource detailing how to reseed your lawn and it contains some recommendations for types of grass to sew: https://planttalk.colostate.edu/topics/lawns/1550-rejuvenating-existing-lawn/  Please let us know if you have any questions!  Best wishes, Boulder County Master Gardeners