u/EntranceKnown4067 — reddlx

Hi Guys, I had a bit of a search but couldnt find anything recent or similar situation. I had Village Green Kikuyu installed last year as roll on turf. It was a pretty dry supring and summer in Perth so I watered it aggressively for a few months amd it established well and looked amazing. I then started noticing it was getting patchy in places (brown) and spongey in others. So I made some adjustments after searching online, to decrease watering frequency but for longer duration. The soil type is sandy, ie. Great drainage.

Fast forward to today, now about 10 months after install and we are into Autumn. The Grass is green but still veey soongey, see photos. Like its green leaf for the last 1cm and then 4 to 5 cm of brown/black to the ground. Lately when I mow the cyclinder mower gets bogged. Its a commercial grade MEY 30inch with 8hp and if I let, it I could probably cut this back down to the ground. I have been mowing with the catcher usually, once a week in summer.

My two questions are:

What actions do I nees to take?
What was the cause of this and how can I avoid in future, noting that winter is around the corner.