Yellow grass and Spiders!

[Knikitta]

My OH visited some friends in Scotland (near Glasgow) and he randomly text me and asked me if knew anything about yellow grass, and in these little patches of discoloured grass were lots of spiders?

My initial thought was a dog/animal weeing turning the grass yellow or nutrient deficiency. But they said that they have no pets and have never noticed any other animals in their garden which is fenced all the way round.

The spiders I can only presume are grass spiders, but I am now wondering if this is the cause of the patches?

[lancashire lass]

that is a puzzle - yellow spots in lawn are caused by different things. For example, stones under the lawn prevent roots from reaching the soil depth and are the first to show stress during lack of rain so gives the lawn that patchy look. Too much fertiliser (just like dog urine) can be detrimental. Anything that rests on grass and prevents sunlight from reaching the leaves will turn it temporarily yellow (think campsites and where the tent has been pitched) Insects, especially chafer grubs, feed on grass roots. And we recently had a sudden surge of warm weather - plants that have been dormant do not tolerate the change quickly enough but should recover.

I don't think the spiders were the cause as they are by nature carnivores - perhaps it was coincidentally a nest and the spiders have emerged all at once, or they have been attracted to something to explain their numbers. Or maybe they are not spiders but I cannot think of what insect would prefer grass to other more succulent foliage at this time of year.

I'm thinking the likely cause may be lack of water - it's only a guess but most places have had very little rain for a while. I noticed my neighbours lawn was mowed a week or so ago and the children have been playing football over the holidays - the grass is short and yellowing because we've had no decent rain coming up to 2 months now, and the clay soil is rock hard. I would suggest the lawn was watered, and if it hasn't been fed in a while, perhaps use a lawn feed (read the instructions - if feed is put down and then does not get watered in, this too can cause the grass to go yellow)

[Knikitta]

As they live in Scotland, I doubt very much that it is due to lack of water.

It is also a very large open lawn with no tree's or plants, and they assure me that they have had nothing on the lawn at all.

I am swaying towards your theory of possible 'stoney' soil though... that is certainly the most plausible explanation at this time. Next time I speak to them I will ask them to take pictures.