If you are seeing brown/yellow track marks in your lawn in the summer, you may be experiencing heat tracking. Heat tracking is a result of traffic on your lawn when the grass is starting to wilt. Grass wilts when it is under extreme heat and is very dehydrated.
The same thing can happen in extreme cold. When the temperature outside reaches below freezing, the grass is ultra sensitive. Cracked crowns or broken grass blades that happen in the cold temperatures usually bounce back by the following spring and since the weather is cool, there is no need for increased watering.
The discoloration is caused by broken blades of grass where pressure is applied on the lawn. This can be tire tracks from lawn mowers, fertilizing machines or even bicycles. Areas of heavy foot traffic can suffer too. Dry and stressed grass breaks easily and loses its color. Although it may look very bad, it’s not permanent. For heat tracking in the summer, increase your watering and the marks will go away soon.
