Crop circles

Joshie · #1 07/06/10, 10:01 AM

OK, not really. This morning DH found a rectangle of dead grass in the front yard, kind of crossing the drive, but mostly in the grass. He came in and asked if I'd sprayed something. The drive has grass growing in it because we desperately need to add more gravel. It's really, really strange.

The dead area is about 2' wide. It forms a rectangle that's about 27' X22'. We've done no spraying. There are no moles (but they wouldn't do any in a perfect square). The corners are square, not rounded. It really looks like somebody sprayed something. It's not up near the road.

What could it be?

Windy in Kansas · #2 07/06/10, 10:17 AM

Leach field with the dead area directly above the piping? Doubt that would be in a front yard though.

Joshie · #3 07/06/10, 10:22 AM

Nope, that's in the side/back yard. It is kind of shaped like that though.

bee · #4 07/06/10, 11:31 AM

If somebody left something lay on that spot that "solarized" it then what you have now is the dead roots in that spot. Kind of hard to have something so square any other way than that with out very carefully applied poison. Play detective with the family..children?

badlander · #5 07/06/10, 11:41 AM

Possible fungal infection? We have a perfect circle in our front yard at our 'work home
where a fungus infected it some years ago. It's not dead, but the grass there is a different color than the rest of the yard. I can see a circle, but a rectangle is puzzling.

uncle Will in In. · #6 07/06/10, 12:20 PM

Odds are two to one that there is a foundation of an old long gone building there. See how far you can dig there before you hit a a soild wall.

Bearfootfarm · #7 07/06/10, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Odds are two to one that there is a foundation of an old long gone building there

They said 2 FT wide at first, then said 22 FT X 27 FT

I'm thinking it's a small area, and those second dimensions were supposed too be inches

7thswan · #8 07/06/10, 02:31 PM

hum, Dh put the bucket down on the skid loader. we have a nice yellow rectangle now. The heat heated it up and baked the grass.

Windy in Kansas · #9 07/06/10, 02:31 PM

I read it to mean a 2 foot wide band around the perimeter of the area of the second dimensions, i.e. not covering the entire rectangle, just a band of it.

Bearfootfarm · #10 07/06/10, 03:06 PM

Quote:

I read it to mean a 2 foot wide band around the perimeter of the area of the second dimensions, i.e. not covering the entire rectangle, just a band of it.

That makes sense, but also makes it a lot harder to explain LOL

Bearfootfarm · #11 07/06/10, 03:10 PM

How about mowing or using a tractor there?

My neighbor had a hydraulic leak on his tractor and "painted" a nice symetrical strip of dead grass that was almost 1/4 mile long

Windy in Kansas · #12 07/06/10, 03:11 PM

An old foundation does make sense, but two feet wide? What size would the building have been? Oh wait, footings might be that wide.

Macybaby · #13 07/06/10, 04:13 PM

We actually have that happens when it gets good and dry. Though we have not dug it up, we figure it is an old foundation under the soil.

Had not appeared for the last three years, as we've had plenty of summer rain, but when we have a summer with little rain, the grass above what appears to be the old foundation will die back, and it is a uniform dimension. Ours is only about 12" wide, about 15'x15' square.

Joshie · #14 07/06/10, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

Odds are two to one that there is a foundation of an old long gone building there. See how far you can dig there before you hit a a soild wall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

They said 2 FT wide at first, then said 22 FT X 27 FT

I'm thinking it's a small area, and those second dimensions were supposed too be inches

I'm thinking that you might be right about it being a building. Just wonder why we didn't have this problem last year.

The grass is dead. Deader than a doornail. (What is a doornail anyway and why is it dead? Can you tell that I'm easily distracted. :smiley-laughing013: ) The area is 2' thick around a rectangle that is ~22'X27.'

Nothing was laid on that area. Don't have anything that large to lay there.

Windy, it is a 2' wide band around a 22' X 27' rectangle.

Our barn is what used to be the shop for a coal strip mining operation that was abandoned 70 to 80 years ago??? Who knows what other buildings were here at one time. I do know that there are places much closer to the barn where I pulled up weeds and discovered concrete under the gravel drive. Maybe I need to pull up more weeds. Wouldn't it be lovely if I could find a gravel driveway under there? Would solve the expensive problem of needing more gravel, wouldn't it? I can dream.....................

mldollins · #15 07/06/10, 11:44 PM

My thoughts...true story. Some new homes went up in my area that used to be owned by shell oil. The owner split the land up to 2.5 acre sections and built homes. Well, in the front of one of those sections was some type of oil platform around 20 by 20 ft concrete slab. Instead of digging them up, he brought in dirt and covered over them maybe a foot. Sold the home. Buyers of said home have no idea until summer and we have less rain. Guess what, nice new home has a rectangular dead patch perfectly outlined. I would say there is some type of foundation that once went to something else.