what did you have before? It sure looked like crap compared to now.

That is fill dirt with patches of common bermuda.

As for the taller, darker green patch near the back, I think that might be some fescue that I tried to grow before giving up.

Keep mowing it short and blasting it with N. It will look alot better than that in no time.

Lol. No landscaping and trees makes a good bermuda lawn...

Lou - a very true statement.

I should also mention the bermuda is doing beautifully in my mulch beds as well ;)

Ha ha. I could say the same for half of my neighborhood with bermuda taking over plant beds completely. I'd see them try to remove only to give up and curse it. Just thought it was funny.

As long as you keep the mulch in there and keep after the bermuda, it is easy to pull out of the mulch. A good physical barrier, like concrete 4 inches deep and 4 inches wide should do it for you. Then you can use your edger up against the concrete.

How does your bermuda hold up to wear and tear from your dog? How long does it take to heal from dog urine?

dchall - one of my favorite things to do in the yard is to pull bermuda out of the mulch after a good rain. The longer the rhizome, the more sastisfaction I get out of it :)

jimmy -
I kind of wonder about my dog because her urine never seems to discolor any of my grass. However, I have had neighbor dogs pee in my front yard, which is hybrid bermuda, and it's left definite yellow spots. I've never put much effort into correcting the spots - as long as bermuda gets its sun and water, it will repair itself. (Unless someone knows otherwise from experience).

My dog prefers to eat the hybrid bermuda as well... otherwise, she doesn't generally "hurt" my yard at all.

Try spraying molasses at the rate of 4 ounces per 1000 sqft and see if that will prevent yellow spots.

Bermuda is the toughest grass of all of them and stands up to heavy traffic. Dog urine can burn it becuase of the high nitrogen content, but it recovers quickly. If you can catch the dog in the act, just water it in and give the mut a spray also. :)

Thanks for the info on the dog urine. A co-worker has bermuda and says her dogs never burn it either. That's pretty impressive. I have a lot of St Aug, which I like, but 80 pound mut wears it out. The mut loves to scratch his back on the neighbors Emerald Zoysia, but it heals slowly from urine burns. I have a little (5'x5') test plot of Seashore Paspalum, but it is just now starting to show some germination after a month. I'm guessing that his urine will burn it badly. If I'm outside with the mut, he tends not to go on the grass because he knows I don't like it. My roommate doesn't care where he goes and probably encourages him to go in the grass. Hopefully, the roommate will be an x roommate soon.

Oh, I'm not one of those peeps that loves one type of grass more than another. I've recently realized that I'm just a grass lover.

To protect your grass, no matter what kind it is, try one or all of the following:

When you can, flush the urine with water immediately after he pees. It will help dilute the nitrogen.

Try Lou's molasses method

Try one of those pheromone stakes that attracts the dog so that he will pee in the same spot every time.

There are also supplements/treats you can give your dog that supposedly help with urine burn, but they're expensive and I'm not convinced that they work.

I got the kids a dog back in November and he's murdering my lawn. He's still a pup so I'm hoping when he's older, he stops squatting and starts peeing on the fence. I got some of the supplements at a big box store the other day but to be cautious, I asked my Vet about them. She said not to ever use them as they "could" have serious side effects. She may have just been covering her butt, but I decided not to use them. I just follow him around with a water bucket. They may be safe, but you might want to check with your vet first.