Soil sample results.

This is what it looked like last year on July 30. I also raked it with a thatch rake when I put the milorganite out 2 weeks ago

The Geogia test isn't giving you a cation exchange capacity number, which would be helpful in understanding how well your soil can hold onto nutrients. If it is low, making more frequent amendments at lower rates could be helpful. A Logan test will not give you a pH buffer test nor will they give you recommendations (unless you pay extra). The recommendations Georgia gave you seem reasonable. Your pH is on the low side of sufficient so it would be something to check in another year. Milorganite is a good fertilizer, giving the organisms in your soil food as well as helping the grass grow. At bag rate you get 0.72 lb/k of nitrogen. To get a full pound during the summer months, as recommended by the test, use 20 lb/k of Milorganite. Milorganite has phosphorus too, which you need. The 10-10-10 recommended comes only in the synthetic version. When you talk about the yard being dry, are you referring to the grass or the soil? If there are specific spots in your yard where the ground seems hard or the grass just doesn't grow well, you might investigate to see if there are rocks or debris under the surface. Stick a screwdriver in and see how far you can go. Have you applied baby shampoo? It can help soften up hard soil. You would put 3 oz/k in a hose end sprayer and spray the yard.

Thank you for your response and the recommendation on the milorganite. It seems like the grass is always dry but I can consistently stick a screwdriver 6" into the soil everywhere that I have tried with a decent amount of effort. I have not applied the baby shampoo but I did core aerate in April.

Is there anything else I should try to get it to grow better in the meantime? I am considering levelling with sand in a couple weeks and putting down something like 46-0-0 urea before the sand. Is this a bad idea with the state of my grass?

I'm not a Bermuda expert. Maybe someone else can advise.

At first glance, I'm thinking tree competition. That much shade & roots from large trees will outcompete most Bermuda. I'm glad you're mowing more appropriately now, but how much sun does that problem area really get? If the pic is misleading & you're getting a solid 6 or 8 hours of sun on there, then maybe fertilizer is all you need. You may also want to edit out your personal info from that soil test before posting it...

Thanks for the heads up on the soil test I guess I wasn't even thinking.

It get full sun all day, at least 8 hours solid. Before I bought the house there was a large tree in that area but it's been about 5 years since the tree was there.

Could still be leaching N from the ground to break down the stump, but hopefully not. If it gets that much sun & plenty of water, are you leaving clippings on the lawn?

Yes clippings stay on the lawn. The only time I bag is when I let it get too tall or if I scalp it in early spring.

I dug the old stump out (was a little rotted) shortly after I moved in.

I had more weeds then usual this spring but I think I got started too early with the scalping and aerating. I sprayed the lawn with Crossbow and that killed the weeds pretty good but may also be stressing out the Bermuda, I'm not sure.

Be honest, how much thatch is still in there? You should be able to see bare dirt in between the blades & stolons. If not, bag your next few cuts. Stress is possible, I'll check out crossbow & see if there are any obvious offenders in there. What are your day & night temps like right now?

I have been thinking thatch also but I always read that it isn't that big of an issue with Bermuda. I bought a thatch rake and I went over the worst areas but I'm not sure how good of a job it did. Should a rent a power rake and go over it before leveling? The temps right now are mid to upper 80s and lows in mid 60s.

No, don't power rake it. You'll pull up way too many good stolons. Just bag your next few cuts & let the earthworms catch up. Thatch isn't a major problem on established bermuda cut with a rotary, but the reel produces a different clip that doesn't decompose very well. A verticutter can help break up that layer but it cuts stolons rather than yanking them out--Still not a good time though. Do that once your lawn is back to greatness.

Your temps are good, your light is good, your soil is ok, so I would get some baby shampoo down for better water absorption then fertilize with a synthetic & water the heck out of it for a week. See if you can wake it up. Once awake go back to normal watering.

Crossbow is a 2,4d product, so you definitely got some damage out of that. I highly recommend sulfentrazone based products as a better alternative on Bermuda--It works on almost all weeds & the bermuda gets much less stressed. When you need broadleaf control from a 2,4d product, go half dose at the most. I do more like a quarter dose for winter weeds & it still does the job.

Any recommendations on a synthetic to put down? Also should I fertilize then baby shampoo then water all in the same day and in that order? Then proceed with watering in the morning? Thanks.

Well I think I may have realized what my issue is. For some reason I just assumed that my front and side yards were 2500 sq ft and that is what I have been going by when putting down fertilizer. I went ahead and measured and I actually have right at 4000 sq ft so that's quite a difference.

Today I put down Pennington 34-0-0 nitrogen fertilizer at about 3lbs per 1000sq ft. The. I followed that up with clear baby shampoo at just over 3oz per 1000sq ft. I also bought a rain gauge so I can stop guessing how much rain we get and since it is currently raining outside I didn't wanted after. It's supposed to rain here for the next couple days so I'll see how much actually falls.

Thanks for the help and let me know if anyone has any other suggestions. I am going to try and tackle the leveling with sand next weekend and see how it goes.

"Measure twice, cut once." :)