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luis_vazquez28

Bermuda Lawn Not Greening - Please Help!

5 years ago

Hey everyone, here is my dilemma.

I moved in to a new build home in Houston about a year ago, and the builder planted Bermuda SOD. Being a new home owner, and having grass for the first time ever, I had now idea what I was up against. Unfortunately, I started doing research a little too late, and here is where I’m at now.


1. Applied milorganite about a week ago

2. cutting lawn once a week at 2”. Soil is uneven and will scalp if I try to cut at 1.5” or below

3. Watering as needed for 1” (2 x a week for 30 mins is what I calculated using a tuna can) I will minimize watering or omit it completely when we have rainy weeks.


Here are my questions:


1. I read that bermuda should be scalped during spring when the lawn starts greening. Did I miss that mark, and too late to scalp?


2. I did not apply pre emergent during fall to avoid weeds. i did apply a post emergent and some weeds have been eliminated completely. Is it too late to apply pre emergent? temps are 80-90 during the day at the moment


3. Do I keep applying fertilizer every 6 weeks? 8?


4. Does my lawn need dethatching or aerating?


5. Why is my lawn not completely green at this point? It appears that some of it is still dormant. I was driving around the neighborhood and noticed some lush green lawns. I am jealous!


Photos below of my front and back yard


Please help and point me in the right direction. I am trying my best to be a responsible lawn owner, but need some guidance!


Thanks


JV










Comments (5)

  • 5 years ago

    The lawn is unevenly green because you are watering too frequently and too long. You should be watering 1 inch all at one time, not split up. Splitting it encourages shallow rooting. Deep rooting will help all around. Here is a picture showing the difference between watering every day and watering once a week in the hottest heat of summer.


    All the lawns in the neighborhood water a few minutes on a daily schedule. The green one waters 3/4-inch once a week. Deeper roots from deep watering brings up nutrients held deeper in the soil. Thanks to morpheuspa for posting his lawn pics many years ago. These are Kentucky bluegrass lawns in Pennsylvania; however, the same holds true for bermuda in the south. Back off on your watering to green it up.


    If temps are in the 80s to 90s, you should not be watering every week. Wait until the temps are in the 90s consistently to water once a week. Given Houston's rain profile, you might not need to water much at all. I live in Bandera where we're having a relatively dry spring. I just watered my St Augustine lawn for the first time this week. Y'all get a lot more rain, so I would not be watering it yet.

    You should have fertilized after the second mowing this spring. Then you can fertilize once a month to 6 weeks for the rest of the growing season.

    Ideally you would be mowing much lower. If your soil surface is uneven, then you raise the deck until it doesn't scalp. Bermuda does not mind being scalped at any time, so don't worry about that. Routine scalping bermuda causes the grass blades to grow horizontally instead of vertically. That's how putting greens work. But you have to have a level surface to do that.

    If you would like to have a more level mowing surface, and who doesn't, search this forum for topics on lawn leveling. You should find posts about using sand and a drag to level the sand. If not I can point you in the right direction. Basically it's fertilize heavily, water deeply, scalp, remove the fluff, sand the low spots, settle the sand and resand as necessary, and then stand back. Do this with some beefy friends, beer, and pizza. It's a workout. With bermuda you can level any time the ground is hot. July and August are perfect.

    You don't ever need to aerate or dethatch. Having said that, professional turf farmers will slice bermuda in the spring. That is much like dethatching but they use a sharp blade rather than wires. Slicing the surface runners encourages bermuda the green up and "densify."


  • 5 years ago

    @dchall_san_antonio

    Thank you so much for your insight. You are right, I am watering way too much given that temps are still between 80-90. I will back off on watering once a week every couple of weeks until we consistently hit 90s.

    Aside from the recommended nitrogen feeding and fertilizer, anything else that I should be feeding my lawn during the summer months to keep it consistently green? Iron maybe?

    Thanks in advance!

  • 5 years ago

    Just nitrogen, really, unless a soil test tells you otherwise. You can get a good soil test for $20 from Logan Labs, which I'll read for you. They're open through this, and I'm fairly idle until our county falls under 50 infections per 100K, which is going to Be A While, given the number of folks I know in the ICU at the moment, so I have time to do reads.

    I'm the guy with the lawn above. :-)

  • 5 years ago

    Quick picture update of my lawn. Backed off water quite a bit. Fertilized with 44-0-0 about a week and a half ago and we had some pretty hard rain fall these last couple of days. My lawn has greened you quite a bit. Now to get a few truck loads of sand to level! Is now a good time to level or should I be doing early spring?

  • 5 years ago

    July or August is a better time to level it.

    That tree in the middle of the yard...you should pull the mulch away from the bark. You should be able to see where the roots grow away from the trunk. Mulch up against the trunk causes a fungus in the bark that will slowly kill the tree. This tree is an extreme example of exposed root flare, but it will live like this quite comfortably.



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