Did you read my post? Using a preemergent in the late summer when soil temps are above 70 F is a good idea mainly to prevent poa annua germination. Lawn burn is usually caused by the fertilizer portion of weed and feed products, but those are generally post emergent herbicide/fertilizer combinations that need to remain on the lawn for a while without watering in. You should always water in fertilizer and fertilizer/preemergent combinations. There are several preemergents on the market you can buy that don't include fertilizer. Dimension, Barricade, Stonewall, Pendulum, Ronstar, etc. Here's a good site to decide what you want to use. http://turf.unl.edu/pdfctarticles/Marchherbicidedelayswhenseeding.pdf

Texas-Weed wrote: > You can lay the sod now, just not the optimum time to do it... But you have raised a huge RED FLAG. You are in DFW and want to replace Bermuda lawn with Saint Augustine? Why? You just as well go to the Middle East and promote the USA and Christ as that will be easier, take less time, and more rewarding. ======== Texas-Weed wrote the above in a different thread but I thought I'd reply in this one. I'm an atheist, although I still enjoy attending Christmas services. I guess I just read too many science books in high school. I should have said ZZ-chromosome male frogs, not XY male frogs in my post above. Regading not seeding improved varieties of common bermuda into a vegetatively produced hybrid bermuda lawn, I imagine the bermuda experts may say the hybrid bermuda is a much higher quality lawn; it looks a lot better than a seeded bermua lawn, or so I'll guess that's what they'll say. I'm not an expert on bermuda though. I know zoysia much better since that's what I grow. Zoysia looks sooo good and it's much less work than bermuda. For example, you don't need to cut zoysia as low or as often as bermuda to keep zoysia looking good. You can even cut zoysia as high as 2 inches, just once a week, or even less frequently in times of drought. During this last drought, I only needed to cut my zoysia after 5 weeks! Zoysia doesn't grow vertically as fast as bermuda. Bermuda grows tall like a weed :-)

If you have it in dense clumps you can dust baking soda on just the crabgrass. It will turn black and die in about 48 hours. Be careful because if you get the baking soda on the bermuda it will likely die, too, but here's the process. But as mentioned, it is the antichrist and will come back. You'll need simple baking soda, a sock or stocking (new or used but no holes), spray bottle, water, shampoo, and molasses. Crabgrass is hydrophobic so in order for the baking soda to be effective it needs to stick to the blades of the grass. That's what the water, soap, and molasses are for. Spray the weed with water and notice that the water beads up. Add the right amount of soap and/or molasses to the water and the water will not bead up but will stick to the blades. Start with a few drops of both molasses and shampoo in a pint spray bottle. Spray and see if you have enough sticker stuff. Experiment until you get enough. Then put a fistful of baking soda into the sock/stocking. Spray the weed and dust it with baking soda. Squeeze, pinch, or punch it out of the sock/stocking. Apply liberally. When the moisture dries the crabgrass should look like it's covered in baking soda. Don't inhale the dust or get it in your eyes. It will change the pH of your innerds and irritate the heck out of you for longer than is comfortable. It doesn't exactly die before your eyes, but if you come back in an hour it should look significantly worse. The black slimy look in 48 hours is very satisfying. Once it is out, I would dust some compost on the area to reestablish the soil microbes. Baking soda is a broad spectrum antifungal agent. Actually I suspect that is the mechanism that causes the plant to die is by wiping out the protective fungi that live on the blades of crabgrass and other grasses.

I suspect that's too much shade under the trees. Bermuda will not be the best for that spot. Ideally you would have seeded the bermuda in mid June to have the warmest conditions, but this year was not cooperating with the rain and overcast. Still you should have fit it in in the heat of summer for best results. That is crazy about the tree. Is the tree on her property or yours or smack in the middle? Are you renting or do you own the property? I would suggest taking down the chain link at this point, but don't waste the money if you're renting. It is amazing how much difference the deep and infrequent watering process makes. Also if you have not fertilized recently, you might try organic. I use alfalfa pellets or corn meal from Ful-o-Pep on Roland east of WW White. 50 pounds should be under $15 or $10. Application rate is 15 pounds per 1,000 square feet, and it takes 21 days to see the results. With this cold front it might take a few days longer if you were to put it down this weekend. If you buy it now and don't use it all, go ahead and use it all anyway. You cannot hurt anything by overdoing these products. If you leave it in the garage over the winter it will be buggy in the spring. It's still fine to use, but just a little icky. So next April is the time to evaluate what you want to do with the back yard. I think it could be too shady for bermuda. If it seems slow to awaken and turns thin, then shade is the problem. The best place to get St Augustine is Milberger's Nursery at 1604 and Bulverde Rd inside the loop. They sell 14 pallets of St Aug every day, so it's always fresh. Lowe's and HD sell 1-2 pallets per week, and it always looks diseased. Milberger's is also about 1/3 the price of Lowe's.