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Bermuda weeds and mowing

16 years ago

My Bermuda is still dormant and this is the first season I get to work with it as we just moved into our house. It already has plenty of weeds and some other type of grass growing up. I'm new to maintaining Bermuda so I need all the help I can get. My initial concern is how to get rid of the weeds. I've got a lawn care service coming to look at it in a couple of days but is this something I can do cheaper on my own? Secondly, when the Bermuda comes out of dormancy how do I go about cutting it down? I can tell it was not cut too short last year and I want to get it down real short and thick as it should be cut. I don't want to cut too much too fast. I do have a rotary mower which brings me to my final question: Is Bermuda hard to cut with a manual push reel mower? I don't know how thick it's going to get. I'm going to try to post some pictures but I've never done this before so they may not appear. Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks.

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Comments (6)

bpgreen
16 years ago
My understanding is that as long as the bermuda is completely dormant, you can use a nonselective herbicide to kill all the other weeds without harming the bermuda. If you're using an organic approach, that would be vinegar (preferably 20%). If you're using a chemical approach, that would be glyphosate (Round Up is the most well known brand name). Once the bermuda starts to green, you can no longer do this.

It would certainly be less expensive for you to do this yourself than to hire it done.

I don't know the answers to the mowing questions.
lou_spicewood_tx
16 years ago
Just mow it down to 1 inch with your rotary mower.
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Sharpening it is. Thanks. Look at you close up picture. Notice how the ends are frayed, torn, and discolored looking? That is the result of a dull blade. One or two days after mowing when the grass tips heal and seal is when you notice the light colored hue to the grass. Not only is it a cosmetic issue, it can also contribute and compound disease and pest problems. Think of it like cutting your skin. If cut with a very sharp object like a razor, the would hells quickly and not noticeable. Contrast that to say a cut form a tear or blunt object. Takes a lot longer to heal, gets infected easily, and looks really ugly.
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Well what you experienced is what is suppose to happen, you removed too much at one time. But no real harm done. What has happened is your Bermuda was trained by you to grow tall, rather than lay down. Now you have to train it to grow at a lower height. By doing this you will cause the Bermuda to grow much thicker and denser which will help choke out the weeds. But there is a catch. You can maintain your Bermuda down to a 1/2 inch if you wish and have a reel mower to cut that low. Bu there is the catch to go that low requires mowing just about every day or at most every other day. You cannot remove more than 1/3 of the height. Maintained at 1/2 inch requires mowing again at 3/4 inch. Bermuda can easily grow 1/4 inch per day. If you have a rotary mower, most likely the lowest you can go is about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches which is just fine for an improved common type you have. Just keep in mind it will require mowing twice a week at that height. So pick a target height, read the Bermuda Bible, and follow the instructions. Just be aware the height will determine mowing frequency. Don't worry about the cool season grass, it will be toast if you water, feed, and mow Bermuda properly. Fescue will roll over and dies when cur short, heavily fertilized in the heat of summer with with only 1 inch of water per week.
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I am in the piedmont also, what a lot of people refer to as zone 7 but I don't believe in zones so I don't use them myself but the temps you mention are similar to here. I would never get to raise the height much because come september when the temperature plummets so does the growth rate of this grass and even with fertilizer I haven't been able to get a significant increase in height after cutting it short for the whole season. Nothing major bad has happened to it. Lost a little bit last year but it wasn't a big deal bad might have actually been from a late freeze. In this area, this is when the optimal growing time for Bermuda comes to an end. It will slow down and lighten up and the zig zag marks come next month then it's all over. So I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted.
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I have an entire back yard and hillside of 419 tiff. Its tough stuff. Just water and it comes right back. Its grows slowly but it will come back. I keep mine mowed pretty short. You can't kill that stuff unless you use bonus S fertilizer/weed and feed. I sprinkled some of that in a spot where I had some weeds coming up. The weeds died and so did the 419 tiff. However, the tiff spread right back over and filled in again nicely. I don't think that 419 tiff tolerates any kind of weed and feed. I haven't found a weed and feed yet that it will tolerate. I usually just hoe any weeds out now. But that stuff grows so thick I seldom get any weeds in it anymore. I started with a few pieces of sod that was given to me. And it took over my entire back yard and the entire slope behind my house. It definitely spreads pretty quickly. And it seems to like this sandy clayish soil I have that holds moisture pretty well.
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muddbelly
16 years ago
Yeah, what lou said - most of that stuff will die out when the heat kicks in after you start mowing regularly. Just fertilize every 4 months with scotts organic or scotts turf builder plus iron (I am using both this year to compare results). I hit it in march, july, and november (sometimes).
texas_weed
16 years ago
Just fertilize every 4 months
Wrong, very wrong if you want strong healthy green Bermuda. Bermuda needs fertilized every month during the growing season.

All I see is typical winter annuals. Keep it mowed short around 1-inch and it will be gone soon.
garett
16 years ago
does anyone know what the flowery weed in the 2nd picture is called? just curious.

i was pulling some of that up a few weeks ago and my neighbor thought i was planting flowers. lol
muddbelly
16 years ago
Well tx-weed, I'm no pro grower, but I stand by my statement. Slow release fertilizer and mulching your clippings will result in a green lawn. Heck, I'm like Hank Hill about my lawn, but I have found there is no need to overdo it...

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