While Iron is definitely the secret to getting a quick darkening of the grass, all Iron is NOT the same, and those recommending applying Iron to the soil don't understand the soil chemistry, or the regional quirks of the DFW area. Soils in the DFW area are very often at pH 7.5 - 7.8, and are calcareous (large excesses of Calcium and sometimes both Calcium and Magnesium). Iron solubility is heavily influenced by both Calcium and pH - the same amount of Iron may be 1000 PPM soluble at pH 6.3, but will drop to 352 PPM at pH 6.5, 35 PPM at pH 7.0 and 3.5 PPM at pH 7.5. Unchelated Iron will become unavailable almost immediately upon soil contact. Chelated (part of an organic molecule) Iron will last longer. Milorganite behaves as chelated because it came from the organic bacteria that digested the sewage. The way to get very dark grass quickly is to apply it in a foliar fashion to the grass instead of the soil. Backpack or pump-up sprayers are best because the droplets are much tinier than the hose-end sprayer applicators, and less runs off. The bad news is that it grows off in 2-3 weeks as the grass grows out, and must be reapplied to maintain the look. Be careful - while it can work literally overnight, it doesn't take much -- and too much will make the grass look a muddy slate-gray.

O yeah no they couldn't close it. " nursery green"? Its soil and clay based greens normal low desert dirt. Yeah a wetting agent might be one of the best things to do they haven't aerated all year so far.

Fertilize after the lawn has been mowed for the second time. Waiting ensures you have active roots to take up the fertilizer. Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

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."