Bermuda Lawn Changeover and Winter Lawn
lawnobsessed
11 years ago
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texas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Fescue Lawn After Bermuda Grass Lawn
Comments (22)>How big of an area are you talking about?Rather small, actually. It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'. >I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well, but that's really not an ideal suggestion for my fescue lawn or garden beds growing alongside it. I can't understand anyone who *chooses* to grow Bermuda grass. It's invasive to every other part of your landscape, ugly (compared to fescue anyway) and turns a lovely shade of brownish gray in the winter. :( Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy. But I appreciate the suggestions....See MoreBermuda Lawn Care FAQ
Comments (0)How do I know what type of Bermuda I have? There are many different types of Bermuda, but they generally fall into 2 main categories: Hybrid and Common. The hybrid varieties include Midiron, Midfield, Midlawn, Tif varieties (Tifway-I, Tifway 419, Tifway-II, Tifgreen, Tifeagle), and Sunturf, which are all types of sodded Bermuda. The common varieties include Arizona Common, Cheyenne, Jackpot, U-3, Sundevil, and Yuma, which are generally seeded varieties. There are some newer seeded varieties that have some similar characteristics of the hybrid varieties. These improved common varieties include Princess-77 and Riviera. Contact your builder or sod farm to determine your variety of bermuda. If this is not possible the general rule of thumb is sodded bermuda is hybrid and seeded bermuda is common. How do I fertilize my Bermuda? Bermuda should receive 1lb of Nitrogen per every 1000 sqft, every 30-45 days in the growing season. Fertilization should begin about 2 weeks after spring green-up and continue through the early fall. P and K levels should be added based on soil tests. For organic fertilization, a high N fertilizer is recommended such as soybean or cottonseed meal to achieve the 1lb of Nitrogen, rather than some of the milder fertilizers such as corn meal. Urea can also be used as fertilizer for bermuda and sometimes called a "synthetic organic" fertilizer. For Urea, the preference is a coated slow release urea with a small percentage of fast release nitrogen. Bottom line: Bermuda needs 1lb of Nirtrogen per 1000 sqft of grass every 30-45 days. Sources can be organic (grains), synthetic (Scotts), or Urea. How high should I mow? Unlike many grasses, Bermuda grows most dense when mowed low. Hybrid varieties can be mowed from .5 inches to 1.25 inches and Common varieties can be mowed from 1 inch to 2.5 inches. Mow only 1/3 of the total leaf height at a time to reduce stress (If you are mowing at 1 inch, mow again when it reaches a height of 1.5 inches). Bermuda will have brown upright stems if allowed to grow too high. When mowing low for the first time, you will likely mow off all of the green and leave the brown upright stems. Gradually lower your mowing height to reduce this. One note for cooler climates. Raising the cutting height prior to winter dormancy can protect against freeze damage, as can watering prior to an extended hard dry freeze. How often should I water? Watering should be done when your grass (not your dirt) shows the first signs of stress. These signs include slight wilting or blue-gray appearance. When watering, grass should receive about 1 inch of water at a time to encourage roots to grow deep. 1 inch can be determined by placing shallow containers (tuna cans) around the yard and timing how long it takes to fill to an inch. It is not uncommon for this to be an hour or more. The grass should not be watered again until it shows signs of stress. This will be at least a week in 100+ temperatures and maybe months depending on rainfall and temperature. When beginning a deep watering program, or watering on a slope, several watering cycles during the same day may be required to prevent runoff while still providing 1 inch of water. The deep watering also only applies to established turf. Newly applied sod or seed should be watered according to directions. What do I do about weeds? First of all, find out what type of weeds you have. Many annual weeds such as crabgrass, and poa annual can be controlled with a pre-emergent. The pre-emergent prevents the weed seeds from germinating and should be applied 2 weeks prior to germination. Summer annual weeds (Crabgrass, etc.) can be controlled with a pre-emergent application in the early spring. Winter annual weeds (poa annual, etc.) can be controlled with a pre-emergent application in the early fall. Check with your county extension for specific timing in your area. Post emergent herbicides can be applied to perennial weeds (Dallisgrass, Nutsedge, dandelion, clover, etc) and germinated annual weeds. Check the labels for targeted weeds, application rates, timing, and grass types. Hand pulling and digging may also be used to control weeds after they appear. Is there an annual program? Check with your county extension for specific timing in your area. Early Spring Pre-emergent application for Summer Annual Weeds Growing Season Fertilize every 30-45 days with 1lb N per 1000 sqft. June/July Core aerate to relieve compaction, if necessary Early Fall Pre-emergent application for Winter Annual Weeds As Needed Post emergent weed control and fungus control...See MoreWhat am I doing? Bermuda lawn
Comments (9)Your impatience is costing you money, taking up your time, and adding a hassle factor that you actually seem to be enjoying. Unless you live south of the Florida Panhandle or in the southwest desert, then you seriously jumped the gun on seeding bermuda. I'm not sure what the plugger is supposed to do for you, but this is shaping up to be a mess. The middle of next month would be a better time to seed because bermuda needs warm to hot soil for the seed to germinate. If you are planning to plug in some bermuda sod, that will add more of a different texture to the lawn and make it look weedy. Mixing centipede and bermuda in the same lawn is going to look weedy for awhile until the centipede dies out. Centipede needs no care and dies out when it gets water and fertilizer. Bermuda needs weekly water and monthly doses of high N fertilizer. Normal bermuda care is death to centipede. Some of it will last through this season. Plus the centipede has a coarse blade while the bermuda is fine bladed, so the two just look weedy. I think you wasted your money and time on the aeration, too. If you go back to the spots between your core aeration holes, the screwdriver will still not go more than 1/2 inch deep. Give it a month and it still will not be any softer. The shampoo is what you want. That will seriously soften the soil for you. Okay I just looked and saw captions on your pictures. Did you put down 100 pounds of seed or 100 pounds of sprigs? I was assuming seed in my comments above. Sprigs would be a different story for some of this. What kind of seed or what kind of sprigs did you put down? And it is important to know where you live....See MoreConverting a Fescue Lawn to Bermuda by tilling and seeding
Comments (4)I'll start with the elephant in the room. Rototilling is the very worst thing you can do to prepare for a lawn, and it only gets worse for bermuda. So the term, 'proper tilling' means nothing. There is no proper tilling. There is only improper tilling. Why? I'll summarize The surface will settle unevenly and it is very hard to ever get a smooth surface again. It kills the microbes that give your soil health. It destroys the existing soil structure both structurally and biologically (sum of 1 and 2). Reestablishing a new soil structure takes 3 years. Grass seed sprouts on the top surface of the soil. You don't need to bury the seed into soft soil. Yes, nurture the current grass until the very day you decide to kill it all. Do that at the end of April. Spray with RoundUp and start watering lightly, 3x per day, every day for a week. This will sprout all the crabgrass and other summer annual weeds that may be lurking in the soil. After a week of daily watering, spray the area again with RU to kill everything that sprouted during the week. This approach may work better if you start watering a week before the first RU app. Oh and mow it short to let the sunlight in. Search this forum for the topic of sprigging. That is another way to get a very expensive lawn for not much money. You do some prep work, but the result is an expensive hybrid lawn for the cost of a few pieces of sod....See Morelawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolazy_gardens
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodchall_san_antonio
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agonearandwest
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodchall_san_antonio
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agolawnobsessed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agotexas_weed
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodchall_san_antonio
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agodchall_san_antonio
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoZoysiaSod
11 years agolast modified: 9 years ago
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