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Cut or let my bermuda grass grow back?

sanantonioguy15

16 years ago

I just moved into a new home and the bermuda lawn was tall and I began mowing it on the highest setting my mower had initially. I recently lowered it one setting and my grass is completely yellow now. Should I mow it again in about a week and continue mowing once a week hoping that it will turn green eventually, or do I let it grow back green before mowing again? Thanks.

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Comments (5)

dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
Is there any chance the lawn is yellow from not getting any water since the last rain? If so then you should water it first before mowing again.

Bermuda is one of very few exceptions to the rule about mowing at the highest setting. Bermuda can be mowed at the very lowest setting on a rotary mower. If you have a reel mower, some varieties of bermuda thrive when mowed at 1/16 inch high.

What happened when you mowed at the highest setting is that you allowed the seed and grass stalks to get taller. Then you mowed off all the green leaves and left the grass and seed stalks. They have a dry sheath around them that is "yellow" (really straw) colored. If you were to gradually bring your mower down to the lowest setting, your stalks would be shorter and the plants would adapt the leaves to break at the shorter height. When you mow lower still (like you can with a reel mower), there comes a point where the plant will stop sending vertical stalks up and concentrate on growing short leaves straight off the stolons cutting across the surface of the soil. This dense, horizontal growth pattern is what you see on the golf greens around San Antonio.

If you want to move from the highest to lowest setting on your mower, you can mow twice a week at one setting and lower it a notch for the next week's double mowing. Keep lowering it one notch per week and mowing twice until you get to the lowest setting. If you start that now, the bermuda will be just about dormant by the time you get it to the lowest setting.

I have bermuda growing in my (formerly) crushed rock driveway. We have let it grow in just to have a soft spot to park the car. I only get home to mow it every other week and I mow it at the lowest setting each time. Being bermuda, it bounces back fast and doesn't look nasty for very long.

What part of town are you in? If you are interested I can direct you to the best garden shops on your side of town. Also on Saturday morning, listen to Bob Webster on KTSA 550 AM from about 6:30 to 9:00. He's got the best gardening show on the radio. He's on again on Sunday morning but I don't know the hours. Or you can listen to him on the radio station's Internet site.
skoot_cat
16 years ago
I agree with dchall!

Bermuda grass should be cut at a height of 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches, which may require mowing one to three times per week. Common bermuda should be mowed at the highest recommended heights. This will help the grass develop a deep root system and give it a better appearance.

Also, bermuda is a Nitrogen hog. A moderate fertilizing plan would be to apply 1-lb Nitrogen every other month from spring green up through early fall.

Bermuda is like a weed. In that its hard to kill.
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The yellowish green is probably due either to low nitrogen or low iron (chlorosis). Since you used a nitrogen fertilizer, the problem is more likely to be low iron. That doesn't mean that your soil is low in iron, nor does it mean that you can put down iron to solve it (unfortunately). In the intermountain west, a more common cause of iron chlorosis is that the pH of the soil is too high and, even though there is plenty of iron available, the grass can't make use of it. You could add chelated iron, but if the pH is high enough, you'd need to use eddha chelated iron, which tends to be more expensive and less readily available. It's difficult to lower the pH over a large area like a lawn. A better approach would be to use greensand (glauconite) if it's available. Adding a lot of organic matter can help bring the pH closer to neutral. If the water is penetrating to a depth of 6-8 inches, I don't think compaction is an issue. But if you're watering that much three times a week, you're probably watering too much. Too much water is another potential cause of chlorosis. I would cut back to once a week watering, but if the grass starts to show signs of stress (for example if the grass stays down when you walk on it), water it before the week is up. If you've got clay soil and the water penetrates to 6-8 inches, you should be able to get by watering once or at most twice a week.
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If you are experiencing heat like we are in southwest AR and lots of Texas then you better not go below 3 inches right now. Keep it watered. Bald spots will fill in eventually. Maybe next year when it comes back the spots will fill in. Also next year expect some winter kill of your first year Bermuda and plan to fight the invasion of weeds. Creating a perfect lawn takes continuous work, patience, and good weather, among other things. The quick solution would have been solid sod with an irrigation system but that is expensive. I'm a fanatic and have a 3 acre Bermuda lawn that is 5 years old. As much as I love the lawn I can't compete with 2 or 3 months of 100 degree heat everyday and virtually no rain. Forget the "beautiful" lawn for now. I'm just trying to keep it alive and I'm slowly losing ground. Hopefully rain will come and the temps will drop.......patience my friend, patience.
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It would take at least that long to grow back.
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texas_weed
16 years ago
You have been mowing way to high. Now that you have cut it down some you have just removed the green leafy part and I also guess you have not been fertilizing.

Since you live in San Antonio there is no risk in winter damage. Work it down to 1-inch before it goes dormant. Also get use to mowing twice a week and fertilizing once a month during the growing season.

Be aware your lawn is going to look like crap for the rest of the year. Just keep it short and next spring it will bounce back nicely.
sanantonioguy15
Original Author
16 years ago
I live in the Helotes area. Thanks for the feedback.
Billl
16 years ago
Just another note - when you cut it shorter, you may end up scalping some parts of the soil. The ground has to be very level to get it down to 1" or less and still get an even cut. If that happens, just toss some sand or topsoil in the low spots each week and it should level out nicely.

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