Bermuda Grass care (Celebration Bermuda) Advice

8 years ago

In April, I had new sod installed. It is Celebration Bermuda Grass. This is a newly constructed home, so the ground was driven on with heavy machinery for a bit. I'm sure that leads to compaction issues. We have clay type compact soil, which leads to further compaction issues. Water runoff happens a lot.

I also understand the grass is only 4 months old.

Things I have done:

Mow every 3-4 days with a reel mower at 1.5-2 inches. If I mow any lower, I get a crazy looking scalped mess because the ground is uneven, and perhaps I let the grass get too high to begin with. (I was surprised and annoyed to learn that the guy did not till and grade the ground. He just smoothed it, I was at work for much of this stuff.)

Fertilized once a month, I read that Bermuda is a nitrogen hog.

The first time I fertilized, I used Scott's Liquid Turf Builder for new grass (7-12-15) (this worked fantastically)

I was advice by a guy at work to use granular 15-15-15...I did and it didn't do a damn thing.

The next two times with Scott's Liquid turf builder (29-0-3) (second time did good, the third didn't do squat, or so it seemed) Perhaps I should go back to the new grass stuff, since it is new grass, and might not be ready to absorb a lot of nitrogen?

Watering: Every Wednesday and Sunday (4 am and 5pm 25 minutes each station)

It is still very hot here, today's high is 106, so I know it's not time for dormancy, yet. I live the Fresno California area.

The upper picture is in June 17 after two weeks for using the new grass fertilizer(7-12-15). You can see slight yellow, which is still one of my problem areas.

This is today August 17, three weeks after my second application of Scott's Turf Builder (29-0-3). By the trees and other vegetation is still very thick and green. I'm assuming because water is penetrating the soil much deeper than the middle of the lawn, making the roots nice and happy.

Camera filtering played a part making everything look greener in the third picture. The spots by the sandbox in the third picture looks just like the dry looking spots in the 2nd and 4th picture.

I'm thinking I will have to aerate next season. That is only think I can think of. Unless anyone here has further advise.

Thanks in advance.

John D.

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

8 years ago

Tilling would have been the wrong thing to do, especially for bermuda, so don't hate on your installer. He did it right. Still the surface is not level. You can deal with that in December or wait until next June. The grass either needs to be completely dormant or growing like crazy.

Your soil is not likely to be compacted. You can drive bulldozers over it all day long and it will not compact...unless the soil is saturated with water first. If the soil was saturated and then mechanically compressed, that would cause the particles of soil to squeeze the air out and that is the definition of compacted soil. Bricks are made of compacted clay. Adobe is made of compacted silt and sand. Almost no yards are truly compacted.

However, many (MANY) yards are hard from a lack of adequate biology. New yards are especially prone to this because they don't get watered, fertilized with organics, and don't have a history of grass growing in them. Here's how to fix yours fast. ...and when I say fast, I mean in 3 weeks. Spray it with shampoo. Shampoo is a surfactant that will allow moisture to penetrate much deeper into the soil. When that happens the microbes in the soil have a more hospitable environment (cooler and moister) in which to thrive. It is the microbes that soften the soil for you. The shampoo application rate is 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. If you have 3,000 square feet, put 9 ounces into a hose end sprayer, fill it with water, and try to spray it evenly until the sprayer bottle is empty. You can repeat this as often as you want to, but wait for 3 weeks before you decide to repeat. Before you spray it test the soil by pushing a screw driver into it. Do that before you water and after. Then spray the yard and apply a full 1/2 to 1 inch of water all at one time. You'll have to time how long to leave the sprinkler on yourself. Do that by placing cat food or tuna cans around the yard and time how long it takes to fill them. I can tell by looking at your (dry) yard that 25 minutes is not nearly long enough. Mine takes 8 hours with turbo oscillator sprinklers on a 3/4-inch hose. That time to water 1 inch is the time you should reset your sprinklers for. Once you know that number, reset the timer and set it to water only one day per week. Bermuda in Fresno should be able to handle one day a week watering easily. I just visited a St Augustine lawn in Phoenix that only gets water once a week, so you can do it with bermuda. When the soil is right it will be very soft when moist and very firm when dry. The shampoo treatment is a replacement for aerating. You won't have to aerate ever again. Use a clear shampoo like baby shampoo. Don't use one with conditioners in it. Cheapo shampoo is fine.

Generally you are correct to use the highest nitrogen number you can get easily with zeros for the other numbers. You might want to spend $25 for a soil test at Logan Labs to see if you need P or K in your fertilizer. If you do that, post your results here on this forum. Morpheuspa will read it for you and tell you how much of anything you need to apply, when to apply, and where to buy it. In addition to monthly feeding with high N, I would urge you to add at least one app per year of any organic fertilizer. The organic fertilizers feed the soil microbes so that they can help you take care of the grass. For example they keep the soil from getting hard. They also feed the grass, and there are other benefits. You can apply organics at the same time you use chemical ferts, or any other day of the year.

Have you tried mowing down to 1/2-inch and letting it come back up to 3/4? Do you actually hit the ground when you mow lower than 1 inch or does it just scalp off all the green and leave brown stems? Brown stems are normal until you get it down to the 1/2-inch range. If you mow it 3x per week at 1/2-inch it will start to grow horizontally like you see on putting greens at the golf course. That's often the objective for serious bermuda growers.

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Comments (11)

User
8 years ago
In that kinda heat with compacted soil, you might have to add a day of irrigation, and back off on the nitro. Bermuda likes nitrogen, but in slow steady dose- not the huge "- shot in the arm" its getting now. It causes excessive growth and scalping. I like to use- 'Best 9-9-9 with iron' .......its usually found at landscape supply places.
John Douglas
Original Author
8 years ago
i forgot to say in June, the good picture, it was about 105 then as well.
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John Douglas
Original Author
8 years ago
I seriously thought about just going with the lower height and deal with the brown nasty look until it retrains and starts the sideways thicker growth, it does not hit the ground.

I heard about shampooing the ground, but I read a lot of sites claiming it doesn't make a difference, however I haven't tried it yet. Actually going to do that today.

Organic fertilizer is on my list also.

The screwdriver test, even when wet I was never able to go down more than a few inches.

As for the watering, if I water an inch at one time, I will have flooded spots in my yard for a couple days.

Thank you for your input, DCHALL

It just baffled me why the lawn looks so different, and I didn't change a darn thing.
dchall_san_antonio
8 years ago
A few inches on the screwdriver is the GOAL for lots of people. They can put their entire weight on the screwdriver and not break the surface. The shampoo helps them, too. I don't read a lot of other websites, but for the ones I read, everyone swears by shampoo. If you're getting long term puddling, the shampoo should help with that. You need to avoid standing water. Cutting off the air supply to the soil microbes might be what caused your soil to turn suddenly. That could happen from a couple of well spaced rain storms.

I would do the organic fertilizer and shampoo on a priority basis. After the shampoo water as long as you feel comfortable to go deep but avoid puddling. The shampoo will help carry that moisture down deeper into the soil. Once it gets in there, the soil biology will begin to recover. The organic fertilizer will help the biology in the recovery. It is the healthy soil biology that allows water penetration. The goal is to get an inch of water all at one time. You might have to settle for 1/2 inch applied on the half-schedule.
John Douglas
Original Author
8 years ago
Sounds like it might have some benefit. Thanks again
John Douglas
Original Author
8 years ago
Eight days later and looking much better. I used Scott's Turf builder New grass formula.

Haven't done the baby shampoo thing yet.
Truth Inadvertising
8 years ago
I'd continue on your current program until your lawn emerges from dormancy, if it ever really gets there, next year.
I'd core aerify, level it using a drag, and hit it with a preemergent in the Spring next year. You can also add a bag of Milorganite before you drag it. You may have to "spot level", in order to get it really level, in some
places using sand. I used Sakrete GP sand and a 36" rake, both from my local HD.
Follow the Bermuda Bible from there.
Go pick up a reel mower, like the golf courses use on golf greens, and mow it low. Like 1/4 inch low...........It doesn't have to be a crazy expensive model, I got a McClane mower for $220.00. It's a 10 blade model that will mow down to 3/16.
User
8 years ago
1/4 is way too low for Celebration ! You should keep it around 3/4, with an occasional low mow ( 3/8 to 1/2) in spring and early fall) for thatch removal.
John Douglas
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Truth, some of what you say makes sense, with how to level and such. However, you didn't read my post entirely. I have a real mower already.

Also, I'm not really interested in mowing that short. Not to mention I need a very even ground to allow not hitting dirt as I mow. more importantly, I don't have the time to mow it every other day, or every day, to maintain it that short, and I'm not hiring people to do it for me either.

I am definitely going to core aerate next year, though.

Thank you too, for your suggestion. :)

Tom, I was thinking 3/4 to 1.5 myself, depending on the time of year. Thank you too.
reeljake
8 years ago
Pick a length & stick with it--Bermuda doesn't really care as long as you're somewhere in the recommended height range. Leave it at your chosen height all season & mow at least every 7th day. Every 5 days is better. The center of your yard is dry because that's where they compacted your ground most when grading & it gets zero shade judging from the pic. A light aeration would help, but so will the shampoo. Throw some good compost or organic fertilizer there as well to help it retain the water.

Bermuda Grass care (Celebration Bermuda) Advice

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