How To Repair Damaged Lawn In Phoenix?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hello,

I have recently purchase a home in Phoenix and the grass is my back yard is in bad shape. The previous owner did not water it during the summer months and now it looks 'dead'. I have some questions:

- what type of grass is this?
- can I bring this back to life during the winter months (January, February, etc), or do I need to wait until it warms up?
- if I can bring this back to life during the winter months, is it just a matter of watering and fertilizing? If yes, what type of fertilizer is recommended?

Thank you in advance!

Featured Answer

dchall_san_antonio

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I use Walmart's Equate brand of baby shampoo. It can be any clear shampoo that you can see through. Before they put bactericidal elements into dish soap, we used to recommend dish soap. Shampoo works great, though. It works by lowering the surface tension of the water for better (deeper) penetration into the soil. Once the soil is moist down several inches the moisture creates a thermal mass that keeps the temperature and moisture relatively constant for several days in a row. That is the ideal environment for the beneficial soil microbes to grow and repopulate the soil. About 3 weeks after using the shampoo you should notice that the soil will become very soft to walk on when it is wet. If it is not, then reapply the shampoo. You cannot over apply - it's been tried and you just cannot use too much. I used it in San Antonio in 2012, and it was still working when we moved away last May. As long as you keep the microbes happy, they will reward you. Again, feed them at least once a year with an organic fertilizer. You should be able to find alfalfa pellets (Rabbit Chow) at your local feed store for under $15 for 50 pounds. The application rate is 15 to 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Again, you cannot over apply. I scatter it by hand and reapply if necessary. You can do that now in PHO if you want to. Do it the same time you shampoo it. Alfalfa pellets will swell up once moist and create green "worms" a couple inches long. Knock those off the grass and down to the soil so the microbes can get going on them. I stopped using chemical fertilizers when I saw how good my lawn became with organics. Here's a picture from mrmumbles experiment with alfalfa several years ago.

The grass was zoysia. He applied the alfalfa pellets in mid May and took the picture in Mid June. You can see the improved color, density, and growth. It really works.

I developed the watering schedule mentioned in the earlier post after discussing it (heatedly) with a lawn care professional from Phoenix. He insisted that deep and infrequent was mandatory for good lawn care and was more important than mowing height or fertilizing. After about 3 weeks of discussion here on Gardenweb, I believed him. I'm from SoCal and believed I had to water daily. Deep and infrequent really is key to making your lawn care go easy and have the best looking lawn. You'll see people watering daily, but they have to do other stuff to make up for the damage they do. What I gave you is the low hassle approach to lawn care.

If you need to spray for weeds, do that in early spring. For most people that is April, but for you it might be early March. Don't use a weed n feed ever. If you need to kill weeds, spot spray with something like Weed b Gon or Weed b Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer.

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Comments (10)

dchall_san_antonio
7 years ago
That is bermuda. How much shade does the back yard get during the day. Bermuda needs sun all day. It appears in your second picture that there is shade covering all but the far corner. Hopefully that's because you took the picture early in the morning or late near sundown. But the tree leaves in the first picture beg the question. If the shade stays all day or most of the day, you'll need to switch to St Augustine. I suspect you get plenty of sun, because the the turf looks to be evenly thinnish.

No water in PHO means your soil biology is suffering badly. The first thing I would do is to spray it with shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet. Follow that up with a full inch of irrigation. When you're watering it watch for runoff. When you see water not sinking in, stop watering and let it rest for 15 minutes to soak in. Then resume watering. The shampoo will help it soak in. More on irrigation later. Bermuda needs as much water as every other turf grass if you want it to look good.

For better looking bermuda it should be mulch mowed at your mowers lowest setting, once or twice a week.

During the mowing and growing season it can take all the nitrogen rich fertilizer you can throw at it. Once a month is what the lawn nuts do. To that I strongly suggest that at least one of the monthly applications be an organic fertilizer to help keep your soil biology happy.

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.

I have a friend in Gilbert who has St Augustine in his shady back yard. During the summer he waters an inch every 5 days when it's under 110 degrees. He goes to every 4 days over 110.
gil_happy
Original Author
7 years ago
Wow! Thanks so much for the detailed info. A couple of things.... thanks for confirming that it is Bermuda. The area does get full sun all day, but I think it was a partly cloudy day when I took the pics. When you say shampoo, do you mean 'shampoo', 'shampoo'? I have never heard of this before! I have a little less than 1000 sqft of lawn, so what type of shampoo do you recommend?
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Here are some general fescue care guidelines taken from this and other forums. 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. Mowing: Mulch mow high. Every university study splits hairs on the exact mowing height, when in fact, mowers come pre adjusted. The easiest way to deal with that is to mow at your mower's highest setting or one notch down. Do not mow fescue at temps higher than the low 90s. Let it get long and bring it back down with a string trimmer when the temps cool off. Fertilizer: First application on Memorial Day. This takes patience to ignore 4 months of advertising that insists NOW is the time to fertilize. It isn't. Wait until after the spring flush of new growth has slowed down and then fertilize. Preemergent herbicide: When the forsythia bloom in your neighborhood. Post emergent herbicide: Spot spray individual weeds with Weed-b-Gon or another 2,4-d product. For special cases use Weed-b-Gon Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis Killer or other Trycloper product. Insecticide: Almost never. I used it in the 60s on a dichondra lawn, but for real grass I have never needed one. Everyone's mileage is different on this, but the routine use of insecticide should be avoided unless you see insects causing damage. If your fescue cannot handle the watering as described above, then it is the wrong grass for your area. It simply is not adapted to inland California conditions.
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reeljake
7 years ago
I use jet dry instead of baby shampoo to avoid the bubbly suds but fully agree that you must use a surfactant on Bermuda, especially if you mulch mow. It can get thatchy quick.
gil_happy
Original Author
7 years ago
Again, thank you so much! I am going to read, re-read, and then I'll implement your plan for bring my grass back to life. I'll back with any questions I might have.
gil_happy
Original Author
7 years ago
Ok, now that I have digested all of this information, here are the steps I plan to take:

1) Since I have a little less than 1000 sqft of lawn, I will mix 3 oz of Jet Dry with some water and add it to my lawn and garden sprayer and apply all of it to my lawn.

2) Then after applying the Jet Dry, I plan to water my lawn with a full inch of water. Should I wait a set time between applying the Jet Dry and watering my lawn, i.e. 24 hours, etc?

3) Fertilizer; in your first post you mention nitrogen rich fertilizer and then organic fertilizer in the same paragraph. Then in your second post you mention alfalfa pellets (15 to 20 lb for 1000sqft).
- it sounds like the alfalfa is the alternative to regular fertilizer? Assuming I'm going to use alfalfa pellets, at what stage above do I apply the pellets (before step 1, between step 1 and 2, after step 2, etc). Sorry for all the questions.

Please feel free to add any comments or let me know if I am missing anything.

Thanks!
bossyvossy
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
This may seem obvious but I'll mention it anyway. When I read you title: repair...damaged..., it occurs to me a person might think plants, trees, lawns are like a toaster which you fix and presto! Plants, etc are living organisms and their care is not unlike caring for child or pet. That is why many get so frustrated, discouraged, insecure b/c their expectation that a single correction will lead to forever happy healthy beautiful plants; not so. Ask me how I know.
lazy_gardens
7 years ago
http://cals.arizona.edu/azmet/phx/

This shows the effect of mowing ... more top (up to a point) means more roots, which means better-looking lawn. (that's fescue)

And yes, deep and infrequent is the way to water. If the water puddles, you may have to split the watering into a couple of shorter sessions in that day. The shampoo/jet dry or other surfactant makes a HUGE difference in water penetration, and after it's wetted, it tends to stay that way.
gil_happy
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you lazy_gardens for the link and the pic... interesting stuff. BossyVossy, thanks for mentioning that - I totally agree about it will require some TLC to get it back in order. I was just needing the quick start guide to make sure that I'm starting off doing it correctly. Then I will follow the watering schedule per dchall (deep water every 3 to 4 weeks while temps are right around 70)
PKponder TX Z7B
7 years ago
You can apply alfalfa pellets at any time that you have green growth.

How To Repair Damaged Lawn In Phoenix?

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How To Repair Damaged Lawn In Phoenix?

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