Same strategy

I was planning this - how does this sound? Put some crabgrass control like Scott's crabgrass/grassy weed preventer down and then in a few weeks follow it up with Scotts Turfbuilder southern lawn food?

Other than that I plan on cutting with the mower set to 2" and deep watering 1" 1x/week.

Am I on the right track?

I only see one crabgrass clump, why don't you remove it or others w/a shovel? With so few, hand removal is effective, esp. after a rainy day. Save the chemical as big guns, last resort weapon.

I could definitely do it by hand. That's the front yard, in the back there are about 20 clumps of that same size and bigger. I can remove those by hand, I just want to make sure I am doing what's needed to keep them from coming back.

From the hours I have been online reading today, it sounds like fertilizing to encourage growth of bermuda is the best anti weed strategy for now. I am seeing conflicting stories though on which formula to use. For my first application of the year, do I use a high nitrogen (39-0-0) formula to encourage rooth growth OR a 3-1-2/2-1-2?

Having a healthly lawn certainly helps to crowd out undesirables but as long as there's wind, as long as there are birds droppings, as long as there are nutrients in the soil, as long as the tiniest undesirable root remains, weeds will ALWAYS be part of your landscape. The best you can do is treat early and give your Bermuda time to dominate over weeds. So many people feel bad or inadequate b/c they can't permanently eradicate weeds but the natural fact is that this fight is constant. Thinking, as you are, about early treatment strategy is the best defense.

cant speak about Bermuda fertilizer as i grow st Augustine but it would seem to me you need a more balanced n-p-k so that foliage AWA root system are strong. Nitrogen is for nice foliage and emerald green color, IMO.

That's some great advice thank you! Sounds like I have some work to do :)

Bermuda won't be thick per se but it's rhyzomatous root system will be thick and intertwined enough to discourage weeds from developing too big. HST, Bermuda foliage is very fine. It looks like velvet when practically (and I say practically b/c NEVER totally weed free) but weeds, especially broad leaf, stick out like a sore thumb and "ruin" the velvety, golf course, look.

@reeljake - should I fertilize a week or so after putting the pre-emergent down?

Sure, your Bermuda will take all the nitrogen fertilizer you can give it. Just be careful with mulch mowing, it can get thatchy until the sod substrate breaks down. I would bag at least every other mowing. The preM timing isn't exactly related, you're just getting short of time before the crabgrass really takes off. The seeds will always be there.

There's no crabgrass in your pictures, so don't get something specific to crabgrass...yet. That might be orchard grass or barnyard grass, but it isn't crabgrass. Crabgrass sprouts about now at the earliest and could not possibly be that tall. Besides that just doesn't look like crabgrass.

Historically the advice on first fertilizer FOR BERMUDA is to apply after the second time you mow real grass, not weeds, in the spring. This is only for bermuda, because it can take it. It will speed up the normal spring flush of new growth, so get ready to mow 3x per week. The reason for not applying before the 2nd mowing is that the roots are not awake yet to take up the fertilizer. You would be wasting it. After 2 mowings the grass is fully awake.

It doesn't look like the contractor rolled the sod down after laying it. Have the roots grown down into the soil? Can you lift any corners up?

Is that a live oak tree in the front yard? If so the bermuda underneath will eventually die out as the tree grows up to provide lots of shade.

All good points

I did some google searching and that does look like barnyard grass, or orchard grass..so good call! I read up on Scotts website and it says don't apply until 4-5 months so I may need to wait a month or so.

For the roots, they have mostly gone down into the soil. I can only pull it up in a few corners. For the tree, I'm not 100% sure. I plan on being out of this house by the time it grows enough to kill any grass :)

From what I am getting so far - it sounds like its too early to apply pre-emergent weed killer and I havent had to mow yet. I guess I will mow the first time in a few weeks and then fertilize after that and then apply Pre-E towards the end of March.

Does that sound about right? So much info in here to digest!

To get 100% correct info I'd call the Austin cooperative extension offic and ask timing and sequence of pre-emergent and fertilizer for Bermuda. In Houston and with st Augustine grass we use a pre emergent- fertilizer combo. It is not the best thing to do but given time I want to allocate to this chore, cost and degree of effectiveness, it works for us. We will be applying next week, weather permitting.

If you fertilize Bermuda too early in the year, all you do is encourage the weeds. Wait until it's actively growing first - when the nights have warmed up.