Bermuda sod on slope
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Hi, Around Mid March we replaced shrubs on our backyard slope with bermuda sod.
This is how it was -
Now it looks like this -
I have tried to keep the sod wet in the first 10 days and watered when needed mostly once in the morning and then later around 5p. I have not mowed it yet as I don't want to disturb the grass until it is fully established. I applied 10-10-10 in mid-April which was recommended per my soil-test but lightly by hand. Last week I just put down Milorganite as I didn't want to put down any high N chemical fert. Any thoughts on what I can do it to get a full green-up? As we are in the high 90's, I water it lightly in the morning and then later at 530ish just to get it wet but not soaking wet.
Thoughts?
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Comments (17)
4 years agolast modified: 4 years agoThis is how the slope looks now -
There are some weeds and I hand-pulled them and got back a little turf when pulling out the weeds. Most areas are firm but I think what may have happened is when watering a slope, the water tends to drain down. Thoughts? For some reason the picture didn't get added in my previous message.
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What to do now with new Bermuda sod
Comments (8)Agree. I'm 99.9999999999% sure you have Tif 419. It is the most affordable turf in the industry and is used by contractors and landscapers all over the South. I'd change the watering to 10 minutes. About all you have to do is keep the top inch cool - not saturated by any means. Once the sod has knit into the soil below, you're off to the races. Don't judge anything until you have that accomplished, you start backing way off on water, and get some fertilizer down. Eventually you'll be watering about an inch all at one time. Measure that with cat food or tuna cans to find out how long it takes your sprinkler system to put out that much water. Some do it in 20 minutes and some take 8 hours. You need to know that. In the cool months you'll only need to water once a month. In the warm months you'll be watering weekly. Drop your mower one notch every week and mow it every other day. After a week drop it one more notch. You will scalp just a little off each time. Bermuda grows blades out from stems. When you mow down below the stems, it looks scalped. But it IS bermuda. It comes right back. By the time you get to the bottom notch, it will have cooled off enough that the lowest setting is the one to keep. If you want it to look much nicer, get a reel type mower and set that down to 1/2 inch. At that point it no longer grows stemmy. It takes on a completely different growth habit called prostrate. At that point it becomes the coolest carpet of grass ever. Picture a putting green. I would wait to fertilize with chemicals until you have the grass mowed down all the way. Why? No real reason other than to give it that extra time to knit into the soil. In the mean time you can use organic fertilizer. Which ever one you choose, start at about 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Then in a month you can up that to 20 pounds and then up to 30 or more if you like and can afford it. Bermuda can take 50 pounds per month if you can do that. Most people opt for chemical fertilizers to simplify the fertilizing....See MoreShade-tolerant Bermuda sod for Piedmont North Carolina
Comments (6)Isn't "Shade Tolerant Bermuda" something like "Whiskey Drinking Mormon"? Does sound like a bit of an oxy moron. Tifgrand and Celebration claims to be able to tolerate 60% shade. With that said I do know North Carolina State University says Celebration Bermuda is the states #1 choice for Bermuda grass lawns in the state. That would indicate to me Celebration is available in NC. Not so sure about TifGrand being available in NC as it is so new and not many sod farms outside of Georgia have it yet....See MoreCelebration Bermuda Sod Bad
Comments (29)Bermuda does not turn brown due to shade. It thins out and the soil looks brown, but the grass itself still struggles. Besides that, Celebration is supposed to be more shade tolerant than the other varieties. I'm going with overwatering. I assume the sod is knit down to the underlying sand. Try to lift a corner of the sod. With sand you can always lift some but you're looking for a firm tug to get it up. If it peels up like a carpet, like no roots have formed into the underlying sand, then you have a problem there. The sod never rooted. With the water you gave it there should be full, rooted, connection to the soil/sand. Once the sod is connected you can back off on watering exactly like you already have. But you did not go far enough in backing off. Do you know how much water your sprinklers put out? At this point you should be putting out no more than 1 inch per week. I would back it off to 1 inch every 3 weeks applied all at one time. Measure 1 inch by setting out several cat food or tuna cans and turning on the sprinklers. Time how long it takes to fill all the cans. Mine takes 8 hours but I had a neighbor whose high flow system filled them in 20 minutes. Every sprinkler system will be different. Once you have the time to fill, use that time every time you water. Here's more on watering. 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....See MoreBermuda Sod Installed Today - First Steps?
Comments (6)Did they roll it down to ensure good contact between the bottom of the sod and the top of the soil? If not and they did not promise to do that, you can either rent a roller or walk it yourself. Grab all your neighbors and line up. Everyone walk in baby steps over the entire surface to press the sod down against the soil. Even children can help with this. The weight per square inch of foot surface is just right for doing this. Water for a few minutes (5-15 depending on your sprinkler), 3x per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for the next 2 weeks or until it is knit down. The idea is to keep the surface of the underlying soil moist, NOT SOGGY, until the roots grow down. If, after you water it, the sod sinks down into the soil when walked on, then you watered waaaaaay too much. After it seems to be knit down, then mow it down in increments over a weeks time until you get to the mower's lowest setting. You might scalp it every time you mow, but that's fine. It is bermuda after all. If you don't already have a good soil test telling you otherwise, then fertilize with a starter fert at the bag rate after the second time you mow. You want to make sure the roots are working before you fertilize. On a small scale you can start sanding any time. Over the next few weeks some of the soil stuck to the bottom of the sod will melt down and onto the soil underneath. That will take you into late April. I might wait and evaluate where the low spots really are until May. You can pre locate them with sprinkler flags (wire things with flags on them) so you can find them later. You can use topsoil for small scale leveling and filling holes. The problem with topsoil for large scale leveling is dragging the clods around with the drag. For filling holes you will use a lot more sand or soil than you might think. It needs to feather out to match the grade of the surrounding soil. Holes do not look like a putting green hole. They gradually slope down and up taking up more volume than it seems....See More- 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
In this first photo those 2 bare spots are from removing 2 medium sized maple trees. These trees was creating large bumps on the top soil with thier roots. It could have something to do with the slope I have? I plugged and sprigged this area in the middle last summer and I got alot of washout. I got the bermuda to finally fill in but its real bumpy with alot of uneveness from all the washout. The bermuda there isnt as nice as I would like it to be. Its looking better than it did 4 weeks ago. This is my steepest part of the lawn. I have added and added compost, but that washes away so easy. I mixed 2 bags sand 1 bag of potting soil and have been using it to fill in stump holes and its been working great. I got it for $40 total( 4 bags of mircle gro and 10 bags of sand from lowes on sale. in north Georgia we had huge rainfall in 2018. 2019 we set a record high 3 weeks ago and this week we set a new record low.
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
This is my established yard. Only thing I have done here is add lirope in the edges around that plant bed. Dont makes edges on a slope. They are like speed gutters for heavy rainfalls. It was giving me problems so I had to fill them in. I also have alot of other hobbies I do like divide dayliiiles, iris ornamentall grasses, spirera and a few other plants
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Heres a picture from my back yard last summer. Ive also added lirope in the edges running beside the evergreen trees
- 4 years ago
4 years ago- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
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