Lawn Renovation with Bermuda

3 years ago

Hello all,

I am going to scrape and re sod my yard with a hybrid bermuda and have a couple of questions. Appreciate any and all insights or feedback.

1) Location is West Texas (zone 7) and as I understand you can technically lay bermuda sod any time of year, even if it's dormant, with no ill effects but i'm curious if that's really optimal compared to laying it early spring? It seems counter intuitive to me but the landscapers i'm talking to have both said it will be fine. I'm not really in a hurry to do this and it could certainly wait until spring.

2) Bermuda variety? My yard is mostly sun but there are certainly spots that are partially shaded (maybe 50-60% light) and the recommendations are coming down to TifTuf vs. Celebration. Both are "shade tolerant" but i'm curious if either is generally better (yeah i know that's subjective) than the other.

Again, thank you

Marshall

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Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
3 years ago
Bumping for you. Hope someone has answers.
marshallv73
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks
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Yes it is cause for celebration when we drop down to the low 90s...in late October. The big thing you have going for you in Sacramento is the unfettered sea breeze. The fact that you were able to do it once and have it look that nice says it can be done...unless that was right after you seeded. New seed is pretty resilient until the heat kicks in. Bermuda is like a predator and will continue to invade. There is simply no getting around that. If you can kill it, please report back with specifics. I forgot to respond to your watering plan for this year. I would not rely on soil moisture sensors. They may be better than I think, but what really works is visually inspecting the grass. When the grass looks wilty, it needs water. I have been doing an experiment in my lawn since Oct of 2011. That is when I stopped mowing. The idea is to see how long it can go without water. This lawn is on the edge of the Texas desert where temps run just over/under 100 degrees for several months. There is still one shady spot in my lawn where I have not provided supplemental water for 16 months. I'm not sure how deep the roots go there, but the surface soil has to be dry as a bone. Still the grass looks pretty good (for 30-inch tall grass). The point is you need to watch the grass, not the soil. Deep watering and tall grass promotes deep rooting. Deep roots can draw moisture from deeper in the soil for a longer time. Thus deep watering on an infrequent basis is the mantra.
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I just searched this forum for "seeding bermuda" and got 16 pages of posts. Assuming you did the same search I'm surprised you couldn't find anything. Never rototill in prep for a lawn. If you read that spring is a bad time to seed, did you notice whether they were talking about northern grasses or bermuda? There are a lot of subtleties in the replies to the messages in gardening forums. Bermuda is always seeded in the summer. If you seed it now, you will watch and wonder until May or so. Why do you think the back was seeded and not sod? What happened that the back did not do well? Do you have any shade in the back? Too much shade is about the only reason bermuda will not thrive. Can you post a picture of the back? Find the Bermuda Bible online and memorize it.
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I agree that you shouldnt need to seed. If you properly feed and water the existing bermuda it will fill in the dead spots, likely before first frost. If you still want to plant seed, I'd suggest raking the topsoil to loosen it up, laying the seed, rolling it in with a lawn roller to ensure good seed to soil contact and keeping the soil moist until seedlings are atleast an inch tall. Now core aerating will do alot for reducing soil compaction and allowing more water and oxygen to reach the rootzone, but it will also bring about a million weed seeds to the surface. So unless you plan to rake up and dispose of the cores, be prepared for many more weekends of weed pulling. Your other option, and better in my opinion, is to strat a soil conditioner regiman like aerify plus, which will also loosen up the soil and at the same time increase organic matter in the soil.
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>How big of an area are you talking about?Rather small, actually. It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'. >I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well, but that's really not an ideal suggestion for my fescue lawn or garden beds growing alongside it. I can't understand anyone who *chooses* to grow Bermuda grass. It's invasive to every other part of your landscape, ugly (compared to fescue anyway) and turns a lovely shade of brownish gray in the winter. :( Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy. But I appreciate the suggestions.
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Jose Fernandez
last month
I know it’s been a while but I’m curious what you went with? I’m in the same dilema now. Have some shade and debating Celebration vs Tahoma 31 bermuda.
dchall_san_antonio
last month
I don't know what I was doing to miss this original post from marshall, but it was likely something Covid related. I'm going to assume that Marshall has a lawn by now and direct my questions to Jose. However, if marshall still has questions, I'd be happy to help. The following questions apply to both y'all.

Where do you live? West Texas is too big an area to respond to. What town are you near?

Do you have watering restrictions? What are they?

Do you want to have the nicest lawn on the block? Something to keep the mud out of the house? Something in between?

Can you post a picture showing the shade you're dealing with?

Would you say you're on a tight budget?

Are you going to lay the sod yourself (as opposed to hiring a landscaper)?
Jose Fernandez
last month
Thanks Dchall, you've helped me last week and recommended UC Verde plugs in my fescue. I live in Bakersfield and have trees in a south facing lawn which concerns me about the buffalo, which I hear hates any type of shade. Did some investigative work and drew out how much sun hours each section of my yard gets below.

I don't have watering restrictions but it gets really hot during summer. I don't care about having the nicest lawn in the neighborhood but I'd like something decent that crowds weeds with low maintenance. Ideally something that I can mow once a week (or less) with a rotary mower. I am on a tight budget and was thinking about getting a pallet of bermuda in the back yard and once established, plugging the front yard. I hear Celebration is most shade tolerant of the bermudas which is why its attractive to me at the moment. I don't care much for the look of St. Augustine (thick blades). There is no Zoysia sod available in my area so I would have to plug (2.2k sf) and I hear it takes too long to fill in.
dchall_san_antonio
last month
The zoysia I plugged (way back when at another house) just sat there for a couple of months. Then, suddenly, it was coming up everywhere within 10 feet of where it was plugged. Apparently it was spreading via rhizomes until the time was right.

The 10 and 12 hour locations will be excellent for bermuda. If Celebration is all it's cracked up to be, the 5-hour location might work, but I'd be ready to fall back on St Augustine even though it's not your favorite. The area under your sago palms in front will not grow bermuda. The area to the north of the tree back by the gate will have problems, too, until the tree grows up taller and can have the lower limbs trimmed.

Lawn Renovation with Bermuda

Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

marshallv73
Original Author

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Lawn Renovation with Bermuda

Comments (6)

cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)

marshallv73Original Author

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