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Bermuda Lawn Sanding Progress w/ pics

proudx
15 years ago

I had many issues scalping my lawn when using my 7 blade reel mower last year. In one spot around curbs and concrete the bermuda was as much as 3inches lower making mowing difficult.

june 12th 2007 cut at .75" see the problems with the ground, notice the curb

http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/album/401509#imageID=25552909

august 9th aggresive sanding! completely covered.

http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/album/405369/559737#imageID=25835804

sept 5th 2007 update cut at 1"

http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/album/405369/607445#imageID=28167996

sept 10 update 2007 cut at 1"

http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/album/405369/618362#imageID=28639975

april 9th, 2008 cut at 1/2"

http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/album/592760#imageID=39001953

everything has come back smoothly and i am considering touching up with riversand again in a week or two.

Comments (30)

  • wxman81
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great job! That really proves you can't even kill bermuda by completely covering it in sand! LOL.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sorry but one of my pet peeves is having to cut and paste to see the pictures. Here is the message reposted...

    june 12th 2007 cut at .75" see the problems with the ground, notice the curb

    august 9th aggresive sanding! completely covered.

    sept 5th 2007 update cut at 1"

    sept 10 update 2007 cut at 1"

    april 9th, 2008 cut at 1/2"

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Okay, now I can say something. First of all I don't see what you see in the first picture. What was it about the curb you didn't like?

    Why did you sand your lawn?

    Are you happy with it? What is the green stripe going from the crack of the driveway across to the other side of the lawn between the tree and the hydrant? It is in the first picture but not as prominent.

    I have seen bermuda covered like that with compost and it did not recover after 2 years. The new owner finally replaced the lawn with St Aug. I think your use of sand was instrumental in not smothering it. Sand would fall through the grass much more easily than the compost.

    I was able to smother a couple hundred feet of bermuda last year. I used much 2-9 inches of sand and covered that with 1-3 inches of mulch. No problem.

    This is a real nit, only an unrelated comment...in our community we are (supposedly) not allowed to grow any plants up that obscure the fire hydrants. The plants on the other side of the hydrant from you would be in violation (not that our fire hydrant police are very strict in enforcing the ordinance). I'm just sayin'

  • proudx
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    well its hard to tell but when you are cutting at 1" or lower the concrete edges of the curbs must be level with the yard or you will have tall uneven grass on the edges. Also if the turf is not completely smooth you will see lots of white scalp marks and other abnormalities. When cut at 3inches you wouldn't notice a 1/2" dip, but when cut at .75" you certainly will notice the 1/2" dip to .25" thus likely scalping the .25" area at every mowing. Near the street curb the grass fell some 3 inches below the curb. Again with a rotary mower at 3" height no big deal, but try cutting those uneven areas with a reel mower. A real nightmare.

    I used to have a variation of about 1/2 to 3" on the entire yard. Now after sanding my variations is less than .30" across the entire yard, so I can cut at 1/2" every 2 to 3 days and not worry about scalp marks.

    I hope to do another 1/8" river sanding /20% top soil mix again this spring to get the variation from .30 down to less than 1/8" across the entire yard.

  • proudx
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I had been maintaining my yard at 3/4" to 7/8 all summer long cut every 2 to 3 days.

    I started the project when it was 103degrees and record hot temperatures for Atlanta! Everyone told me I was crazy and the heat of the sand was going to burn up the lawn. The way I delt with the heat was apply about 1" of heavy water to the lawn daily at 12 noon to cool it for the first 7 days, then went to 1/2" water daily for the next week, then went to 1/4" of water daily for the next few weeks.

    #1 - I mowed the turf down to 3/8" or as low as my trimmer reel mower would go removing all clippings.

    #2 - I aggresively core aerated the lawn. I removed all cores as I didn't want the cores getting in my way of leveling the turft. Also, my thinking in doing this was that when I applied the river sand it would mix with the existing red clay soil better by filling in the many holes and be less likely to create layers.

    #3 - I next applied a generic brand 15-15-15 balanced fertilizer at 1lb per 1000sqft of nitrogen.

    #4 - then on the same morning after mowing it down and applying the balance fertilizer I started mixing a riversand and top soil mix. About 80% riversand, 20% topsoil. This was fairly easy to work with but really took a lot of time to mix. after covering only a small area I gave up and started just applying 100% riversand. it's worth interest that the area with the sand/top soil mix took the longest time to recover with one 10"x10" section in the area wih about 4 to 5" of depth not recovering. I believe the soil mix likely smothered it. The other areas with the 100% riversand application came back faster with top depths up to 3 to 4".

    As we applied we used a push broom to push the sand around. It's worth noting 100% riversand was much easier to push around and get level than the riversand/soil mix.

    next we use an 8ft 2x4 turned sideways with one person on each end, pulling to smooth out surface and look under for any areas needing more sand application.

    #5 - Next I used a sod roller filled with water to pack that stuff in, I went in all directions east, west, north, south. idealy the idea was not only to get it smooth, but wsa to get the sand to fill the many core holes created by the aerated to mix the soil profiles better.

    Next I applied any more sand to areas that might have sunk a bit on the curb line, and repeated use of the heavy sod roller.

    #6 - we applied about 1.5" of heavy water, to heavily water that stuff in and cool it down, it was 103 that day!

    #7 - the next morning I got up and still had the sod roller on rent so I used it again.

    #8 - I did not mow for 4 weeks after that. let it get all the way up to 2.5" in height, then used a rotary mower to get it down to 2", then I cut it down to 1.5 with my reel after a few days, then again down to 1" for the rest of the season.

    Is this common bermuda or a hybrid?
    And where do you live?

    Good question, Its a subdivision that has sidewalks, and was built about 10 years ago. I am assuming the yard is a hybrid bermuda since the entire subdivision has bermuda sodded front lawns. however, I'd say my lawn has both common and hybrid. It grows awfully fast for a hybrid inmo, I wish I could have some definate answers on what exactly I have. I'm assuming a mix bag of both.

    Now a historical question, was your soil prepared with a rototiller prior to the sod/seed being applied?

    have no idea as I have had previous homeowners before. This begs the question, was common bermuda seed thrown on top of the hybrid sodded builders lawn over time?

    I figure if I have both types, only ultra low mowing heights that favor hybrid will hopefully discourage development of the common bermuda and encourage the hybrid.

    I don't know if the sanding favored the hybrid more or the common more.

    Use 100% riversand, can be applied deeper, and bermuda recovers quicker.

    this is the critical part inmo, make sure to mow all areas down to less tha 1/2". might be necessary to rent a reel mower to get it that low. This is critical in getting the area level and smooth and seeing inperfections in the surface.

  • proudx
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    also I applied about 1lb of nitrogen per 100sqft per month from may 12, june 12, july 12.

    was cutting for 3 months before.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is great. See if this is condenses it...

    Starting with turf that is actively growing in mid season, well fertilized, watered, and mowed to 3/4 inch

    1. Mow down to 3/8 and remove clippings
    2. Core areate heavily and remove cores
    3. Fertilize 1 pound of N per 1,000 square feet
    4. Apply riversand to fill holes and low places and cover all grass (how deep?)
    5. Sweep sand to level
    6. Continue leveling with a drag
    7. Roll sand down to settle and pack sand
    8. Relevel/fill with more sand and repeat rolling
    9. Water heavily
    10. Roll again
    11. Allow grass to grow through the sand for 4 weeks.
    12. Begin to mow back down to 1/2 inch.

    In retrospect did you need all the leveling tools (broom, 2x4, roller)? Which was most important?

    The use of riversand may be controversial. Rounded river sand particles are not known for settling permanently. Builders sand has sharp edges that allow the sand to interlock and form a more solid surface. Whether this has any practical importance may be more psychological than realistic. Do you notice that the soil under the grass might have a "shifty" or loose feel to it underfoot?

    When you used the broom, did it expose the tops of the grass anywhere or did you use enough sand to completely cover the grass everywhere?

    Also I like to quantify things where possible. So far so good, but do you know how much sand you used for what area? I am guessing you had about 3 cubic yards of sand per 1,000 square feet.

    If you do this again, please write to me through my member page and maybe we can plan to get a few more pictures.

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In what direction does your house faces? I was just wondering because I notice you have a tree in the front yard. Will it eventually get large and shade the lawn cutting down the amount of sun on bermuda lawn. I suppose if you live there long enough, you'd have to replace it with more shade tolerant fine bladed zoysia. They both look same to me anyway but you mow a lot less with zoysia grass. David (dchall) has zoysia grass called Shadow Turf growing in dense shade and apparently is doing fine.

  • auteck
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Great job, man!! What kind of bermuda is that? I love the color of your lawn in picture # 4 - like emerald green or something along those lines. Very nice yard.

    Where in the US are you located?

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good call, Lou. Judging from the 4th picture, I'm guessing the house faces south and the yard gets lots of morning sun. This is a problem for bermuda. You might consider a shade tolerant zoysia like Shadow Turf or Diamond if you see bare spots near the tree.

    Just to clarify, Lou, I thought I was planting my Shadow Turf in dark shade, but we removed a tree. Still it only gets a few hours of direct sun per day. Less than the OP seems to get, and my grass is spreading faster than we wanted.

    I have seen a yard in Abernathy, TX that has Shadow Turf in deep shade. I'll see if I can link to pictures from my online data storage site.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Okay, cool. I can post my own pictures now. This picture shows the Shadow Turf in Abernathy. The house faces west so it blocks the morning sun. The tree is English walnut and is centered in the circular brick planter to the upper right of the picture. It spans the entire yard out to the edge blocking sunlight. Looking at the driveway you can get an impression of how dense the shade is. The picture was taken in late morning with the sun almost straight overhead. When the sun is straight up the grass at the edge of the curb (where I was standing to take the picture) starts to get sunlight until later in the afternoon when the trees on the other side of the street start to block the sun. Total direct sun for the front part of the lawn is on the order of an hour or two a day and that is at an angle.

    The picture below was taken to show the worst part of the lawn. The picture was taken in the second season after the grass plugs were installed. They start out as 1-inch plugs. In the area just above the center of the picture you can see bare dirt where the grass from the plugs has not merged with one another. The grass mats are 12 inches square and will probably join this season. The rest of the installation looks mature.

    {{gwi:84876}}

    This picture shows my little plot of Shadow Turf. The picture was taken 4 months after the installation. Notice how the grass has crept between the red bricks. It has also crept outside the white brick border and beyond. This stuff is reasonably aggressive. I'll get more pictures next weekend, but today the grass has grown up so you cannot see any of the river rocks in that little area. It is also creeping out into the mulch in the lower right corner of the picture. So far it has not been as hard as bermuda to pull from the mulch, so if you're looking for good things, I can say it is not quite as tenacious as bermdua but it is similarly aggressive. You can also see that it is fine bladed and dark green. It has not had any fertilizer and is still dark green. It did not go dormant in the winter but it did appear to stop spreading and growing. It spreads by both stolons and rhizomes (just like bermuda), so it is going to spread.

    {{gwi:84877}}

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    David, that proves my point why ordinary homeowners should have zoysia grass in the first place instead of bermuda. Majority of neighbors do not mow their bermuda regularly (or just plainly don't have time for excessive mowing at low height) or even fertilize regularly. They look BAD when not fertilized. Bermuda grass is best for golf courses and sports fields only...

    Did you ever mow shadow turf? They don't look half bad when let grown tall. That is the problem with bermuda. Not a big fan of it.

  • auteck
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    lou_midlothian_tx, I coun't agree with you more. Zoysia makes a much nicer turf than Bermuda all day long. It's very deceiving to tell people that bermuda is a low maintenance grass.

    dchall_san_antonio, your lawn looks pretty good to me. I like the dark green color and texture. It kind of looks like KBG.

  • bshudson
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Shadow Turf does look nice, but at $1.25 per plug it's a bit expensive. What Zoysia grass looks most like Shadow Turf? If I can find it locally in the Houston area, I could probably sod it for less money. I would prefer something i could mow around 3/4 inch with a reel mower so I can get rid of the rotary and save space in the shed. I have Bermuda in the back and would like to have it in the front but it's too shady.

    Thanks,
    Brad

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Zorro
    Emerald
    Calveliar (sp?)
    Diamond

    you would have to do some researching to find the best choice for your location. Try fine bladed zoysia houston texas when you do a google for it.

  • bshudson
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the info Lou. What do you think about Zeon?

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Uh, that is not my lawn. My installation is the small patch with the bricks.

    The descriptions I've read of Diamond zoysia match the descriptions of Shadow Turf. I have not see Diamond in person but here is a picture of a golf green mowed at 0.115 inches.

    And here is a the fairway, apparently also in Diamond zoysia.

    That was not my lawn either.

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between bermuda and fine bladed zoysia. Is Diamond zoysia agressive enough to fill in divots? I'm thinking it can't support cheap public course (tons of players moving a snail pace who hack their way around) but maybe expensive private golf course who can afford it but cut back on mowing and fertilization at the same time with a lot fewer players causing less damage?

  • proudx
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    yes I would say the soil underneath has more of a shifty feel than the red clay I am used to. Esp when dry. However, this is less of an issue once the grass thickens and settles in. Inmo this is another reason to stay the heck off a heavely sanded lawn with the mower. Personally I think having riversand is better as it creates more air pockets resulting in better drainage. Perhaps the best sand to use would depend on your soil type you are amending. From what I understand some sands when mixed with clay soils will act like concrete resulting is very poor drainage.

    The house does face the south, I get lots of shade from that tree only early in the am hours. Just this spring I removed some limbs and trimmed up the tree to allow more light in.

    On the zoysia for homeowners. Yes I agree zoysia is better for homeowners. I have meyers zoysia in my backyard and it not only handles shade better but I can cut it at 1/2 the frequency of zoysia.

    In the hottest summer months of the season in GA I estimate my bermuda grows at .15 to .17" a day while the meyers zoysia I have grows at .1125" a day at peak. This difference doesn't sound like a lot but it is huge over a week the bermuda might grow 1.17" and the zoysia grew .7878! So if the average homeowner wants to keep his bermuda lawn at 1" he will scalp it trying to cut it only once every 7 days in the summer time! With zoysia, he could realistically keep it at 1" cut every 6 to 7 days without scalping it.

    the push broom was really not needed as much as the 2x4. I will say this, the flat side of the push broom was what I used. If one could find it a large flat rake that they use on golf course for smoothing the sand would be better. like a giant zen garden rake.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dang, I let this message get away from me.

    proudx, I really like what you've done. Would you please hop on over to my GardenWeb member page and write to me. I would like to collaborate on something using your ideas and pictures. All you have to do is proofread.

  • atlmotodude
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Proudx -

    What a fantastic job you've done with your lawn! Awesome!!! I live in the Atlanta area too, and am curious where you picked up your bags of river sand. Specifically, the bags in pic two. Also, how many bags did you end up using for the front lawn?

    Thanks!

  • lou_spicewood_tx
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Atlmotdude,

    you MAY be better off with sharp sand instead of river sand. Sharp sand is more stable and do not shift around when you walk (much like beach sand). My concern is that if you throw sand on clay based ground, it may create a layer where the water is rapidly drained away and clay can't absorb it quickly. I'm thinking that using core aerator machine would help solve the problem. so you can fill sand in the holes in clay ground and continue to smooth it out so the water can be drained into all the holes. Also, pure sand do not hold much water. I've noticed that the cushion sand over here has some clay in it and can be easily used like sand and it will hold more moisture. If I do something like that, it's probably what I'd do in my situation.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lou, I agree about the sharp sand but I'm not going to be a stickler about it...yet. I'm just having a hard time arguing with the OP's results, and he used river sand. I would offer it as an alternative and suggest the pros and cons, as you did, but with these results I am backing off on my former insistence on sharp sand. For example what if sharp sand packed down on top of the grass and slowed the regrowth of the bermuda? Round sand won't do that and could actually be the reason why this method works. Like I said in my first reply to this, I've seen bermuda killed by applying this much sand.

    Oh, and the OP did core aerate as part of his project. I think I agree with the importance of that. I may be changing several of my opinions based on this topic. For example

    1. Rounded (river) sand may not be as bad as we have been thinking.

    2. Core aeration may not always be a complete and utter waste of time, energy, and money.

    3. Smothering bermuda with sand may not kill it if you prepare it right and provide proper follow on care.

    I don't know if the OP accidentally stumbled on a method that works or he read it somewhere or what. But hey, it really did work. In all the years of reading this forum, this is the first time I've seen real solution to this frequently asked question. I think the ideas need to be captured and saved as a FAQ. I'm willing to write it up and give the OP full credit. Unfortunately iVillage doesn't want pictures in their FAQs. Too bad because I would not have believed it if I had not seen the pix. So I have something else in mind besides a FAQ here.

  • txjeff
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    With regard to the first post and the sanding:

    I can't see the pictures since a Private site was used to post them. I did send a registration to the family photo site as a "friend" so we'll see if that works. Better to use PhotoBucket that is Public.

    My questions are: I have to assume this is a relatively small yard, versus someone like me that has 3/4 of an acre. That would be a huge undertaking for me. Secondly, I assume also that you have a reasonable water bill. Hear, in Granbury, TX, what you did with watering would cost me $1000 plus per month.

    Lastly, I can see that this is all about making a "reel cutter" type yard like a hotel. But in the heat of TX and with a sizable yard, I'd much rather ride and get it done in 45 minutes, versus hours of hand cutting. So I'm leaning more toward heavier on the clay and less on the sand mix to fill in my divots. This region, near Dallas, is mostly clay already, so a sandy loam addition is in conflict with the native soil. Although, for any yard, aeration is important. So my hunt is to discover the appropriate blend that makes since for my cutting style (mowing) and that won't get sucked up by a mower and blown away. And, where I don't have to water but a couple of times per week.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm bringing this back to the surface to help some people.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good time to review this thread about leveling lawns.

  • dwrecktor
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Anyone figure out how to get the pictures to work? Thanks.

  • shanks
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yes i did figure out to get the pictures work. Hope this works

    Here's the link

    If it does not then just copy and paste the link below in a browser, you can see all the pictures in a slideshow.

    http://proudfamily.phanfare.com/1798412_1917173#imageID=22004548

    Also question to others.
    1. Did any else do this and had success?
    2. Did any one figure out if it works with clay soil like we have in Dallas area?

    I so badly want to do this to my back yard.
    thanks for any help

  • dwrecktor
    13 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thanks for the link to the pics, it worked beautifully.
    BTW, I might attempt to do this come summer here in Dallas, so I'll post back w/ results. If you beat me to it, then by all means let us know. Thanks!