I am using a one month old Craftsman push rotary mower and am in Fort Worth, TX. I have about 3500 sq ft.

Last year I mowed the lawn at nearly the highest setting because I didn't know what I was doing. This year, I've read the Bermuda Bible and am going to follow it to a T.

Beginning March 13th, I've mowed every 5 days at the lowest setting my mower will do. One time I went out of town, so I actually bumped that one up to 3 days. Never longer than 5 days. So far, I've only watered the flower beds regularly (new roses) and only once watered the full lawn and that was because I fertilized. We have had plenty of rain.

On March 21st I put down 15-5-10 in the appropriate amounts to get 1lb of N per 1000 sq ft.

My back yard is nearly perfectly flat (it has its dips, but no hill). Front yard has a slope down to the street and towards the neighbors.

Now that all the back story is out of the way, my problem is that the greenup for the front yard is going very very slowly. So much so that my fiance wants me to stop mowing so often because I'm "killing" the grass. Heh.

Front yard, you can see neighbor's nice tall green grass in the top left. Splotches are roundup'd weeds and also I roundup'd around the tree ring.

Square of front yard

Square of back yard. So much better looking than the front.

Front yard, me left, neighbor right

The back yard as a whole looks a little rough due to our 2 dogs and a couple roundup spots, but if the entire front yard looked like the best part of the backyard, I'd be ecstatic. Do I just need more patience? I have 21-0-0 ready to go. Was going to put it down April 21st, exactly 1 month after the balanced application.

What were the last two things you did to your lawn last fall? I mean besides mowing and watering. Did you fertilize or use any herbicides?

I wasn't mowing much grass when I fertilized a few weeks ago, but I definitely have growth now.

Find the Bermuda Bible online and memorize it.

Don't use weed-n-feed products. You don't need them if you're taking good care (proper watering, mowing, and fertilizing). WNF products literally are too good to be true. They don't do what you want them to do. In fact they only barely fertilize. A much better idea is to fertilize with real fertilizer and, 2 weeks later, spot spray the individual weeds with a product like Weed-B-Gone. That minimizes the use of herbicide for the good of all of us. And when you spray a herbicide, you need to mist the leaves, not drench the soil. That's another way to waste herbicide.

Your lawn is probably ready for fertilizer but can't tell you because it is so starved. Don't apply anything until you can recite the Bermuda Bible backwards and forwards. That should easily be by this weekend.

With bermuda you want unbalanced fertilizers and lots of them. Read the Bermuda Bible.

A few things I'm thinking is possible.

How much sun is the problem area getting? My backyard, which faces East, is not fully green as my front yard.

Is the mower blade shape? A dull blade will not make a clean cut and will give your yard that "dead" grass tip look.

And lastly, it's possible you're cutting too low and not often enough. Rise the mower a notch or cut more often.

Good luck.

The front (worst) yard is facing west. It has 2 young oak trees that don't provide much shade. The back is facing east and has no trees.

The mower is not quite a month old yet, so I'd say the blade is sharp. I don't think I'm cutting too low, because the bare/brown spots in the front yard are brown and bare both before and after I mow. I'd agree if it was green and then mowing it made it brown, but that's not the case. It's just not filling in for some reason.

Second of all, raise your mower just a half notch. I think you are cutting it so low that you are cutting it down to the stock which is not green. Raise your mower up a half notch, if still white/looks like its still dorment go up another half notch till you get it.

That'll be disappointing if I have to raise the mower height. I really like the height and the back yard has really gotten to growing horizontally.

Your neighbor's lawn isn't as green and thick as you think. It looks just like yours at ground level but the taller grass hides it.

Follow the Bermuda Bible. If you still have a problem in mid to late May, start asking questions.

My balanced app is 24 days old tomorrow. I have mowed 7 times already. Every 5 days.

Or do I wait for 30 days?

OK then you are about due for another application. If you are using slow release, apps are 30 to 45 days apart. One note here if DFW has another summer like last summer, back off on the fertilizer during the scorching heat, and up the water if you can.

Supposed to storm tomorrow so hopefully I watered it in good enough. Went ahead and mowed since I was due to mow tomorrow.

Square of front yard:

Me on the left with the same neighbor as the pic up at the top of this thread.

So...
Who's jealous of who now? Your neighbor should be asking you for advice,

What I said was: "Thanks for the follow-up"

This year spring came early, too early but never warmed up enough until about the normal time in May. It took time for the grass to recover from last years damage.

Good job working through it.