more pics

a lot of thatch in the yard

Blue, only you can determine if this is a pest, and which one(s) it might be.

Contact or visit your local extension office to find out how to scout for grubs and mole crickets, webworms and other arthropods. Nematodes are another possibility to consider. It's not the time of year to test for nematodes in your location but the damage is accumulative.

An expert may be able determine if a fungal disorder is the problem, and which one. A hand lens is all that is needed.

Don't forget to evaluate your own maintenance practices. Improper watering, fertilization, compaction, chemical applications, etc., can all contribute to the decline of turfgrass.

What is a hand lens and extension office.

A hand lens is a magnifying glass or something along that line.

There is a national system of county Cooperative Extension Services offices which advise on gardening and agricultural topics. Search here to find your local office and contact them (they're your local experts on pests and other garden issues):
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/

This post was edited by missingtheobvious on Tue, May 6, 14 at 11:03

Ok, thank you so much. I googled extension office and it came up. I thought hand lens was referring to a camera.

I didn't want to have a service come out because I didn't think they would be honest or they would charge me hundreds for a $50 / problem.

That was likely not thatch but just the way bermuda looks when dormant.

How often do you water and for how long?

How high/low do you mow?

How often do you fertilize?

I did not mow in the winter months.

I fertilized twice from December to March... once with pre emergent and the other with weed and feed.

During summer months it's cut twice a month.. with a zero turn on the highest setting.. I've only cut it once since last summer.

I watered once a week during the summer, but we got allot of rain... some of the watering was at night

I realize this is an old post but I feel like nobody addressed your final post. I'll go one by one to try to help you this year!

>I did not mow in the winter months.

You should try to mow in the winter when there is no snow. Most people raise their mower height one notch for the winter and then lower it again for the spring.

>I fertilized twice from December to March... once with pre emergent and the other with weed and feed.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Pre-emergent is not really fertilizer and you should select another fertilizer for Bermuda. Weed and Feed is good for other lawns but most people don't like it for Bermuda, and if you don't pick the right bag, it'll actually hurt it severely.

Use a high nitrogen fertilizer and apply 1lb of nitrogen per 1000 sq ft.

>During summer months it's cut twice a month.. with a zero turn on the highest setting.. I've only cut it once since last summer.

During the summer months is when Bermuda REALLY takes off. You need to drop your mower to the lowest setting. Common Bermuda should be cut from 1" - 2". Keeping it at 1.5" or lower will require mowing AT LEAST once a week. I mow every third day or so.

What you need to figure out is how dedicated to your lawn you want to be. If don't want to mow so much I suggest you mow higher 2.5" - 3". Bermuda does not thrive at this height and will not grow completely horizontally but it's better than scalping your lawn by cutting too low every time. Only cut off 1/3 of the blade length with every mow.

>I watered once a week during the summer, but we got allot of rain... some of the watering was at night

Most of the time you don't want to water at night because it could lead to fungus. Mornings before 10:00am is the best time for deep watering. About 1" of water every week or so should be good for your general area.

I really hope this helps. Like everyone else will tell you, find the Bermuda Bible online and follow it.

@Luisfmart

turns out this was brown patch...the watering at night probably caused or helped this.

the pre emergent was crabgrass pre emergent.... the other was weed and feed.

I am going to download the Bermuda bible as suggested and get the right fertilizer for me.

Yard is looking much better. I applied Scotts fungus control twice... and the turn around has been very pleasing.

i raked over the affected areas first then put down the scotts, i put it down again two weeks later. i brought in several bags of top soil for the affected areas then seeded in those areas. I watered during the day and these have been the results.

another angle

Yard still improving... Started 35-0-5 fertilizer regiment last month and will continue through the growing season as the Bermuda Bible recommends

I've also been mowing twice a week. I don't see many weeds cutting this often.