Another Before picture. I still have to remove the tree branches and stumps as well :(

This is from yesterday, sorry for the bad picture. The bald spot where the rabbit is sitting is actually some sort of footing/old foundation from before the property was subdivided.

Looks like you have some acreage there. At least an acre??? If so then you need a guy with a tractor and box blade. Here's what that looks like and the results.

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An experienced tractor driver can level an unobstructed acre in a morning easily. He will adjust your drainage to perfection at the same time (make sure he knows how to do that). My nephew does his 5 acres in a morning. If you find someone with a box blade on a skid steer or bobcat, it would take them a full week or longer. At $80/hour you want the tractor driver.

You do not need "good dirt." Your dirt is fine especially if it is mostly natural. Once you get it flattened you can deal with the quality of it.

I would suggest starting with the regrading in August. Then start watering the bare dirt on a daily basis to sprout every single weed you can. Water about 1/2 inch every day for a week. Then stop, let it dry out, and spray with RoundUp to kill all those weeds. Then continue watering daily for another week to get the weeds that take longer than a week to sprout. Then spray with RoundUp a second time. Then you are ready to seed right into that surface.

Get the best seed you can afford (online). It should have a guaranteed analysis showing 0.00% weed seed and 0.00% other crop. You pay a little extra but otherwise you are buying new weeds for your new lawn.

Do you know what grass you want? In TN you can grow anything you want with success. If you do have some acreage, you might consider a pasture type mix including some wheatgrasses and blue grama if those will grow in your area. These grasses will become dense when seeded properly. They are dark green and look very lawn like when dense and mowed once a month. If you let them go longer they will send up tall seed stalks that look pretty shaggy. But these grasses don't need much fertilizer, water, or even mowing.

At the other end of the care scale is hybrid bermuda. That stuff looks like a golf course but it requires mowing 2x per week and monthly fertilizer to keep it nice.

Other turf types are in between those extremes. What's your pleasure?

Thank you! A box blade looks like the exact thing I need!

After mowing some more I figured out that the parts of the yard that were mowed when the house was empty are Bermuda, what type, I have no clue. I think the bermuda was being choked out by the tall weeds in the other parts of the yard shown in the first two pictures. The front yard is very very small but I can tell it was put in as sod and I'm hoping it can be saved as there wouldn't be much room for equipment.

From what I have read, it sounds like bermuda is nearly impossible to kill so I am guessing I should stick to bermuda. A very nice turf is very appealing. I've always been more of a mow once a week type of person but I do enjoy my new riding mower so I can probably adjust to the extra mowing/fertilizing.

My lot is a pie shaped lot that is about an acre with a circle drive in the front so I think the back yard is a little over half an acre.

Thanks again for the help!
Stuart

There is some flexibility with bermuda as long as you have full sun. If you don't mind it getting a little shaggy looking between mowing, you can mow once a week. It might let in a few weeds due to being just a little thinner.

Search Google for "bermuda bible". Read it and memorize it.

So I've been reading the bermuda bible and figured I would try it for a little while until I can get someone in to smooth everything out so if I screw something up it won't be a big deal.

I do have a few questions, please be gentle as this is all new to me, growing we never did anything but put out seed and cut the grass/weeds. I got 34-0-0 urea nitrogen and some post emergence herbicide.

Which do I do first? Kill then fertilize or do I fertilize then kill?

How long should I wait between the two?

Using the 100/x formula for nitrogen, I believe this would mean I need to apply 3 pounds of 34-0-0 per 1000 sq feet, is this right or would I need only 1 pound per 1000 sq feet since the other two numbers are zero?

Also, I have a seed spreader that I can borrow but how do I set it to spread at X pounds per 1000sq/ft? I know how to make it spread more or less just not where to set it so that I am spreading the correct amount.

Thanks again and sorry for the newbie questions,
Stuart

Definitely fertilize first. Why? Because a fertilizer that strong, applied in the middle of the summer, will wipe out a lot of your problems leaving just about nothing but the bermuda. Also mow it short and that will help wipe out the weeds. Then in 2 weeks you can use the herbicide if you still need to. Weeds die best when they are healthy so the fertilizer 2 weeks earlier will get them going good. Then blast them!!

You are asking all the right questions. Thank you for asking before you made the mistakes so you don't have to recover from the mistakes.

You will have to calibrate the spreader. Put one pound of stuff in it and set the dial to a low number. Measure 100 square feet and start applying. Then use your judgement as to how much is going out - hopefully less than you need. If it is flowing much faster you should be able to tell. If it is slower, that is harder to tell. If you need to make an adjustment do it now before you get a lot down. When you get to a full 1,000 square feet you should be running out of stuff in the hopper. If not make another adjustment. Then finish with that adjustment. You're close enough.

I believe 1 pound per 1,000 is the right number, but I don't use chemical fertilizers. I thought the Bermuda Bible answered that question???

If you mow it short and it looks like everything is dead, rest assured that the bermuda is not dead. All that happened is you mowed it down below the blades. Bermuda puts blades on at the end of stems. When you mow it high, those stems grow vertically. When you mow it low, they grow horizontally. All you did was mow down into the stems. Continue to mow low and the bermuda will start to spread horizontally...and everything else will tend to die out.

Thank you!!! That is exactly what I was looking for!

I am trying to mow as low as I can twice a week (pending weather) and I can already see the bermuda spreading over areas of bare dirt. I can now see why people hate it in gardens lol

EDIT: I just found an old post that said for 34-X-X using 3 pounds is correct.

I also thought of a few other things if you aren't burnt out with questions.

The bermuda has spread over my concrete driveway several inches and is very thick, I tried trimming it with a weed eater and using an edger but they just aren't cutting it very well (no pun intended). Any suggestions for cutting it back it asides from digging it out with a shovel? I was optimistic about the edger but it didn't work, I'm not sure if the edger is too old and/or dull or if my grass is to thick over the concrete.

And finally (I think) when fertilizing my tiny strip of grass between my driveway and house, should I just spread it by hand and try my best to get the amount close to what the spreader puts out? (I'm not sure if this question would apply if you only use natural fertilizers)

Thanks again!!!
Stuart

This post was edited by SLTKota on Wed, Jul 3, 13 at 10:10

You said that the house had been empty for two years during the foreclosure proceedings,

Are the lumps really variance in the ground or are they clumps of grass that grew very high and appears to be clumps when you cut the grass. (I hope that is clear)

I have seen the same thing in the house next door, and know it was fairly level before the grass was let go.

Once you start regular cutting they will disappear.

I mention this as you said it appeared to be sodded, so someone at some time has taken good care of the lawn and would have taken the time to make sure it was level

I think I know what knuttle is talking about. Some bunch grasses will form a knot of roots right in the center of the plant. As a lawnmower rolls over it, that cluster of roots will seem like a solid bump of soil in the grass. Those will go away.

Yes you can spread by hand. Wear gloves and wash your hands afterward. Not that it's poisonous but it's not food, so wash your hands.

For the grass on the driveway, keep after it. Eventually you will find the edge of the concrete. Then you should be able to keep it trimmed back to the edge. I have the same issue but with an asphalt driveway it is harder to find that edge.

We want to see some after pictures...maybe at the end of August after things have settled down and you're a few more weeks into the Bermuda Bible care program.

The bumps in the backyard are defiantly different heights in the dirt. I accidentally chopped the top off of one yesterday when cutting the grass on a lower notch.

I can tell the front yard was sodded due to the green mesh I have found, it is probably only 500 sq feet and I can tell it was level when the sod was put in. It isn't very bumpy at all but it has settled where dirt was back filled.

I don't believe the back yard was sodded but half of it is pretty level with bermuda and the other half (on a slope) is mostly weeds and almost terraced from the back fill of the field lines settling. With the grass cut you can see very clearly how uneven it is, I'll try to take a picture if the rain stops.

I'm not sure but I am thinking that if bermuda was once on the side of the yard with all the bumps/weeds, the tall weeds shaded it enough to die off. On the left side (sort of beside the big stump) you can see where the grass was actually cut, this is where I still have bermuda. The rest of the yard that is shown in the pictures is where it is so rough and mostly weeds (the first picture actually has two large root balls in it, I didn't even know about the second one until I started cutting the weeds)

If I can get someone with a box blade to come out, would August still be a good time of year to do this if I plan to stick with bermuda?

Thanks again!
Stuart

You should still be able to seed or sod new bermuda in August. You are pushing the end of the hot season for new seed, though.

There was a polypropylene mesh they used to used to hold seed down like people use straw. It is not used for sod.

If you just have a few holes you can fill those with soil or sand.

Just some thoughts.

I live on a hill. Proper drainage is more important than I thought when I moved in.

It does not look like there are many large trees on your property. If there are any be careful with equipment and adding soil over their roots.

Creating your own landscape is a neat experience. Something to pass on.

Argg... rain is in the forecast for the next 7 days... I want to go play in the yard but this weather isn't letting me.

As far as trees, the yard has a grand total of one, a four foot tall dogwood I planted a few months ago. All of the "real" trees are either not in the yard or were taken out by the tornado before I bought the house so I'm not too worried about burying the roots.

When the time comes to use the boxblade and level things out, do I just reseed afterwards and hope there is enough time for bermuda to start growing before the winter? I can't afford to sod this yard so I'm stuck with seeding it.

Thanks again,
Stuart

Put down the seed and roll it with a water roller. You know you have enough water in the roller if your feet do not leave prints deeper than the force from the roller. In other words, no foot prints. And the soil should be dry when you roll it.