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| Gents/ Ladies,
I not so long ago posted my thanks to TW , Dchall and all the others for the advice for bermudagrass. I can not show you how satisfied I am. I have typical 419 sod in Atlanta area. Used to cut at 2-3 inches to avoid the brown stubble , in my experience you can get away with it for a couple years maybe give or take. mine has decline the past 2-3 years and was never what I really expected , but it stayed green because it was too tall and was hiding the poor quality only during the growing season. In my previous post I tried to show some improvement pictures as it came into season this year.My pictures can't come close to revealing the noted improvement over any year compared to mowing hi. So thanks again TW and Dchall. no offense others not mentioned. Most of you new here with bermuda are thinking , I of course have heard that bermuda should/can be kept short. But like me previously, tried but failed because I only cut once a week or so very low and got poor results. If you are like me and wondering how/ why you aren't getting the results you have heard of, you will find the 1 factor most needed is cutting more often. I started this season cutting every other day with a rotary and then began mowing late May with a basic cheap scott 16 inch push reel mower. I have seen results the pictures do not fully reveal. My lawn has NEVER gone brown after cutting ( has this issue been confusing you ?), I have not yet used a herbicide (although I did hand dig out any crabgrass early spring). The lawn is thicker and about 1/2 to 3/4 inch high - like never before. I have thrown down sand 2 times in about 1/4 of the lawn to help level ( still needs much more). I wish I had tried this all several years ago. It does take mowing every other day minimum. And it will need a reel mower ( but even a push 99 dollar one will work for moderate sized yards). I love looking at the pictures here so I hope these will benefit someone. Remembering early this year
see now - forgive not exact same before n after look but notice how much thicker and lower
For those concerned
see the darker spots in the morning dew
The seeded is OK and very dense but please try the bermuda bible and cut low on a regular basis before you even think about going to a store a buying bermuda seed 9which is low grade) and contaminating your hybrid sod like I did. Otherwise , I have actually found a feed store near by and applied at least 50lbs. of soybean meal and you can too. I have just found a local JD that I purchased my first 2 bags of 39 -0-0 Lesco as King TW Weed recommends so I bet you can eventually find it in your area too. The grass is growing so good it has attracted a wild bear cat see below
Thanks , especially to TW and Dshall T |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Great lawn, and great pics. I love closely mowed turf, and that Bermuda looks great. |
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| Great work! That is looking spectacular! Thanks for sharing the pictures! |
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| What seed variety did you use? |
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| Nice job! I see that you found out that regular mowing has to become part of your lifestyle if you want a high quality Bermuda lawn. It won't be long before visitors will be asking if it's Ok to walk on your lawn. Don't be surprised when they take their shoes off when they do. I see a couple of dark spots in those pictures. Those areas don't look all that big. If they are predominantly the seeded Bermuda, I'd think hard about hitting them with RU in late September/early October. Sure, you'll have dead spots but the lawn won't be far from dormancy anyway. Transplant a few 419 plugs in those areas and they'll fill quickly next spring. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 15:26
| What seed variety did you use? There is no seed for Tifway-I aka 419, it is a hybrid Bermuda grass and no seed can match the quality of Tifway-I. It is from sod, sprigs, or plugs only. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 15:28
| 1Toms beautiful job sir, you make my heart sing. Can I bring my 9-iron over and take a few divots? I promise to fill them with sand. :>) |
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| The darker spots are the seeded areas - much thicker blades but still very dense as shown in the close ups, a little lighter color normally, they only look darker in the pics that show the lawn with dew in the morning. The majority of the lawn is the sodded 419 - I just threw down some box store seed over last 2 years in spots, so really not to sure what variety. Several years before that I did find some Princess 77 and used it in spots but I don't think it survived and don't think that is what I see growing now in the dark spots unless from the close ups you think P77 could be that thick a blade ? I may take your advice and replace it with sod or sprigs like you mentioned. I guess I really should or it will be more and more obvious. "Can I bring my 9-iron over and take a few divots? I promise to fill them with sand" Thanks again to everyone, It's been a fun season so far using all the advice here, I gotta get the beds redone too this year, as you may have noticed they are not up to par with the new and improved lawn. |
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- Posted by dchall_san_antonio 8 San Antonio (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 20:01
| Awwwww, shucks! Who did you say helped you with that advice, again? Great before and after pix. Need to put that on a poster. It's also amazing that when you go to macro mode, bermuda looks like St Augustine. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Tue, Jun 26, 12 at 22:54
| Hey Tom don't sweat the areas with a seeded variety. Just rip up some sprigs from the Tif and transplant in the areas you want improved. It will take some time but with your hard work of mowing and proper maintenance the tif will fill in and dominate. Besides a blend is a good idea for a residential lawn as it gives it some diversity if one fails. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Wed, Jun 27, 12 at 8:41
| Hey Tom I got to looking closer at the pictures and noticed something I missed the first time. In one of the Macro shots I can see the blend of the seeded variety with Tifway. The Tif is the much finer bladed grass. Really shows the difference. Do you remember what seeded variety you added? |
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| "Besides a blend is a good idea for a residential lawn as it gives it some diversity if one fails." I would completely agree if it were a blend of higher grade bermuda seed. If purchased at a box store, it's likely that it's Sahara or some other lower grade. The Tif is highly unlikely to fail. If, for some reason, the Tif does fail, I wouldn't want the Sahara to be my dominant grass. I'd be out there with RU starting all over again. Any time I see a small area that is predominately common bermuda, I kill it. In late fall, the dead spot is soon hidden in the dormant bermuda. In early spring, the dead spot quickly fill in with Tif. |
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| gents, several years back I did find Princess 77 seed - but I don't think it survived. about 2 years ago I used some box store scotts common and some box store vigro mix. I am guessing the thick bladed leaves in the close ups are from the common type scotts or vigro. They are very concentrated in two areas. They showed up this spring and surprised me , and this year I started your advice, have had great results , otherwise I dought I would have noticed it much. It is very dense and not bad looking ( if I had known how good I could get the original sod to come back like it is now I would have never even contaminated it. I am just blown away at how both types this year are actually crowding out any weeds that try to get started. |
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- Posted by texas-weed 7A (My Page) on Thu, Jun 28, 12 at 22:17
| Tom just keep doing what you are doing with the short and frequent mowing. That cultural practice favors the the Tifway and discourages the common. I promise it will just get better as time goes. Good job. |
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- Posted by DSM_in_Atlanta none (My Page) on Fri, Jun 29, 12 at 12:19
| Wow, the before and after pictures are pretty amazing. My lawn looks more like your before shot (just moved into a house where the yard was neglected). This may be enough to convince me to buy a push reel mower. |
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