Bermuda lawn care help needed

9 years ago

Greetings! I live in the Mansfield area in TX. My lawn is about 1 1/2 years old. I have no idea what type of bermuda grass we have.
What I need help with is coming up with a game plan to follow from this point forward so I can have a nice lush, green, weed-free lawn this summer.
I am a novice at this. My last home had st. augustine grass and it was easy to care for. This bermuda is a bit tougher for me to deal with.

My questions:
If I didn't put pre-emergent down for the fall, what should I do to prepare for the spring/summer?

Should I turn off my automatic sprinklers now and manually turn them on every other week or so to water?

How can I attack the dallis grass that is overtaking my back yard? Its too much to pull by hand. Can a professional kill it?

I have dogs so I will need to work around them.

Thank you in advance for all of your help!

Comments (8)

User
9 years ago
Are you religious? Have you read the Bermuda Bible? :)

It answers all your questions.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bermuda Bible
txaggietracy
Original Author
9 years ago
Yes, I have looked at the Bermuda Bible, but I still would like more clarity on what to do from today through spring. I guess step-by-step instructions might be needed in my case.
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dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Everything I know of that kills dallisgrass also kills bermuda. Generally with grassy weeds in bermuda, the approach is to kill the weedy grass with a grass killer and kill as little bermuda as possible in the process. So you would spot spray with grass killer or Roundup. Then let the bermuda fill back in.

This time of year you should be watering one full inch, once per month, just to keep the soil microbes happy. When it starts to warm up in the spring, move to once every 3 weeks when the temps get up into the 70s. Then once every 2 weeks in the 80s, and once per week in the 90s. When you get the occasional week(s) of 100s, go to once every 5 days. Doing that should keep the dallisgrass from coming back.

That's about all you can do for the winter. Don't get tempted to plant rye for the winter. That usually ends up badly for the bermuda in the spring.
User
9 years ago
Revolver will get to Dallisgrass and be safe to use on Bermudagrass, but be ready to open your wallet.

The RoundUp idea is a good one as it is more cost effective. It acts like chemotherapy: You try and kill all the Dallisgrass before you kill the Bermuda so badly that it won't come back.

Here is a link that might be useful: Revolver
txaggietracy
Original Author
9 years ago
When would be a good time to spray the Dallisgrass with roundup or revolver?

We just went through a cold snap here in the DFW area and the grass has turned yellow. Should I mow it again?
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
Spray when the weed is green and growing.

Mow if you want to trim it up for the winter.
txaggietracy
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you for all the information. I feel much more prepared to get the lawn in order for the spring!
dchall_san_antonio
9 years ago
With the Bermuda Bible and the few extra tips, you should be in great shape next year. In addition to the monthly fertilizer suggested by the BB, I would strongly suggest applying one app of organic fertilizer every year. That will feed your soil microbes and will make the chemical fertilizer work much better.