# I Scalped and Leveled my Bermuda Lawn a Month Ago, This is The Timelapse of the Recovery



## ShaneQi (Oct 9, 2019)

Some details:


Location Dallas TX (8a), the scalped/leveled area is 3.4ksqft (there is a section on the left not in the picture).

The motivation was that I got my first reel mower but my lawn was too tall and bumpy to use it.

Scalped from 2 inch to <1/4 inch, and have been maintaining it at about 1/2 inch.

Some tips:


Shorter and leveled (even it's not perfectly leveled) lawn made the reel mower so much easier to use.

Dry sand is way easier to be pushed/brushed deeper to the ground. so I waited for half day after the sand was put down on the lawn to let sun bake it, then pushed the sand down to under canopy with levelawn tool.

A good way to check how smooth the lawn is leveled is using flashlight or car to project light parallel to the lawn at night.

Will add more if anything comes up to my mind.

Hope you all enjoy the 🟨➡🟩.


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## dwaugh (Aug 25, 2020)

Very cool video!


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## southernbuckeye (Sep 29, 2019)

That's awesome! Thanks for posting that&#128077;&#127995;


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## TampaBayFL (Jul 24, 2020)

Excellent video...TY✔


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Are those maples?


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

jayhawk said:


> Are those maples?


I was going to ask the same question?
Did you apply any fertilizer?


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## ShaneQi (Oct 9, 2019)

Tellycoleman said:


> jayhawk said:
> 
> 
> > Are those maples?
> ...


Yes those are maples, I think they are Freeman's Maple, not sure though.

I never applied fertilizer intentionally to the trees. But they do benefit from the grass, because their driplines are together with the sprinkler, also they suck up the nitrogen I give to the grass.

What's wrong with my trees? I think they are healthy, too much branches/leaves? Yes I need to find an arborist next spring, I have never pruned since they were planted 2 years ago.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Maple trees Vs bermuda means the bermuda will loose. Every year you trees get bigger your grass will get thinner. At around year 15 you wont have grass. But before that the maple trees will produce enough surface roots to prevent yo from Using your reel . I meant how much fertilizer did you put on the grass right before or after sand leveling. Also will you lawn pass the Basket Ball test . Will bouncing a bball kick up any sand? When that doesnt happen you sand level is complete.


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## ShaneQi (Oct 9, 2019)

Tellycoleman said:


> Maple trees Vs bermuda means the bermuda will loose. Every year you trees get bigger your grass will get thinner. At around year 15 you wont have grass. But before that the maple trees will produce enough surface roots to prevent yo from Using your reel . I meant how much fertilizer did you put on the grass right before or after sand leveling. Also will you lawn pass the Basket Ball test . Will bouncing a bball kick up any sand? When that doesnt happen you sand level is complete.


Wow I learnt a lot today from you. Some are bad news for me though.

How big of area would a maple tree ruin for my grass reel? I'm not planning to remove the trees though, I would let natural do its things, and I anticipate us to move to a bigger house when we have more kids (we are expecting our first in 8 months).

Before leveling, I put 0.25lbN/ksqft every week, after leveling, I double the frequency to 0.25lbN/ksqft every 4 days. Right now I'm back to weekly schedule.

Can I still do the basketball test right now since the grass has grown back? I didn't know this test, I'll do it next time.
What does the test check? I assume kicking up sand means the sand isn't pushed down to under canopy.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

I'm not a maple expert to know all the varieties but I see what telly is speaking of here, ALL our neighbors' and hoa unmanaged maples are 20 years old. If the tree canapy is 30' so is your mulch bed in Bermuda yards. (Maybe more depending on position to sun) Roots you'd trip over.


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## ShaneQi (Oct 9, 2019)

jayhawk said:


> I'm not a maple expert to know all the varieties but I see what telly is speaking of here, ALL our neighbors' and hoa unmanaged maples are 20 years old. If the tree canapy is 30' so is your mulch bed in Bermuda yards. (Maybe more depending on position to sun) Roots you'd trip over.


That's very helpful info, thanks!


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## harmonjw (May 29, 2020)

I have two red maples in my front yard that will be coming out this fall/winter. I am still hoping to replace them with something (not a maple) but have yet to decide on what to put back. I am between an allee elm or a skyline honeylocust. Both have fairly whispy leaves and branches allowing sun to come through to the Bermuda and do not have the root problems that maples have. Anyone have any other suggestions for trees that don't have shallow roots?


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## chakshar (Apr 11, 2020)

The time lapse is beautiful. The lawn looks great! May I know which reel mower you are using to cut as low as 0.25"?

I have a small yard around 4K sqft. I was searching on amazon a pushing reel mower and the minimum HOC they can provide is 0.5"


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## ShaneQi (Oct 9, 2019)

chakshar said:


> The time lapse is beautiful. The lawn looks great! May I know which reel mower you are using to cut as low as 0.25"?
> 
> I have a small yard around 4K sqft. I was searching on amazon a pushing reel mower and the minimum HOC they can provide is 0.5"


I have the Swardman Electra.
0.5'' is lower than my rotary mower (lowest is 1-1/2 inch). 
My concern would be if a manual reel can scalp because it's a lot more grass to cut than it appears.


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## chakshar (Apr 11, 2020)

ShaneQi said:


> chakshar said:
> 
> 
> > The time lapse is beautiful. The lawn looks great! May I know which reel mower you are using to cut as low as 0.25"?
> ...


Thanks for the info. You may be right....I want to give it a try though.


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## Txmx583 (Jun 8, 2017)

Awesome time lapse!!


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## Reelrollers (Feb 6, 2018)

ShaneQi said:


> Some details:
> 
> 
> Location Dallas TX (8a), the scalped/leveled area is 3.4ksqft (there is a section on the left not in the picture).
> ...


That was awesome!


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