# Chuckatuck89's Celebration Bermuda Conversion



## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

A little late but figured I would start a lawn journal to track how my reno goes this year.

When we moved into this home in 2016, it was immediately apparent the previous owners did pretty much the bare minimum for landscaping maintenance. Caked on tree debris everywhere and the grass was in very poor condition. In the front, we had a weird combo of zoysia on about 40% of the yard, SA on 30%, and the rest was basically dirt under a group of dogwoods that were planted way to close together and a giant pine tree right at the corner of the house.

Not the best photo but this was taken in 2017: 


In 2018 I cut down three of the dogwoods and removed the landscaping in front of the steps. Then early last year I removed the large pine since it was directly over our new daughters room and also had them cut a large limb off one of the oaks that was reaching over the yard. This opened up a lot of sun however there were still some rough areas in the yard.. whatever zoysia was planted was VERY slow growing.

Photo in mid April of this year:


staring at my yard everyday for the past couple months while working from home, I decided I was going to bite the bullet and kill everything off to start over. I took a day to take photos of the yard once every hour. Looking at the photos, I split the yard into 4 sections and determined each section now gets about 6-7 hours of direct sun with a few extra hours of dappled sun. I looked around at what local sod farms had available and landed on Celebration Bermuda at $0.40/sqft delivered.

I got several quotes for someone to come out and remove the existing sod/level everything out. I then started spraying round up, doing 3 applications total. Here's right before the third application:


I got a pretty good kill especially on the SA.

on 5/26 my selected contractor came out with a tractor and a couple pulverizers. He worked the soil for a few hours, it was still a bit wet from the recent rains so it was better than it was but not ideal. He came back the next day with 5 yards of topsoil/compost mix and spread that around everywhere. Here's what I ended up with:


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

5/28 the sod arrived at 7:00 in the morning. 9 pallets with 3000sqft total. It had rained the night before and the forecast was calling for more at some point during the day but I knew I had to get it laid down.



The quality was decent, no weeds that I noticed however still had a lot of dormant material. This is my first experience with sod so Im not sure how this compares to others.


Most of the edges of my yard are "natural" so I extended the one straight edge of my sidewalk to the edge of the yard using two stakes and a string to use as my first row. I put down starter fert at around 0.5lbs N/M and got to work


After a couple hours in the muggy heat I knew it was going to be a long day but I had no idea how exhuasted I would be by the end of it. 12 hours later, its getting dark and I'm about 70% complete. Won't be attempting this alone again..


I got started early the next day but was just as exhausted as the night before. I ended up hiring a young guy off Facebook to come finish up for $125. I then rolled it in. Here is the finished product:


With all the rain during the process I was doing a lot of raking to even out footprints (so much for my starter fertilizer). It was not ideal conditions and I will definitely have some leveling to do in the future to even out some lumpiness in spots.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Today is about 3 days later. Saturday it rained all day but we got good sun the past couple days. I am definitely noticing more and more green every day. I also felt some resistance when pulling on a corner for the first time today, seeing some good root growth.

pic taken last night:


taken today 6/2:



I also put down some Air8 I had today at 6oz/M. I'd like to start putting down light doses of N weekly however Im still looking into the best way to do that with either a spreader or Ortho sprayer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## MrMeaner (Feb 21, 2017)

Looking awesome so far and the steps you followed were pretty ideal to me!! Only other two steps I could see you doing would be to drag the area smooth as possible and rake up any rocks. Using a a drag mat, pallet, or better yet a leveling drag to help bust up any bigger clumps level any depression. The sod does not look great but it does not look bad either.. its celebration bermuda, you will have it for the life of the house.

Make sure and keep it wet but not soggy/squishy for the first week to ten days. Then check for good rooting after the first week or so but keep water just less than the first week. Third week in you should be able to cut back the water even more and be mowing if you are getting enough sun on it.

TCorbbit on this forum just laid 16K of celebration at his new house..he has some great pics and steps good of his install.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

MrMeaner said:


> Looking awesome so far and the steps you followed were pretty ideal to me!! Only other two steps I could see you doing would be to drag the area smooth as possible and rake up any rocks. Using a a drag mat, pallet, or better yet a leveling drag to help bust up any bigger clumps level any depression. The sod does not look great but it does not look bad either.. its celebration bermuda, you will have it for the life of the house.
> 
> Make sure and keep it wet but not soggy/squishy for the first week to ten days. Then check for good rooting after the first week or so but keep water just less than the first week. Third week in you should be able to cut back the water even more and be mowing if you are getting enough sun on it.
> 
> TCorbbit on this forum just laid 16K of celebration at his new house..he has some great pics and steps good of his install.


Thanks you for the input, I agree with the dragging, in my head I pictured the final result to be much smoother and finer than it ended up being. I have no intention at this point to mow below 1" so I wasn't _too_ concerned with it.

The good thing about working from home now is I can keep an eye on it. Every time I have checked under a piece since Ive laid it it has been moist. Tomorrow will be the first actual hot and sunny day so I will check early afternoon to see how my morning watering is holding up on the moisture levels and adjust as needed.

Have been following TCorbbit's journal! I wish I had gotten the sod down in march like he did so I could've leveled this year, oh well.


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

Looking good! You can still level this year no problem. Just wait until it's growing really fast, scalp it, fertilize it heavy, water it in, spread the sand, and water a little after you drag it a few times. I'll probably level again before the summer's over unless I just get lazy.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

tcorbitt20 said:


> Looking good! You can still level this year no problem. Just wait until it's growing really fast, scalp it, fertilize it heavy, water it in, spread the sand, and water a little after you drag it a few times. I'll probably level again before the summer's over unless I just get lazy.


Thanks @tcorbitt20! Saw your update today, amazing progress for just a few weeks. Good to know about the leveling, I'm still somewhat new to warm season maintenance so figured I missed the window since most seem to do it early spring. How many yards of sand/1000sqft did you put down? I don't remember. Also are you starting to see a thatch issue yet? I'm wondering if I'm going to need to buy a verticutter since Celebration is known to produce a lot of thatch.


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

I had 20-21 yards according to the truck driver for my 17k sq ft. I put too much in the front and didn't get to finish the back yard. I probably need another 8-10 to get it all. I'm not seeing a thatch issue yet, but I'm figuring I will by next spring. I've got a rotary mower with a blade that has two bolts welded to it that really tear up the grass like verticutting but with more of a mess. It'll tear it all up down to dirt. I've used it before in the spring, and I will give it a shot then next year.


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## acegator (May 31, 2018)

Looking great! Give it two weeks before you start hitting it with N though.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

acegator said:


> Looking great! Give it two weeks before you start hitting it with N though.


Thanks! Yours is coming in nicely, seams are just about gone. Looks like the color has darkened up a bit too.

Wait on the N because it can burn the roots?


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Today is about 6 days since the sod was laid down and so far it seems to have recovered a lot. In the main area I am no longer able to pull up the sod corners so the roots are working their way down. Per suggestion, Im going to wait on dropping a light dose of N until around this time next week.




Temps have jumped a lot this week, it has been in the high 80s/low 90s the past couple days and full sun. I changed my sprinkler timer from twice daily to 4 times daily just to make sure it wasnt drying out.

In one low area near a tree I just noticed yesterday it is staying pretty much saturated all day. Im going to stick with only a morning sprinkler cycle in that area for now. I have also noticed the rooting is a few days behind in this area, Im not sure if thats because it was too wet, doesn't get as much sun, or a little of both.


There's also 2-3 squares that I have noticed since a couple days after install are a lighter green when viewed from a distance. When I get up close its not as noticeable, and it looks like the only difference is these squares seem to have more fresh growth for whatever reason. Maybe they spent the least amount of time on the pallet.


Over the next few days I just plan to keep an eye on the watering. This weekend I need to work on getting some edging done along the flower beds and the driveway before stolons start creeping everywhere.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Day 7 and greening up good. Still not seeing a ton of top growth but noticing some small sprouts if I look up close. Continuing to monitor watering as it seems to be drying much faster in some areas than others.


Also laid down 3 yards of mulch today, should just need a couple more


I have pretty much convinced myself that the light green slabs I have noticed are somehow Tifway 419. I don't know enough about the sod farms palleting process to rule it out but it just looks different. I pulled a sprig from it and one from the slab right next to it and it's lighter, thinner, and growing more upright. Not sure what to do at this point other than just see what happens.

Questionable sprig is on the left:


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## Meximusprime (Jun 21, 2019)

Coming along! Don't worry about seeing much top growth. You should notice the celebration really moving laterally right now. Filling in on each sod piece.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Meximusprime said:


> Coming along! Don't worry about seeing much top growth. You should notice the celebration really moving laterally right now. Filling in on each sod piece.


That makes sense and is definitely more of what I am seeing at this point, especially along the sidewalk where it is starting to creep onto


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

About 11 days in. The growth has really taken off the past couple days. Gave it a cut at 2" and unfortunately still scalped in a couple spots, will need to work in a leveling at some point this summer. Not sure how Im going to get it cut lower before sanding since my rotary only goes down to 1.5", might need to look for a manual reel for sale locally.



This morning I noticed what appears to be dollar spot. Not sure how this is the first time Ive noticed it with as much as I have been walking around the yard and looking at it.. I went ahead and put down some Bioadvance with 5lbs/1000 of 10-10-10 that will hopefully slow it down. I am also going to start watering only in the mornings now since it appears firmly rooted everywhere, and I will taper off to every other day by the end of the week.


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## probasestealer (Apr 19, 2018)

Looks good.

Hard work


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## Sbcgenii (May 13, 2018)

You can tell it is greening up! What made you go with Bermuda?


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Sbcgenii said:


> You can tell it is greening up! What made you go with Bermuda?


Yeah very happy with the color so far. A few reasons, Im in the transition zone and have fought with tall fescue for the past 10 years with no irrigation system so I thought a warm season turf was a better long term option. I also wanted something that would repair itself quickly with 2 dogs and a toddler, so after calling a few sod farms I landed on the Celebration.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Today marks 14 days since the sod arrived. I mowed at 1.5" yesterday and scalped in several areas so I will need to raise the HOC atleast .5" until I can get a leveling in.

I haven't noticed anymore dollar spot spores the last couple mornings but I'm not sure what the conditions have to be to see them. Would I only see them before I ran the sprinklers in the morning?

Think I have the watering correct finally, the soggy spots have dried up. We got some rain this afternoon so I am skipping the watering tomorrow and will start a deeper every-other-day watering starting Saturday.

Next project is the daunting task of filling the beds with perennials without spending a small fortune.


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## gbestemt (Oct 2, 2019)

Celebration is resistant to dollar spot. Should not really be having fungus issues. I would just leave it alone mow and water for the first month maybe do some spot leveling. Overall it looks beautiful just trust the grass. I sprayed liquid iron and super juice in my first month. Any areas that are questionable will repair within two weeks.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

*20 Days*

I haven't needed to water since Saturday since we've had on and off rain all week totally about 2". Currently mowing at 1-7/8" to prevent any scalping. Planning to start a weekly application of 0.2lb N/m using DEF next week. So far so good!


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

That's looking really good! Great color!


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## acegator (May 31, 2018)

Looking great!


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Thank you both, definitely impressed with the Celebration so far as Im sure you are!


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

About 5 weeks since I laid the sod. Put down 7oz/M and 0.2oz/M of N yesterday before we got a good rain. Cut today, still at 1.75".

Have a area behind the Small magnolia in the photo that I don't think will survive. Unfortunately, when I was monitoring the sun exposure earlier this year, the sun was lower in the sky and was able to reach under the tree. It looks like it's getting almost 0 sun right now so I will probably extend the flower bed a bit.

Overall happy with the growth rate, thickness, and color. There has been a couple spots where I scalped or the dogs peed and within a week I forgot where they were.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Way behind on an update but I wanted to get this back on track since it helps me remember things and see the progression. Overall I was very happy with my new Bermuda last year. I learned a lot, mostly from this site, and Im hoping to push it to the next level this year with reel mowing, a leveling, and PGR.

so far the yard is still waking up here in SE Virginia. We are finally getting steady evening temperatures in the 50's (with days here and there that are much warmer) so I'm seeing more progression each week.

4/21


5/9


In the meantime I've been working on a few other projects this spring. Firstly, the small tree in the middle of the yard proved to be mostly a PITA once I got the grass in. The placement was horrible, if I were to leave it I would have to convert another massive area to mulch as it was _just_ close enough to the oak behind it that a significant portion was in the shade most of the day. I knew this was going to be an issue, I just failed to remember how dense the foliage on that tree grew.

on 4/12 I cut down the tree, removed the mulch, brought in some dirt and leveled:



after a few days of letting it get rained on, releveling, and packing down, I moved some transplants I found growing in the flower beds to the new area.



Seeing some decent growth so far. Hoping to have this area mostly covered by late June.



I also still needed some edging between my pea gravel driveway and the yard. I found a local commercial stone yard that has "second hand" stock they let me pick over for free. Ended up with some 6x9 pavers buried flush with the soil that I hope will stop any attempt by the Bermuda to spread into my driveway.



I also finally got around to filling out the front flower bed. I was able to relocate the burning bushes up next to the house, I also picked up some Barberries, Euonymus, Junipers, and mondo grass for around the edge.

before


after (still need more mondo grass)


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Not making much progress so far this year. Part of the lawn seems to be way behind in growth for some reason, I know the soil is compacted but Im not sure if there's any other issues. The grass looks healthy in this area its just stunted and slow growing.

Being this is my first spring since my reno Im not sure what to expect, but Im hoping next year I will be mostly green by now if we get more favorable conditions. I didnt realize it until now but we spent almost all of May at well below normal low temps at night and we've only received 0.34" rain for the entire month. Ive been trying to keep up with irrigation but I don't think it compares to a good soaking rain. Hopefully getting some rain this weekend but they keep saying that!

Anyways I aerated 5/17, applied more preM 5/18, and put out another 1.75lb/k of 29-0-5 yesterday. Mowing every few days at 0.75" but mostly just getting clippings in a few spots.

5/9

Pic taken this morning


Here's my temps for the month of May


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Temps are starting to stabilize and we finally got a good soaking rain (about 2 inches) which we really needed. I feel like I can already see the improvement in how it looks. Currently dealing with the dreaded seed heads however I think they are on the decline.

I picked up a bottle of Dawn that I am going to put out tomorrow at 4 oz/1k in hopes to help stabilize the soil moisture in some of my trouble spots. The lawn definitely looks the best over my septic drain field which hold moisture a lot better than the other side.

6/1


Best area of the yard, mowing about every 3 days and taking plenty of clippings. My goal for next year is for the whole yard to be at this point by 6/1.


Im also making some progress on my bare spot mini project but I have a long way to go. I probably should have added a lot more plugs. Any chance this fills completely by end of season?


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Seeing a major improvement in color and growth compared to last week. My guess is this is mostly do to temps remaining consistently warm and receiving adequate rain. Note to self for next year: scalp LOW in early May. Make sure lawn is getting at least 1" of rain per week during green up, especially in trouble spots.

pics taken 6/7 after double mow with the Greensmaster



6/2 - Put down 4oz/k Dawn in attempt to loosen up some compacted spots and get moisture down to the roots. I also noticed what appeared to be leaf spot so I put down Scotts Disease X at the curative rate.

Possible leaf spot (pic on 6/2) after a few days of warm rainy weather.



Sprig taken from same area on 6/7, looking at newest growth it appears to be healthy.


One month growth of plugs in bare spot:

5/9


6/7


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## tcorbitt20 (Aug 31, 2018)

You'll be surprised how quick those little plugs spread. These spots I circled were from clippings being dumped last year and just a sprig or two taking hold and spreading since then. No fertilizer on it or anything else.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

tcorbitt20 said:


> You'll be surprised how quick those little plugs spread. These spots I circled were from clippings being dumped last year and just a sprig or two taking hold and spreading since then. No fertilizer on it or anything else.


That's crazy. This really is one tough grass!


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

Full yard is coming in nicely now. Mowing every 3 days and even that isn't enough in some spots. Started with PGR last friday at about 0.2 oz/k with some fEature thrown in, can definitely already notice the effects. I am hoping it also improves the thinness in some of my low-sun spots.

Can see a lot of brown under the canopy, I think I could definitely benefit from a dethatching.


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

Looking good @Chuckatuck89

What HOC are you maintaining?


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

monsonman said:


> Looking good @Chuckatuck89
> 
> What HOC are you maintaining?


Appreciate it, coming from mostly experience with TTTF I'm slowly figuring it out but it's getting there. I am maxing out my Greensmaster at 0.75" right now.


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## Chuckatuck89 (Mar 28, 2019)

I am now under PGR regulation and I can definitely tell a difference. Looks denser, healthier, and greener. I started with 0.2oz/k on 6/18 which I thought provided plenty of regulation. added another 0.2oz with 1.5oz fEature yesterday since Greencast showed 250 GDD. 27-0-5 and probably some grub control going down today.

I still want to fit in a sand level and dethatch this year but the weekends are getting away from me.





I am also on week 3 of my stolonizing project for the spot I removed the tree from (separate post here). Coming in nicely along with the sedge..


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