# Fescue to Tifgrand Bermuda



## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

I made the decision to switch the backyard from fescue to a warm season grass.

Here is what the yard looked like at the end of March / early April.







Sprayed the entire yard at the beginning of May and a second spray 14 days later.







I decided to go with Tifgrand Bermuda. I have two 8 year old dogs. They aren't filled with the same energy they had a few years ago so I'm not worried about the traffic as much, but my zeon in the front can't handle any dog pee and takes a while to recover. I went Tifgrand because I'm hoping it repairs faster from the dog pee and can still handle the shade that I still have left after limbing and removing a couple trees.

Picked up 5 yards of screened top soil and spread it as best as I could.







Got two pallets of Tifgrand from NG Turf.





Ended up being a little short. I plan on rounded the edges out today or tomorrow.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

Look fwd to following. NG Turf :thumbup:


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

Interested to see how tiffgrand handles dog pee. I have tif419 and some celebration. Dog pee kills it. I have female dogs so they tend to do more damage. I have tried everything. The only thing that works is following them around and spraying it down with water. I bought some lawn paint. Every 2 weeks I'll spray the new spots with the lawn paint. After about 2 days it blends in and you can't notice the spots very much.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

rjw0283 said:


> Interested to see how tiffgrand handles dog pee. I have tif419 and some celebration. Dog pee kills it. I have female dogs so they tend to do more damage. I have tried everything. The only thing that works is following them around and spraying it down with water. I bought some lawn paint. Every 2 weeks I'll spray the new spots with the lawn paint. After about 2 days it blends in and you can't notice the spots very much.


I think females tend to do more damage when they pee because they dump it all in one spot and the male dogs tend to "mark up" the entire yard with smaller spots.

My two are female, but they are both rescues and got fixed early enough that I think they are confused. They tend to be markers rather than dumpers :lol:

I plan to fill in the pee spots with sand as they happen. I just purchased an RR leveling rake and excited to use it.

I figured anything will have a faster recovery rate than the zeon I have in the front.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

6 days in and I'm starting to see some rooting. I've had a little more settling than I was hoping would happen, but I'll be sanding towards the end of the month. The cooler weather we've been having has definitely helped from drying out too bad.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

jayhawk said:


> Look fwd to following. NG Turf :thumbup:


My only complaint about the sod from NG Turf is there seems to be a lot of nut sedge.


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## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

Welcome to the TifGrand family, I'm a fairly new member myself 

Mine had a lot of nutsedge too but the sod farm sprayed it the day before he cut it so it all died off after I installed it. I have almost no weeds in my new sod so far. I think you will enjoy the TifGrand once it matures and you get it leveled. Not sure about the dog pee issue though, I have a female GSD and I'm training her to pee in one area that I blocked off from the rest of the lawn.


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## Cousin_Wash (Mar 25, 2021)

I am also really new to the board and i put down TifGrand in my front yard last year. Really love this grass and the color. So i decided to do the back but did not order enough. Went back to try to get more delivered but unfortunately they are out of stock on it around me (Dallas/Ft.Worth). While mine did have some nut-sedge it did die out. This will also be my first time reel mowing so i am going for broke all at once. My Swardman was delivered yesterday so hopefully everything turns out as planned. As for the dog pee if you stay on it and water the spot it does not die out. If you do not then from what I've seen on my backyard it does not do well and you do get the dreaded yellowish grass.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

I can't tell if this is fungal or if this is from drying out. My gut is saying fungal.


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## Cousin_Wash (Mar 25, 2021)

Atlanta_Zeon said:


> I can't tell if this is fungal or if this is from drying out. My gut is saying fungal.


It does look like Fungus. Has there been a lot of rain in your area?


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## Thor865 (Mar 26, 2018)

Cut back on the watering If you've been doing it heavily to let it dry out. Welcome to the Grand fam


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Beginning to get a little frustrated with the amount of nutsedge that came with the sod. Seems like every day I'm seeing more and more.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

We've had a ton of rain this week and the sod is starting to get a good root hold. Debating on if it can handle a mow with the cal trimmer.

Still seeing tons of nutsedge. I've hand pulled a lot, but I'm going to eventually put down some sedge hammer once the sod is established and the seems are gone.

I have masonry sand getting delivered in 2 weeks for the front yard and this new sod.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Mowed in the highest notch on the cal trimmer.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Scalped it down. Some spots hit all the way to dirt.



1 week post scalp.



1.5 weeks post scalp





I know the beds are bed. I've never added preemegent to them and I haven't mulched in over a year. This has been a dog park for a while now. I'm really hoping the Tifgrand can hold up.

I'm also fighting an invasion of moles. The keep tunneling under the sod. I just ordered a scissor trap from Amazon.



I'm dropping sand 1.5 tons of masonry sand on the Tifgrand on Friday. I'm going to spray 0.25/1000 of urea on Thursday.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Put down about 1.5 tons of masonry sand today. Also, sprayed 0.2 pounds of nitrogen. 46-0-0 Lesco.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Put in a scissor trap on one the the long mole runs. I'm hoping I can snag them before they ruin the leveling I'm doing.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

4 days post sanding.



I got one of the moles in the scissor trap, but looks like I have more than one.


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## Atlanta_Zeon (Sep 15, 2019)

Sprayed another 0.2 pounds/1,000 sf of Lesco 46-0-0.

Next up is mulch for the beds and flagstone for the paths.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

How's it holding up?

I got pissed on in 2 spots ....it still is brutally long (regulated, not irrigated might not help)

Pretty sure female dogs by the pattern


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