# LilSlugger's Lawn Journal - TX Common Bermuda



## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Welcome to my common Bermuda lawn journal. Like many I have lurked on the forum for about a year after introduced to it by @thelawnpirate . My yard has improved a lot since we first moved in in fall 2015, but I like to think it really improved once I started following the advice given by so many here instead of following my own gut. Having grown up cutting an acre of grass with a push mower in Pittsburgh, there's been a lot to learn about warm season grasses here in Texas. But the push mowing as a kid taught me to not be afraid of manual labor and the satisfaction that can come from a day of hard work in your yard. These pictures are from the Zillow posting when we bought our home. Pretty obvious photoshopping I think.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Here's the wonderful water logged yard when I first set eyes on the house during our house hunting trip. The sprinklers unfortunately are hooked up to an outside hose spigot, something I still haven't fixed due to the cost of getting a separate connection off the water main out front and then retrofitting into the existing piping and adding new piping, etc. Too many projects each year, maybe it'll make the list some day down the road.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Consistent mowing with a rotary mower and few side projects like replacing 3" downspouts with 4" and straightening the mailbox immediately aided my efforts to maintain a sharper looking lawn. The weeds though continued to confuse me, Bissel weed killer from HD helped but couldn't keep up. I'd never seen weeds grow in the lawn like that out east.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Hoping to somewhat level my yard and improve drainage, I made a meager attempt to spread sand with what tools I had. I failed miserably for three reasons: no fertilizer was being applied at all at the time, I didn't cut the grass short, and I simply couldn't drag it around to get a thin layer with the leaf rake and garden rakes I had. My yard looked like a beach for weeks and the sand taunted me whether it stayed or washed away.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Fast forward 2 years since we moved in and the Bradford pear tree in our front yard started dropping limbs randomly. From what I read it seemed common for trees of this variety after 20+ years, so we got it removed which immediately helped remove shade. Adding some dirt, mulch, concrete edgers and a new Autumn Blaze Maple tree made it feel like I was making progress and starting off fresh.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

The 2018 season brought more weeds and an attempt to regrade low spots in the lawn with a compost soil mix before buying sod to jumpstart filling in the bare spots.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

I don't have great pictures of the sod, but I had Bermuda put down in the front yard behind the maple tree and next to the sidewalk and backyard with St Augustine in the sideyards where it's always shaded. Spoiler alert, the St Augustine didn't survive and I've since killed off any of it spreading from my neighbors yard. I also started using TruGreen for fertilizer and weed killer service which made a significant improvement in the health and look of my grass. Anytime is saw a weed you bet I was calling in for the extra free service.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Started off 2019 with core aeration service again by TruGreen. They did a terrible job as you can maybe tell by the pictures. Full coverage apparently meant one pass down the middle of the 6ft wide strip of grass. Needless to say they came out and did it again.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Spring rains with the second year of fertilizers and weed killer really helped my Bermuda take off and thicken up. Added some more flower beds and Texas Sage along the house where grass never wanted to take. Came home from church one day to find we had lost a decent size branch from the cottonwood in the back yard after a quick storm. We love how the tree perfectly shades our back yard in the late afternoon but being the tallest tree in the neighborhood has me paranoid it's gonna fall one day so we have gotten it thinned every couple years.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Update. Found a goose? duck? egg in the yard. Never seen that before. We do have a neighborhood pond and a small river nearby I guess...


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

July 2019, felt like I had made it. I finally had a yard I was proud of. No science behind it, just grit and hard work. Sometimes wasted work, but I enjoyed the hours in the yard just the same. We also did several remodeling projects inside the home the last 4 years that took time but I always enjoy the yard time the most.

This is when I discovered TLF and got up the courage to cancel TruGreen. My brother lives around the corner and convinced me sharing tools and products would be cheaper and more fun. He was right!

Shout out to @thelawnpirate for suggesting plant growth regulator or PGR. My grass was thicker and barely grew vertically at all this week! I cut the grass after 9 days because I wanted to, not cause I needed to - it still looked like it had been recently cut! Now I just needed the Texas weather to cooperate and give me some rain to green it up.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Google Maps finally updated our street view! Previous pic was from at least 4 years ago before we moved in. A couple of close ups of the lawn.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Plant Growth Regulator ("PGR") is real y'all. These pics are 13 days apart. Look at that! Wish I could say it was all easy from here on out, but I definitely made some rookie mistakes with other first-time apps.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Aside from some shade, one of the biggest hurdles to get past is the late summer heat here in North Texas. With my sprinkler system coming off my outside hose spigot, I'm hesitant to use it too much. Anyone have this problem? Any quick solutions? I've thought about tapping into the main line and retroconnecting into existing lines but am not sold on tearing up my yard.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

In 2019 I bought a Chapin 4 gallon backpack sprayer and put down the following over the course of several apps (some were granular)
Celsius, Certainty, MSMA, Prodiamine, Milorganite, Feature, insecticide, a little bit of humic acid, and PGR. I definitely recommend the tracker dye, although good luck not getting any on you!


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Rookie mistake, I over applied, maybe 10x the weed killer I should have put down. The first app worked like a charm but boy did I burn the whole lawn this time! I watered like crazy trying to get it to recover. You can see my terrible sprinkler coverage....


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

It took weeks but the lawn finally started to show some life. Although I don't think it ever fully recovered by fall 2019. Now spring 2020 all the common Bermuda is back to full health but the sod, can't remember which kind it was, still doesn't look quite right.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

A few pictures from the end of the season to give hope to anyone else who used a bit too much MSMA out there! About this time my brother and I went in on a TruCut P20 mower together and I was able to get a couple mows in to end the year. Can't wait to start reel low with a scalp in 2020!


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

With that the 2019 season ended. I had never noticed the tiger stripes till I read about them on TLF. This is actually my neighbor's lawn, I didn't get them much in my yard. So much to learn! Remember that tall cottonwood our back? It puts out a crazy ton of leaves each fall. Glad to have some kids who love to help.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

The new to me TruCut P20 with roller. Early spring 2020 we backlapped and greased. Thanks to all the helpful forums and videos that helped me get the right tools and locate all the zerks. Here's the grease gun, couplers, and backlapping kit that I used.

Lumax Grease gun

LockNLube Extended Coupler

LockNLube Push-on slotted 90 degree Coupler

Lucas Oil X-tra Heavy Duty Grease

Lucas Oil Red "N" Tacky Grease - bought this to alternate green/red for visibility

Pinhigh Backlapping kit


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Scalped mid February, took it as low as I could with the rotary first and then the TruCut. Put down Prodiamine, thinking maybe one more app of it in late spring and again in October.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

First week of March and we're green. Put down my some certainty/Celsius and insecticide along with tracker dye and surfactant.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Anyone else use GreenTRX fertilizer? The guy at Ewing told me the Texas Rangers are using it in their new ballpark. I'm sold on it. I like the mix of fast and slow release nitrogen. I've been pushing my lawn with about 1.5 #/mo by spoon feeding every 9 days. I was trying to explain to the kids what fertilizer was and before I knew it my 2 year old who can barely put two words together was walking around repeating, "cow poop! cow poop!" 😂


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

For Christmas I got myself some Arlo cameras. Who knew security cameras could be so much fun! I've got a squirrel who taunts me and the occasional opossum and raccoon. Last year I killed off all the St Augustine that was coming in from my neighbor's yard and taking over my Bermuda. Figured I'll use the camera to track how fast I can get the Bermuda to spread. That spot also receives runoff from our downspouts so I'm hoping it'll be a good measuring stick for how effective Penterra is in pulling the water down through the soil. Just put down my initial app with a Hudson hose-end sprayer. Loved the color change on the grass as I applied it.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

I don't know which is better...that sunset or a reel low April 1st greenup.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

All the GreenTRX early with a wet, cooler spring may have brought in mycelium or powdery mildew. The white spots are on the soil itself with the spider web looking growth on the blades. Took advantage of an Amazon deal on DiseaseEx, will be my first battle with fungus. Hoping it's a quick one so I can get sand in next month for leveling.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Has anyone tried Main Event as a replacement for Feature 6-0-0?


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

It's taken 5.5 weeks of quarantine, but I'm finally getting around to servicing my Cub Cadet rotary mower. It'll be the first time in the 4 years I've owned it for any of these items 😬. Oil change, fuel filter, air filter, and spark plug.


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Been able to enjoy the mow a bit more as the Bermuda thickens up. Decided it was time to put down a couple bags of sand in my worst spots since I didn't want to burden the spots recovering from what I think is take all root rot (TARR).


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## lilslugger (Aug 7, 2019)

Took a few days to put in a new valve box with 3 valves to improve sprinkler coverage in the front yard. Then it rained 4-5 inches. My new Rachio ran the next morning 😦 Going to have to play with it. Picked up a free rain sensor from the city to help. Unfortunately my Rachio 3 came out of the box missing several features and I've had to email support a few times. The warmer weather and DiseaseEx seems to be helping the TARR or whatever the lighter green area has been struggling with. Got my first app of Main Event iron and TNEX PGR down before all the rain too which has really helped with the color!


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