# Failing at bermuda lawn care



## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

I discovered this forum in April and have spent a lot of time, effort and money trying to get my approx. 2k backyard close to some of the beauties posted by you guys. I started off with a leveling project (https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17594) which was a FAIL. I think the compost blend didn't work out plus I put down too much which suffocated the grass in some areas that have never recovered.

Ive been adding Ammonium sulphate ever 2 weeks and mowing 0.5" HOC but the bald patches aren't filling in. Heck, I dont even think the grass is growing vertically at a rate I expected. I thought I would have to move ever other day in June but I barely see any grass being chopped off even If I mow once a week. So I haven't put down and T-nex PGR yet.

Not sure what Im doing wrong and feel defeated. May be Im not watering enough? I run my sprinklers for 60 min Tue/Fri. Do I need to water more? May be the soil is only getting N cause I haven't added any thing other than Milo / Ammonium Sulphate in the past 2 years?

I havent done a soil test yet cause Ive already poured hundreds of $$ into this lawn on dirt, equipment and product with mediocre results and want to try not to spend more.

Should I get a 13-13-13 balanced fertilize as one last effort to revive it?

Just to be clear, the lawn isnt BAD, its just not as good as I had hoped. I think I would have see the same results if I cut it short and continued to put down milo like I did last year. Sorry for the Rant...


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## cbagz (May 12, 2020)

My opinion is I would get a soil test done. Yes its a little more money but if you're adding nutrients that the soil doesn't need you're wasting money as well, but you would know exactly what you need to help your soil.

60 minutes 2x a week is a lot of water I would think, maybe cut it back to once a week or spread it out over the entire week.


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## Kicker (Apr 5, 2018)

Honestly I know this is probably you just venting your frustrations but, we need pictures. A lot of recommendations can be had from just looking at photos like drought stress, disease, etc...

Everyone's lawn is always a work in progress and it's never perfect. Mine in the last few weeks has taken a nose dive due to fert burn, scalp marks, and some heat stress. It's frustrating and I know it can be better but you just gotta keep working on it, "molding" it, and eventually hope it comes out right.


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## Easyluck (Feb 5, 2019)

How much Nitrogen have you put down?

Give it time. 2 weeks is not long enough. The next 6 weeks of the growing season will see a lot of growth. Continue watering and mowing. I would get a soil test but in lieu of that I would use a triple 10-10-10 or similar at 1.5 lbs of active ingredients per thousand per month.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

It's a marathon, not a sprint.

I would get a soil test. I think a basic soil test from Texas A&M is like $12.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Also note that irrigation run time (minutes) doesn't really tell you or us anything without knowing the precipitation rate (in/hr) of each zone. You must know both to determine how much irrigation (in/week) each zone is actually getting.

If you haven't already, I would consider conducting an irrigation audit with catch cups or tuna cans to determine your precipitation rate.


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

Need pics, your leveling looks almost exactly like the leveling I did in mid May and my lawn is fine. Go check out my recent post and you can see the results. I would even say I buried my lawn deeper than yours. My lawn is still not perfectly level. From what I am reading on TLF it will take numerous times to get it level. My best advice as a complete newbee to lawn care would be to go get a beer and relax. You are worried about it too much. Most guys have been working on their lawns for years and post pics when they are at their most beautiful.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Here are some photos from moments ago.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

gonefishn2010 said:


> Need pics, your leveling looks almost exactly like the leveling I did in mid May and my lawn is fine. Go check out my recent post and you can see the results. I would even say I buried my lawn deeper than yours. My lawn is still not perfectly level. From what I am reading on TLF it will take numerous times to get it level. My best advice as a complete newbee to lawn care would be to go get a beer and relax. You are worried about it too much. Most guys have been working on their lawns for years and post pics when they are at their most beautiful.


Thanks I needed to hear that...Its just that when I look at pics from this time last year, the lawn looked much healthy. All I did was apply milo and mow once in 2 weeks. As for the leveling, mine is quite bad (cant tell from the pics). Ill have another go at it next year.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Ware said:


> Also note that irrigation run time (minutes) doesn't really tell you or us anything without knowing the precipitation rate (in/hr) of each zone. You must know both to determine how much irrigation (in/week) each zone is actually getting.
> 
> If you haven't already, I would consider conducting an irrigation audit with catch cups or tuna cans to determine your precipitation rate.


I'll definitely measure the irrigation next time. Is it okay if I use little shot glass size cups and then pour it in a measuring cup?


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Ware said:


> It's a marathon, not a sprint.
> 
> I would get a soil test. I think a basic soil test from Texas A&M is like $12.


Okay I will try to get this done soon and report back


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Easyluck said:


> How much Nitrogen have you put down?
> 
> Give it time. 2 weeks is not long enough. The next 6 weeks of the growing season will see a lot of growth. Continue watering and mowing. I would get a soil test but in lieu of that I would use a triple 10-10-10 or similar at 1.5 lbs of active ingredients per thousand per month.


Ive been putting 1lbs/1k sq ft ever 2 weeks since May


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

Dude your lawn looks to be recovering pretty good. I layed my sod last May and it looked amazing until May of this year then it took a nose dive. I didn't water it enough. I leveled mine in May and it has bounced back pretty good. I want to see if my lawn can take being leveled twice in one year. I am going to bring in more 50/50 mix sand and organic material and level it again in July. I'm a risk taker.


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## cldrunner (May 14, 2019)

@kevlarrr Like @Ware mentioned a soil test from Texas [email protected] I usually get the $18 package which gives you NPK + micronutrients. It takes about two weeks from the day you send in to get results.

http://soiltesting.tamu.edu/files/soilwebform.pdf

I have 17 zones that some have spray nozzles and most have rotary nozzles. Spray puts out about 1.8 inches per hour while my rotators only put out .46 inches per hour. So some zones I water 4 times as long especially around my circle drive. Of course here in North Texas we have had no rain in over 3 weeks so the grass is starting to struggle if not given enough water. I also think this year we a behind growing wise by a full month since we had such a cool spring and then got zapped overnight by 95+ days.

I have also seen some areas have slower vertical growth and this was the first week that I really saw a bunch of runners on the concrete. Another sign that this year has been slower to get going in North Texas.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Thanks @cldrunner Yeah it did take quite a while for my lawn to come out of dormancy this year. Also Ive noticed that the right side of my lawn grows vertically at a much slower rate than the left quarter (has always been the case). Ill definitely get the soil test as several folks have mentioned. Will try to get some irrigation measure using diy cups and see where I stand.


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Is this the north side of the lawn? How much sunlight does your yard get?


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Tellycoleman said:


> Is this the north side of the lawn? How much sunlight does your yard get?


My lawn faces East and gets sunlight from 7am to 4pm


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

Thanks.
1) Do as @Ware says and do a catch cup water test to see how much water your actually putting down.
2) Gotta do a soil test. Look at the speed of return at some of the local collages. Online places like Waypoint will give you the results in about 4 days. all of them are around $14

Do you have trees?


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Tellycoleman said:


> Thanks.
> 1) Do as @Ware says and do a catch cup water test to see how much water your actually putting down.
> 2) Gotta do a soil test. Look at the speed of return at some of the local collages. Online places like Waypoint will give you the results in about 4 days. all of them are around $14
> 
> Do you have trees?


I have trees just in the front yard. Can you suggest a good online Soil test service. I'm looking into Texas A&M for now.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

kevlarrr said:


> Ive been putting 1lbs/1k sq ft ever 2 weeks since May


The minimum would be 2-3lbs per 1k sqft for AMS. If your lawn is 2k sqft, put out 10lbs and water it in :twisted:

I've got 55k sqft and have put out nearly 600lbs of AMS since May. It does work!


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

kevlarrr said:


> I have trees just in the front yard. Can you suggest a good online Soil test service. I'm looking into Texas A&M for now.


I made some instructions for tamu over on this post


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

sam36 said:


> kevlarrr said:
> 
> 
> > Ive been putting 1lbs/1k sq ft ever 2 weeks since May
> ...


Wouldn't that amount of AMS burn the lawn??


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## Easyluck (Feb 5, 2019)

AMS is 21% nitrogen. If you are weighing 1 pound of AMS fertilizer and spreading it then you are only putting out 0.21 lbs of N per 1000 sqft with each application.

If you are spreading 1 lb of N then you should be weighing 1 / .21 = 4.76 total lbs of AMS.

4.76 lbs of AMS times 21% nitrogen = 1 lb of N.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Easyluck said:


> AMS is 21% nitrogen. If you are weighing 1 pound of AMS fertilizer and spreading it then you are only putting out 0.21 lbs of N per 1000 sqft with each application.
> 
> If you are spreading 1 lb of N then you should be weighing 1 / .21 = 4.76 total lbs of AMS.
> 
> 4.76 lbs of AMS times 21% nitrogen = 1 lb of N.


Mind = blown

All this while have been under-fertilizing my lawn :facepalm:

Thanks @sam36 and @Easyluck


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

kevlarrr said:


> Wouldn't that amount of AMS burn the lawn??


I put it out at the 5lbs per 1k sqft rate and due to my lawn size I don't normally water it in. So the dew comes at night and melts it into the top layer of sod and I getting yellowing because of that. AMS has a high "salt index" (as does Urea) and without a good watering, the granules will burn what ever they touch. This is different than normal "fertilizer burn" (burning the roots) as you are burning the leaves mostly. If you don't water it in, you will get some yellowing and "leopard" spotting on leaves but it will grow out quick.

At a 3lb rate and watering, you would certainly have no ill effects. And you could do that every couple of days for a few times. No worries of burning then, and you'll know when to stop as you'll quickly have your bermuda growing 1" a day and have runners going up the side of your house!


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

> you'll quickly have your bermuda growing 1" a day and have runners going up the side of your house!


That's the dream lol


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## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

kevlarrr said:


> Tellycoleman said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks.
> ...


This link is to a post of the one i use. But there are many

https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1896


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## Krs1 (Apr 2, 2020)

I put down AS at 1 lb/ 1000 as well. Was wondering why the bag said 2-3 lbs lol. Glad I read this!


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Krs1 said:


> I put down AS at 1 lb/ 1000 as well. Was wondering why the bag said 2-3 lbs lol. Glad I read this!


Glad I could help lol


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

After my previous rant post, I took some of your advice and added about 10lbs of ammonium sulphate , and also sprayed PGR + Ferrous sulphate on Wednesday. We've had some heavy rains here in north Texas since Friday and I can notice that my lawn is looking better than ever. I guess I just needed to be more patient ...


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

At what HOC do you set that little green and blue mower? How does it stripe?

:lol:


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## 1FASTSS (Jul 11, 2018)

Looking good :thumbup:


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## JRS 9572 (May 28, 2018)

kevlarrr said:


> Here are some photos from moments ago.


Hang in there. One thing about bermuda, no matter the cultivar, it's the toughest, and most resilient grass out there. If you keep working hard at it, then it will come around. DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP!


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## Chocolate Lab (Jun 8, 2019)

delete...


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

Redtwin said:


> At what HOC do you set that little green and blue mower? How does it stripe?
> 
> :lol:


Yes it stripes great and as a plus, shoots bubbles off the top


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

kevlarrr said:


> Redtwin said:
> 
> 
> > At what HOC do you set that little green and blue mower? How does it stripe?
> ...


Ah... built-in "wetting agent". Nice feature!!!


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

kevlarrr said:


> After my previous rant post, I took some of your advice and added about 10lbs of ammonium sulphate , and also sprayed PGR + Ferrous sulphate on Wednesday. We've had some heavy rains here in north Texas since Friday and I can notice that my lawn is looking better than ever. I guess I just needed to be more patient ...


It's looking much better! :thumbup:


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

Back in the days of ammonium nitrate (34-0-0), I put a lot down. The next thing I knew my lawn had a pale yellow tinge all over. I called the county agent and told her what I'd done. She told me to apply chelated iron. Overnight I had a green lawn again. (This was in Tampa, Florida.)

It seems to me you are using a very high dose of nitrogen which at some point in time will stress the Fe++ in your soil.


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

> Thanks I needed to hear that...Its just that when I look at pics from this time last year, the lawn looked much healthy. All I did was apply milo and mow once in 2 weeks. As for the leveling, mine is quite bad (cant tell from the pics). Ill have another go at it next year.


Once every 2 weeks? for bermuda? Were you mowing alot higher?


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

rjw0283 said:


> > Thanks I needed to hear that...Its just that when I look at pics from this time last year, the lawn looked much healthy. All I did was apply milo and mow once in 2 weeks. As for the leveling, mine is quite bad (cant tell from the pics). Ill have another go at it next year.
> 
> 
> Once every 2 weeks? for bermuda? Were you mowing alot higher?


Yeah this was when I hadnt discovered this forum and did what the folks at homedepot/Lowe's/neighbors/lawn mowers/weedX folks told me. I would mow using my rotary mower at highest setting.


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## kevlarrr (Apr 27, 2020)

LoCutt said:


> Back in the days of ammonium nitrate (34-0-0), I put a lot down. The next thing I knew my lawn had a pale yellow tinge all over. I called the county agent and told her what I'd done. She told me to apply chelated iron. Overnight I had a green lawn again. (This was in Tampa, Florida.)
> 
> It seems to me you are using a very high dose of nitrogen which at some point in time will stress the Fe++ in your soil.


I put down 10lbs for 2k sqft. Also sprayed ferrous sulphate


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## rjw0283 (May 11, 2020)

kevlarrr said:


> rjw0283 said:
> 
> 
> > > Thanks I needed to hear that...Its just that when I look at pics from this time last year, the lawn looked much healthy. All I did was apply milo and mow once in 2 weeks. As for the leveling, mine is quite bad (cant tell from the pics). Ill have another go at it next year.
> ...


I did the same thing to my bermuda about 9 years ago, I was mowing high because I didn't know, it took almost entire growing season or 2 for the grass to really thicken up and fill in, I had a few years of mowing it wrong, Every year it comes in thicker and thicker. A lot of these lawns on here have been worked on for years. This is my 2-3rd year of somewhat knowing what I'm doing and it's really starting to show. I discovered this forum back in May, and it's greatly helped. A Soil test is a must.


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## LoCutt (Jul 29, 2019)

There are obviously many more qualified people on here to comment on fertilizer, but I was told a long time ago that 1 pound of N per thousand sq.ft. per month was a good dose (for my cultivar). This assumed you were mowing low and more than once per week, and also had adequate irrigation. But now several guys spoon-feed their lawns and probably go over my guidelines. And this also assumed you were counting on residual nutrients from "slow release" fertilizers. Your soil base comes into play as well: better soil needs less fertilizer but its more difficult to control, especially if you're after absolutely consistent color. If you have a sand base, you probably have better drainage at the cost of more frequent irrigation and fertilizer. The sand base is nice though when it rains every day for a while.


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## Wfrobinette (Feb 3, 2019)

cbagz said:


> My opinion is I would get a soil test done. Yes its a little more money but if you're adding nutrients that the soil doesn't need you're wasting money as well, but you would know exactly what you need to help your soil.
> 
> 60 minutes 2x a week is a lot of water I would think, maybe cut it back to once a week or spread it out over the entire week.


I might even be free at your state extensions. Mine are in the non-busy season which is now. Bust season is before spring planting.


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