# A South LA lawn adventure



## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

So here we go......

Lets start with the front. I have a centipede lawn that has seen better days. My last job required me to travel around 75% of the time so in between that, MBA, and 4&7 year old boys all I had time for was a quick cut and edge. I have since switched jobs that is less than 5% travel (although my commute sucks) and I finish up my MBA in August so I will have plenty more time.

So lets rewind a bit. Last fall I never put down any crabgrass emergent etc. Basically I did a last cut and forgot it. Fast forward to early spring. My grass would not grow, and some spots were just bare.

March 29th






I dethateched, tried some weed free zone and Sedgehammer and nothing. They were in my garage and I am thinking the heat made them less effective. I do currently use a John Deere rider and mulch the clippings, hence the dethatch. The grass was starting to feel spongy. I went to a local place and showed him pics of the dead spots and he said he thought it just needed a good dethatching. Fast forward 2 weeks, and a tad better but not much.

April 11








At the end of April I went and bought a cheap soil test kit, and the results came back:
PH 7.5
Nitrogen "Very Low"
Phosphorous - Med / Low
Potash - High

I went to a different local place and was told that it looked like I had brown patch / fungus and to fix that problem first.

The first weekend in May I laid down Infuse fungicide and Dimension. The second weekend in May I broadcast sprayed with a mixture of Atrazine and Weed free Zone with a bit of dish soap. Atrazine because I have a mean crabgrass coming from next door. A week later I put down some Fertilome 15-0-15 centipede weed and feed. Through the last month or so I have been cutting at a height of 3.5 inches to hopefully establish some growth.

So here is where I stand as of June 2.

Looking for advice.

1. Crabgrass: Should I try and spot spray with Atrazine or should I get some Quinclorac and try that out on the Crabgrass. I also have not sprayed for Nut sedge yet. Waiting for it to get under 90 one day. May have a chance later in the week if the rain holds out.

2. Leveling: I know I need to do some leveling also. The issue is that we "may" put a pool in next Spring so I am not sure I want to do a ton of leveling to have it rutted up again, however I know it will take a few years to get all of the lawn leveled so I may go ahead and start this year anyway.

3. I may end up wanting to add some Bermuda plugs and switch over. With that being said is it best to just scalp the lawn, level it and go ahead and start putting bermuda seed, or should I do plugs later on?


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Here is earlier this week a few days post cut.


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## Jacob_S (May 22, 2018)

Some of those clumps look like they might be dallisgrass, either hand pull them or paint with glyphosate. Just painted some the other day and quite pleased that they appear to be dead. Also see a good bit of Bermuda mixed in there, so that's a plus.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Jacob_S said:


> Some of those clumps look like they might be dallisgrass, either hand pull them or paint with glyphosate. Just painted some the other day and quite pleased that they appear to be dead. Also see a good bit of Bermuda mixed in there, so that's a plus.


Thanks. Looks like it's mixing in from somewhere just not sure where yet.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Filling in a bit better.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Still tons of crabgrass. I will be crabgrass painting this weekend and spraying for nutsedge.


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## pintail45 (Apr 26, 2018)

Have you considered sprigging some St. Augustine or Zoysia in the bare spots and letting it slowly take over the centipede?


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

pintail45 said:


> Have you considered sprigging some St. Augustine or Zoysia in the bare spots and letting it slowly take over the centipede?


That's a thought. I was considering Bermuda also.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

A little painting carnage of crabgrass and then to figure out what this other junk is. The turtle wins the race.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

I just noticed my shadow looks sort of like jaba the hut.


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## N LA Hacker (Aug 17, 2018)

Looks like you have some bahia and Bermuda.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Thanks that saves me for searching. Time to get rid of the Bahia.

I would like to see the Bermuda come in and take over the centipede to be honest. I could spray Atrazine however it's too hot now and it will damage the Bermuda. I was going to lay down some dimension and see if that helps. Any other thoughts?


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## Jacob_S (May 22, 2018)

The one with the "v" seedhead is bahia, little tiny guys bermuda, the last one with the offset dreaded Dallisgrass.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Jacob_S said:


> The one with the "v" seedhead is bahia, little tiny guys bermuda, the last one with the offset dreaded Dallisgrass.


Thanks. Time for more painting. Maybe after the weekend storms though.


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## Jacob_S (May 22, 2018)

Man I am not ready for all this rain, I hope when I get home it is still dry, I'm due for a PGR app today.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Glad I didn't level yet.


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

Just my two bits...
One thing that stands out...Your last soil test said PH of 7.5, that's too high for centipede. Apply some sulphur to lower. Centipede likes acid soils of 4.5-6 ph....

Also be careful with the applications of fertilizer and chemicals on centipede. You can make your issue worse with trying to overcorrect. It's tricky because Centipede likes to be left alone for the most part, with only 1/2lb-1.5lb N per 1000 per year and wait until May-June for first app. Also very sensitive to some weed killers and winter kill. That might be part of the issue you had last year, winter kill.

Ideal cutting height is 1-2", it looks like 3.5" you are saying you keep yours is a little high. Mow it around 1.5" and often and it will encourage it to spread the stolons during the growing season.

Also I wouldn't recommend dethatching with one of those dethatchers because it's a stolon grass, you will mangle what good stolon/runners you have and it's slow for it to recover. If you dethatch I would recommend one of those liquid D-Thatch products you can find online that eats up the thatch rather than harming your stolons. Centipede has no rhizomes under the soil.

It looks to me you just need a good fungicide plan this year too, it looked like you either had brown patch or take all root rot which can be exacerbated with the high cut. Apply some humic/kelp for the soil. And micros (iron especially)... get the green via Iron rather than loads of N. It does well with Potassium and no Phosphorus in poor acidic soil.

FYI - Tenacity is supposedly very good for weeds in centipede, including grassy weeds like yours. I'm going to try it this year probably.


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## mre_man_76 (Aug 4, 2018)

Considering starting a journal of my own but wanted to chime in on what @bmw said about the cutting height for centipede. I have a rotary tractor and could never cut below 2" due to my lawn being uneven and hilly. It always looked it's best cut low. Only cut low if you can keep up with watering or else you will stress the grass and as you know it's very slow to recover. In the hot months of July and August is when I raise the hoc to 3" to help with the water demands. I got a new to me tru cut c27 late in August and maintained a 2.25" hoc, the highest the tru cut can go. Once the temps dropped I dropped my hoc to 1.25". Man the difference is night and day. Couldn't really do much last year because got the mower so late in the season.

Fast forward to this spring and scalped down to .75" and raised the hoc to 1". After only 2 cuts it's starting to thicken up nicely.

My point is that with centipede or any grass for that matter, the biggest (and cheapest) thing you can do to improve your turf is increase your mowing frequency and maintain the recommended hoc for your grass type.

Just got my hands on some pgr and going to spot level a couple of areas. Can't wait for the grass to explode with growth so I can apply the pgr and see how the centipede reacts.


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## bmw (Aug 29, 2018)

@mre_man_76 yes please start a journal! Would love to see another centipede lawn and what you do to make it thrive!


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Take 2. Here we are a few years later. I have seriously been slacking in the lawn department.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

I sprayed the front with a mix of Atrazine and Weed Free Zone and it knocked a bunch of crap out. The first 3 pictures are in the backyard. You can see a natural drain servitude along the backside of the pool. Not really sure what I am going to do with that yet.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

For my own sake to look back, here are some shots a few days post cut. I am cutting with a rotary riding mower. My yard is far from level so I doubt it matters much right now.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Also a fresh rut. No idea who but I suspect a delivery vehicle.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

The backyard issues....


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## Jacob_S (May 22, 2018)

I see what you mean now with the drainage swale, that might be a tough area to keep green. Looks like your back yard probably gets decent amount of shade too from the trees on back fence.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah I have two big magnolias in each corner of the yard, and a water oak in between them. The way the sun rises and sets the whole yard should get sun but the magnolia canopies are too low. I need to trim them back. In the pic below the sun rises on the bottom right of the pic and sets on the top left of the pic.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Blue - Pool
Black - House
Trees along the back line


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Well we had roughly 20" of rain give or take a few inches over the last week so I had to delay my weed eradication plan. That allowed me to easily see where all of Dallisgrass was though. I think it's Dallisgrass. Also some of its friends. Headed to get some Celsius after work.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

A bit of progress in the back. I decided to go ahead and add catch basins and grade out the backyard. It took 2 dump trucks of soil. They finished today around Noon, and at around 4 we had a downpour of about an 1" of rain in about an hour. Fun.

They are going to come back in 1-2 weeks and lay Palisades Zosia.


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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)




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## Lsuwhodat (Apr 29, 2019)

Drainage work complete
Regrade complete
Zoysia laid
I have a few low spots I need to tend too but I am happy!


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## kalcormier (May 9, 2021)

Looking good!


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