# Acmccart8's Bluemuda Lawn Journal



## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Starting a lawn journal to document the process of switching from Bermuda to Bluemuda. Regularly overseeding with rye was getting tedious and stressing out the lawn, so I am trying out the Bluemuda switch for at least a few seasons. I know it won't look great for most of the first year, I am hoping to have it looking great year round by spring of 2023.

My current daily driver is a McLane 25 inch 11 blade that I bought used and the reel needs to be replaced badly. Even after it was sharpened twice and I adjust the reel to bed knife regularly, it still doesn't cut well and mostly left the grass blades frayed. This led to dollar spot issues this year, so I took the plunge with a recent promotion/raise at work and bought a 22 inch Swardman with the 6 blade reel. I also bought the scarifier cartridge so that I am able to dethatch manually using the machine.

For other equipment, I also have a Toro Recylcer 22 inch, that I was using in the backyard some this year, but when it was scalping/half-mooning at 1.25 inches, I gave up on that and did a height of cut reset and started using the McLane at 0.75 inches all over the yard and it looks much better, minus the frayed tips. I have a Stihl Kombi system, which I LOVE and recommend everyone get who wants to invest in a solid system. I have had it since 2017 and have not had one single issue with the motor or any attachments since the purchase. I plan on buying the rotary scissors attachment soon, to go along with the string trimmer, edger and hedge trimmer attachments I already have. I also have a Stihl blower that again is bulletproof and have never had an issue.

I am currently using handheld pump sprayers and a backpack sprayer, but I hate spraying liquids in the yard since it takes so long and I never feel like it is consistent. I am debating purchasing a "boom extension kit" that goes on a Chapin sprayer, but haven't done enough research on that yet.

About my yard, I live 20ish minutes south of Raleigh, North Carolina. My yard is 0.33 acres, but the house has a fairly large footprint for a 2-story home, so I only have about 8,000 square feet of grass. I have Tifway-419, that was planted via sod in August 2017, and I have overseeded with rye every October since we moved in that year. I know you are technically not supposed to overseed your first year after planting sod, I just didn't know that back then. The front has been sand leveled only once and the back has never been leveled. The back is very undulated and there is a swale that goes diagonally from across the entire thing, so it is never my goal to get it perfect back there. The front is very flat, but I do plan on leveling every other year.

Now about the Bluemuda process, I purchased 25 pounds of Barenbrug HGT with yellow jacket. Once the Swardman comes in, I will scalp to about 0.5 inches, scarify and then mechanically aerate before throwing down the ***. I also have Lesco starter fert, I plan on putting down 0.5 pounds of N per 1,000 sq ft every 2-3 weeks after throwing down the seed, until the 50 pound bag is gone (should be only 2 apps). I have never used T-Nex, but read/watched that you should use a growth regulator to keep the Bermuda from blocking out the *** seedlings. I am hesitant since I have never used it and want to do more research on how to apply and when, so I decided I will just use my manual reel mower to keep the Bermuda under control while the KBG is coming through.

Let me know your thoughts or if I have anything completely wrong above. I will be posting pictures as I take them throughout the process and will be using this journal to document the results and how to tackle the difficulty that is Bluemuda!


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Scalped using Swardman at roughly 0.6" front (9/15) and back (9/14).







Hoping to do a quick top off mow tomorrow (9/17) and use the scarifier as well. Then hoping to rent an aerator for Saturday (9/18) before throwing down Barenbrug HGT on Sunday (9/19) due to rain chances. Also plan on picking up cores from aerator with swardman scarifier.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Dethatched today (9/17) as planned and cleaned up using neighbors riding mower. Pictures are of after using Swardman scarifier and after cleanup.

Watering tonight to prepare for aerator in the morning.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

It looks like the dog treated himself to some Taco Bell last night…


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Cleaned up using the Swardman scarifier set to 0.5". Seed bed is ready. Ran out of time today, hoping to throw down 25 pounds of Barenbrug HGT tomorrow. 20% chance of rain everyday until Wednesday, when the chance is around 50%. Hoping for no downpours and that the seed has time to settle.

Will set up sprinklers on a timer to run 3 times a day, running for about 1/3 the normal time per zone (should be around 1/6" each time). Also putting down 25 pounds of Lesco starter fertilizer at same time as seed, an 18-24-12 analysis.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Finally seeding day. Threw down 25 pounds of seed (3.125 per 1000 sq ft) and threw down the same rate of starter fertilizer today (9/19). Watering 3 times a day, roughly 0.15" cycles.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

3 days after seeding (9/22). Got heavy rain yesterday so hoping the seed didn't shift too much. Expecting more rain today then a long dry period. Probably backing irrigation down to twice a day after the rain is gone, since the temps will be much lower now. The Bermuda is actually greening up quicker than I expected, so I will likely have to take the manual reel out a few times this season to keep the Bermuda at bay.


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## TigerKnight (Apr 13, 2019)

Looks like fun! It looks like you put great effort into the prep! Wishing you success.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Two days of straight rain (1 inch roughly each day) followed by a good day of full sunshine. 5 days now after seeding (9/24) and I believe I have a few seeds germinating on the side of the house. It's probably just nutsedge…


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Still watering 3 times a day, switching to 2 times a day tomorrow. Pure sunshine the last 2 days. Still no real germination (what I saw before was perennial rye from the past) but greening up quicker than expected.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

9 days after seeding (9/28), still straight sunshine and watering bumped down to twice a day at same time lengths. Some spots seem to have some baby bluegrass popping out but too early to tell if it is really bluegrass or just leftover rye or maybe Bermuda throwing up new leaf blades. The Bermuda is greening up extremely well in most spots.

I also just ordered some Eley quick connects to make watering easier and a flowzone sprayer to prepare for next season.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

11 days after seeding (9/30) and I can see a good amount of germination when I pull back the Bermuda. Trying to be patient and not mow until I feel the Bermuda is blocking light from the bluegrass. I also got my Flowzone in and after testing/calibrating it, I decided to take it for a spin by putting down RGS (5 ounces per 1000) and 0-0-2 micros (7 ounces per 1000).

Also did the yard mastery soil test this week, should get results back in a few days.


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## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

Love the updates. How does the north side of your house do with the KBG? If the side of your house faces north like mine, bermuda is thin during summer. Wondering if KBG fills it in throughout year.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

CLT49er said:


> Love the updates. How does the north side of your house do with the KBG? If the side of your house faces north like mine, bermuda is thin during summer. Wondering if KBG fills it in throughout year.


My house faces almost directly south and we have a patio and landscape beds we planted right off the back of house in the areas that the bermuda struggled in the past to combat the issue. Planting some shade loving plants (like hydrangeas and rhododendrons) in a mulch bed and adding the hardscape essentially eliminated 95% of the weak areas. The rest of the shade area (roughly 20 sq ft) does look quite thing since the PRG took so long to die off each year, so I am curious how the KBG will look all season. But it is such a small area I can live with it. I will try to take pictures of that area in the winter and then again in the summer to show how they do.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

14 days after seeding (10/3), about 75% of the Bermuda was green again before I manual reel mowed it today. Tons of germination all over but still a lot of areas without much bluegrass showing. Put down the remaining 20 pounds I had of lesco starter fert and will do the last twice daily watering this afternoon. Changing to daily, longer watering tomorrow morning. We are expecting rain back in the forecast this week so may be able to pack up the sprinklers!!


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Two days of overcast and rain, kbg standing taller than Bermuda finally… 17 days after seed went down (10/6).


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Swardman laying down some decent stripes, 23 days (10/12) after seeding.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Bluegrass is growing so quickly I'm having to mow every 2-3 days. Can't wait to get PGR down in the spring. Everything looking good so far but curious how it's going to look compared to rye once Bermuda checks out for the season.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

10/18 - sprayed 6.4 ounces per 1000 of RGS and humid 12 today. Also sprayed a few ounces of microgreene to front yard to get rid of product for the season.

Also lowered hoc to 0.7" today. Planning to slowly get around 0.6" before winter so I can keep the bluegrass at 0.75 to 1" for the winter and the Bermuda still being shorter. Hoping that will help the spring scalp go smoother.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Still holding good color. Never bounced back from seed prep 100% but I am very happy with the 90-95% recovery. It still looks better than every other neighbor, since everyone is just scalping theirs hard every time they mow. Also bumped HOC up to 0.75" since Bermuda is not growing and want KBG at roughly 1" for winter.


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## acmccart8 (Jun 30, 2020)

Wanting to get rid of some product before winter, I put down RGS (roughly 4 ounces per 1000), HUMIC 12 (roughly 4 ounces per 1000) and some 4-0-2 FloraGreene (roughly 2 ounces per 1000). We have 3 days in a row with highs in the upper 70s so trying to spark a little more root/top growth with the KBG before my last mow, so it stands taller and fills in better around the dormant Bermuda.


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## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

Hey @acmccart8 Do you have any winter pics you can post? Curious how the kbg filled in. I have some areas I might attempt this. Thx!


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## Drthomp02 (May 17, 2020)

Awesome Journal! Any updates?


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