# Mowing Low Common Bermuda



## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

If I am in the wrong section, forgive me. I have done fairly extensive research on mowing Common Bermuda low but I have mixed answers. I have seen on TLF here lawns of Common mowed fairly low at .5" and .75" but I have also been told the stems are at minimum 1" and mowing lower would scalp each time.

My question is when mowing Common Bermuda under 1" is it just laying the stolens and stems flat to not be scalped?

Second question is my backyard is very very thin due to the amount of weeds and crabgrass left by the previous homeowner. Go figure the front yard is immaculate. I scalped the crabgrass, put Pre E down, and I now have just thin Bermuda coming up. I know it is September and can't overseed now, but should I overseed with Princess 77/Ardin 15 in the spring? Will that be years of terrible mismatched grass and misery? Thanks.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I wouldn't overseed. The common will take care of itself regarding spreading. You can most certainly mow common low. When they recommend mowing low to stress common out of a hybrid lawn they are talking about scalping way below .5". Check out @Cory's lawn journal. He has common in his backyard and the journal goes back several years.

 Cory's Lawn


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## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

I am pretty sure @ZeonJNix has common Bermuda in his backyard and it looks amazing!


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## ZeonJNix (Dec 13, 2019)

I've kept my common low all summer with great results. I tried the super low at .375 and I wasn't happy with the way it looked. Keeping it between .500 and .550 was the money zone for me.


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

@ZeonJNix WOW, looks GREAT!

@Sonoran Desert Lawn ... yes common Bermuda can be mowed low. The grass adapts to the cut height and will sprout leaves at lower levels just above the cut height. That is why you scalp at least 1 notch lower than you want to maintain at. Golf courses all used to be common bermuda until the designer altered strands started being cultivated.

As far as adding seed to the backyard ... if you push the bermuda next year that it is there, it can fill in but may take a while.

Overseeding in the spring, will pop up and be there fairly quickly. The current grass will slowly fill in as well with it. If you choose to add seed, you'll just have different "named" common bermuda blended about in the yard. Imo no big deal, but to some it is.


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

Thanks all for the advice.



As you can see in the photo above, I have quite the bald spots. Mind the leaves. Its fall and windy here. That said. Do I continue to cut at .75"? It is green and healthy but with that inhibit spread?


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

ZeonJNix said:


> I've kept my common low all summer with great results. I tried the super low at .375 and I wasn't happy with the way it looked. Keeping it between .500 and .550 was the money zone for me.


Looking good. I am hoping to maintain a low cut on my front yard next season. Thanks 👍


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

@Sonoran Desert Lawn ... I see you are in So-Cal. 
●What are your current temps? 
•In your pics the ground looks to be wet.
●how often/how much do you water?
●based on your leaf comment, how much sun does that area of the yard typically get?


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

112 degrees this week. I am not too far from you in the Palm Desert/Palm Springs area.

I water once every 3 days which has increased roots length down to about 8 to 10 inches(dug an area for a sprinkler). I watered right before the photo

It only gets full sun from about 9 to 5. That may be partially why my front yard and side yard are thriving like no other. I considered zoysia because my Perennial Rye overseed only lasts until April before dying from 100+ heat.

Edit: Leaves are the neighbors overgrown trees to the North. Looking at my picture you can tell it definitely shades my yard.


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

Woo still very warm for your area. Sounds like your watering is good based on the roots. Your grass imo doesn't look too bad, just needs to fill in a bit.

I forgot to ask, what are you doing for fertilizer?

Bermuda loves nitrogen. Nitrogen is typically associated with "upwards" leaf/blade growth, however if you are mowing below an inch the bermuda will use the nitrogen to spread. Frequent mowing will cause the bermuda to look for other ways to grow, in essence spread.

Bermuda will actively grow with temps above 70° for lows. Once in the 60s at night it will slow down a lot. When overnights drop to around/below 60° it'll become more and more dormant. As "winter" sets in for us, the decreased daylight slow bermuda growth/spread too. Also need to watch the watering as the soil will tend to hold moisture longer and you don't want to suffocate the roots. Just add a day or two or 3 between waterings to allow it to still deep water but have time to somewhat dry out.

As long as it stays above 70° for a low, I'd keep fertilizing and mow every couple days to push the spread. See where you get before/if it goes dormant. You can add do seed if you want next spring as temps start to come back up.


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## sam36 (Apr 14, 2020)

From my experience, common has to be "trained". It only wants to grow vertically. If you keep cutting it alot, it will eventually start to grow horizontally. Contrast that with the expensive seeded hybrids like arden and monaco, they only want to grow horizontally from the get-go (or at least with my personal experience with monaco). Once you see a nice seeded variety, you really won't want common. Sahara II is about the cheapest non common bermuda there is right now and it is way better than common in texture, color, and growth patterns.

Overseeding sucks, and if you are putting pre-e down, nothing will germinate anyway. If you want to change to a different variety then start now. Bomb it now with roundup before the temps start getting too low and it goes dormant. You'll have a brown lawn all winter, but bermuda is brown in the winter anyway... Then if there is any green in spring, roundup again, and then seed. It will work out much better that way.


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

Here is a shot of a sprinkler tie in I added with some flex/funny pipe. I still find it amazing to have such small grass with such large roots.



I haven't added fert since July. I try to stick with some type of 3-2-1 or 4-2-1 ratio with granular. I will try to stay current with the pre e and push it with nitrogen next spring. Crabgrass badly thinned out the backyard. In some parts it looked more like a St. Augustine yard. I think I will try my best to stick to the grass I have mowing at .75". If I am unsuccessful next year I will more than likely add another variety. I heard Sahara II is particularly great for our 120 degree heat here.


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

@Sonoran Desert Lawn 
To push the bermuda to fill in quicker, you'll need to increase the fertilizer nitrogen level. 
Ammonium Sulfate or a Urea based fertilizers are fairly inexpensive to use. They can be found in most big box stores as a 21-0-0 to a 46-0-0. I prefer to take the application rates and break them down to a weekly application to keep the "food" supply steady. Make sure to put it down when the sprinklers are going to run. Keep green on the grass, mow often, feed it, and water. It'll spread and fill in. Green speed.


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

PhxHeat said:


> @Sonoran Desert Lawn
> To push the bermuda to fill in quicker, you'll need to increase the fertilizer nitrogen level.
> Ammonium Sulfate or a Urea based fertilizers are fairly inexpensive to use.


Do I verticut next season or will cutting the bermuda stolons hinder the lateral expansion and growth?

I have a 250lb lawn roller. Should I roll the grass flat before I mow at 0.5" to help the grass continue to grow laterally?

Thanks


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## PhxHeat (Oct 18, 2019)

From everything I've read, verticutting is great for expansion/spreading. It opens up the canopy for better air flow and slices stolons to promote additional growth points. I've seen some posts on doing it 2 to 3 times a growing season and others saying once a month is great. Either way it seems to help in making the grass nicer.

I don't think there'd be a need to roll the grass for lateral push. Maybe it'd help with some runners getting better soil contact, but it might just firm it up. My big box store common bermuda seems to spread quite well with slow release nitrogen (I use ammonium sulfate) and proper watering. I combo that with a balanced 15-15-15 fertilizer. That way there is food for the roots and plant cell structure as well.

PhxHeat


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## zcabe (May 1, 2019)

I never checked a bench setting for HOC but I use a TruCut C-27 and while trying to really push my common earlier this year (you can go back and check my journal it's well documented) I was using PGR and tracking Growing Degree Days on Greenkeeper App and maintaining my common on 2nd notch of my TruCut cutting every third day without scalping. In the areas I had full coverage my turf was very thick and growing vigorously and I do think that it was laying down the stolons flat and the mower was going right over top of it but so be it I was not scalping and the turf was responding well and continuing to spread to other areas of the yard. I will attach close up pictures showing how thick it was.



I have Overseeded with PRG and I live on a Golf Course in Buies Creek, NC and have access to the Supt and how they manage different areas and they had certain areas that they did not spray out the PRG last year and managed throughout the summer with the common Bermuda and it looked great. They just recently scalped, aerated, and overseeded these areas again and I can only assume plan to manage these areas the same way again this coming year so I am going to give it a try because I'm tired of spraying the PRG out and being left with huge bare areas and having to push the turf hard to try and fill in only to Overseed again in the fall to make it look good again. My yard is not 100% full sun throughout the day and I am irrigated so I feel with those factors helping I may be able to manage the PRG year round and having the common beneath it to help fill in and repair some bare areas if needed. They mix good enough that they look fine next to each other once the PRG gets hardened off and darkens up to the darker green color so I'm not so much worried about that.


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

Looks good &#128077; I think I will try to rolling before each mow in one area next season and see how it turns out. Bermuda is pretty tough.

In the other area I will just cut at .5 and add nitro. I will record what fills better.


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## Sonoran Desert Lawn (Aug 22, 2020)

Ok. New season and new questions

I found some hybrid bermuda sod in my front yard but it seems most of the yard is common.



Should I overseed Arden 15?

Here is an undate of the yard from my original posts in October. My bermuda is filling well with 4 to 5 pounds of N a month. I am constantly pushing it and mowing.


I have some large stolons above ground that are laying flat. What should I do considering I dont have a verticutter?


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