# Can I scalp my Bermuda now?



## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Hi All,
Being near Alpharetta area with a bunch of rain coming in this week, do you think it's a good time to scalp out the Bermuda to allow for more lateral growth? The lawn isnt too bad, its just got some gaps here and there and not really dense. I read about how mowing low will promote it to grow more dense so just confirming before I make a decision.

Anything else I can do to promote a dense lawn?


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## monsonman (Dec 9, 2020)

I scalped mine yesterday. Should be back to normal in a couple weeks or less for me. I imagine you still have plenty of time as well.

What is your fertilizer routine like?


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## BigBoxLawn (Jul 8, 2020)

I think you would have more lateral growth keeping it where it is right now for the remainder of the season.

If you scalp it down and shock it, it's not going to put much energy into spreading. Id imagine it will just try to recover. If it was early in the season i'd fully agree on going low. I could very well be wrong.


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## Phids (Sep 24, 2020)

thelawnnoob said:


> Hi All,
> Being near Alpharetta area with a bunch of rain coming in this week, do you think it's a good time to scalp out the Bermuda to allow for more lateral growth? The lawn isnt too bad, its just got some gaps here and there and not really dense. I read about how mowing low will promote it to grow more dense so just confirming before I make a decision.
> 
> Anything else I can do to promote a dense lawn?


Why don't you just plug or sprig the gap areas instead of scalping the entire lawn if it doesn't need it? No need to use a hatchet when a scalpel will do.

Although if you're determined to scalp this season one last time, now is probably the best time to do it with the warm temperatures and expected rain.


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

I scalped my 419 from .5" down to .2" Saturday a week ago and it has fully recovered already. I will maintain at 3/8" for the remainder of the season. It's not too late at all for Alpharetta.


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

monsonman said:


> What is your fertilizer routine like?


I was very late in realizing grass actually needs fertilizer to help it grow well. Sodded in Nov last year and fertilized the first time in March. Then I came to this forum when lawn was holding on with hope that I would do something good and got some good advice on fertilizing.
I use the Scotts Turf Builder Starter (food for new lawns - 70% thicker 35% quicker). Applied once in July (that's about when I came to this forum) and again about 2 weeks ago. Grass started growing pretty quick - except some spots still refuse to grow and some spots the grass is a more florescent green. Assuming its some fungus, I'm looking to hit it with Scotts DiseaseEx today.


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Phids said:


> Why don't you just plug or sprig the gap areas instead of scalping the entire lawn if it doesn't need it?


Unsure what plugging/sprigging are or how much work they are, could you please enlighten me?


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Redtwin said:


> I scalped my 419 from .5" down to .2" Saturday a week ago and it has fully recovered already. I will maintain at 3/8" for the remainder of the season. It's not too late at all for Alpharetta.


What's the most important part for a good and fast recovery? I'm thinking lay down some fertilizer and water (the scheduled rain helps) anything else?
I'm really new to lawn care so I've only heard about stuff like growth regulators but I do not want to dive into the deep end


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## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

I am near Alpharetta as well and just scalped last weekend. I already see the green haze coming back out! I would suggest regular feeding of N and frequent cutting is key. I have found that areas with a lot of water and stays wet plus areas with a lot of shade, bermuda doesn't do well at all. Also frequent scalping of the same spot can cause bare spots. If it was green, then it would be fungus or insects.


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Jagermeister said:


> I have found that areas with a lot of water and stays wet plus areas with a lot of shade, bermuda doesn't do well at all.


Yeah I've noticed theres always water coming out of my AC condensate pipes and they keep the patch of grass the width of the AC compressors wet all the time. Grass is growing fine there but I noticed a bit of blacking underneath. Any idea what I can do there?


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## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

thelawnnoob said:


> Jagermeister said:
> 
> 
> > I have found that areas with a lot of water and stays wet plus areas with a lot of shade, bermuda doesn't do well at all.
> ...


Likely algae so probably will have to let it dry and scrape it up (or use chlorothalonil). You may want to try and repipe the drain line.


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## ZachUA (Dec 28, 2018)

I scalped mine about 3 weeks ago and it almost fully recovered in 2 weeks.


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Jagermeister said:


> Likely algae so probably will have to let it dry and scrape it up (or use chlorothalonil). You may want to try and repipe the drain line.


Oh ok, thanks!


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

ZachUA said:


> I scalped mine about 3 weeks ago and it almost fully recovered in 2 weeks.


Oh wow, well I guess I'm gonna do mine tomorrow


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## Phids (Sep 24, 2020)

thelawnnoob said:


> Unsure what plugging/sprigging are or how much work they are, could you please enlighten me?


You said your lawn overall wasn't bad and that you just wanted to fill in some gaps here and there. With plugging, you're just taking a small section of healthy lawn from one part of your yard and inserting it directly into the area that needs help. The Pro Plugger tool can be used to do this, or you can just do it by hand. The benefit is that you can aggressively target your weak lawn areas with healthy, growing grass.

Sprigging is just picking long strands of Bermuda (stolons) from the root and planting them in weak areas. These then spread through more stolons and rhizomes through the weak area. The benefit to this method is that it's free and easy to do.

I'm sure there are plenty of additional posts on this forum about both.


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## Skibrett3211 (Aug 14, 2021)

Related to the Op's question. My allett Kensington is coming in tomorrow. But is supposed to rain. &#128532;. I'm starting with my back yard. Which is currently at 2.5" HOC. Was thinking a scarifier to thin out and detach and then scalp down. How low should I go and where should I try to maintain the rest of the season? 90's all next week and have irrigation so I'm thinking it should recover. Thoughts?


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## MrTophatJones (Apr 1, 2019)

@Skibrett3211 I think it will recover. It's going to be a LOT of clippings though. I'd probably go as low as you can with your rotary and bag everything. Then go 1/4" of an inch at a time with the Allett with the basket on. I'm not familiar with how Alletts adjust their HOC but I'd just take it as low as you comfortably can and then bump it up probably about 1/4".


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## Skibrett3211 (Aug 14, 2021)

If it's dry enough tomorrow after some rain we had today, I'll be doing a full scalp and doing my first reel cut ever! Testing on my backyard before I move to the front. Wish me luck!!


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Skibrett3211 said:


> If it's dry enough tomorrow after some rain we had today, I'll be doing a full scalp and doing my first reel cut ever! Testing on my backyard before I move to the front. Wish me luck!!


wow, nice mower man! i was considering buying a powered reel mower till i saw how expensive they are . So i bought an earthwise push reel mower which works pretty good


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## thelawnnoob (Jul 19, 2021)

Phids said:


> thelawnnoob said:
> 
> 
> > Unsure what plugging/sprigging are or how much work they are, could you please enlighten me?
> ...


oh I have a ton of those long strands which are especially visible near the border of the foot-path, will it work if i carefully pull it out with the root and poke it into the gap-y areas?


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## Phids (Sep 24, 2020)

thelawnnoob said:


> oh I have a ton of those long strands which are especially visible near the border of the foot-path, will it work if i carefully pull it out with the root and poke it into the gap-y areas?


Yes, that's pretty much all there is to it. They then start to spread on their own. I'm not sure if it will get as dense as quickly as you want it, but it should eventually fill in, and it's easy to do.

The absolute quickest way to fill in larger gaps would be to transplant large sections of turf from one part of your lawn to another. Of course, this takes more effort and leaves you with another problem (missing turf from another part of your lawn). However, if there's a part of your lawn that is little used or out-of-sight, this might be an option.


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