Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Discuss how to and whether you should renovate your lawn
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cello2421
Posts: 4
Joined: June 20th, 2019, 11:14 am
Location: San Antonio, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by cello2421 » February 17th, 2020, 1:33 pm

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie to lawncare and I've been following this forum for the past year.

Here's my situation, I have a newly constructed home in San Antonio, TX that was sodded with Tiff-419 last year. The prep to the yard was poor prior to sodding and now I have a yard full of dips and uneven patches. Also several areas have died and I now have patches of dead grass through-out my yard. My intention was to level the yard this spring with sand to achieve a level yard that my kids can run on without tripping. Should I overseed the yard first or attempt the leveling? Or can I do both at the same time. Please help, all comments are appreciated.

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by andy10917 » February 17th, 2020, 1:58 pm

A couple of questions:

1) Why did the dead ares die?
2) What do you plan to overseed with (be specific)

cello2421
Posts: 4
Joined: June 20th, 2019, 11:14 am
Location: San Antonio, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by cello2421 » February 17th, 2020, 3:04 pm

I'm not sure, I think irrigation or the soil could be the issue. I need to get the soil tested to see what I'm dealing with.

As for the overseeding I was thinking Blackjack (which I can get locally), or ordering La Prima Bermuda. What do you think?

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andy10917
Posts: 29739
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 10:48 pm
Location: NY (Lower Hudson Valley)
Grass Type: Emblem KBG (Front); Blueberry KBG Monostand (Back)
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Advanced

Re: Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by andy10917 » February 17th, 2020, 5:16 pm

Look, I'm no Bermuda expert, but after reading EVERY posting on this site (as the senior moderator) for 11 years, I've picked up something here and there. I hope one of the Bermuda guys will grab this and run with it for you.

There are a couple of ways you could go. The first is to get (from Tiff-419 sod) or take from the healthy sections of your yard sprigs and plant them in the dead areas. Bermuda is pretty aggressive and will fill in. That way the whole lawn is Tiff-419 after a while. Use a metal tine garden rake to harvest the sprigs if you do your own lawn as a source.

The second way is to get seed from a variety that is close in color, and grow it. I've never seen anyone suggest Blackjack into Tiff-419, but I've read about La Prima and the La Prima-XD blend being used. The idea is to NOT just seed the dead areas, but to feather out the seeding into the healthy areas - this fools your vision by making the transition more spread out instead of abrupt.

I'm staying out of the leveling stuff, it's not something I've ever done...

cello2421
Posts: 4
Joined: June 20th, 2019, 11:14 am
Location: San Antonio, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: 10000-20000
Level: Novice

Re: Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by cello2421 » February 18th, 2020, 6:13 pm

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll avoid overseeding and try the sprigs method. I may have to wait later in the season to tackle the leveling.


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Dchall_San_Antonio
Posts: 3341
Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Advanced

Re: Bermuda lawn leveling and overseeing. Please Help!!!

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » May 15th, 2020, 6:15 pm

Yes, avoid seeding into a hybrid bermuda. They are different types of grass with the same lineage. Here is a picture of a sprig of seeded bermuda invading a Tif 419 lawn.
Image
You can see the common (seeded) bermuda sitting up higher than the Tif 419. It has coarser blades and a coarser texture (distance between blades). It looks like a weed.

I would look into getting the Proplugger tool and use your own lawn as a sod farm. Here is a link to show how it works. (I tried to embed the video in the forum, but apparently the forum is smarter than I am). Home Depot sells them as does Amazon.

Andy asked a good question up front. Why is the grass thin or dead? If you have too much shade, then no amount of plugging or seeding will thicken it up. The only choice is a different ground cover. Mulch comes to mind.

As for leveling, wait until the hottest heat of summer to do that. I know, yay :shock: :shock: But the grass will respond better. You will not need more seed or, really, anything.

What part of San Antonio are you in? There are a few parts of town where the soil is shifty. Terrell Hills is one. Another is both sides of McCullough road north of Basse and north of the golf course.

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