Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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calijones11
Posts: 4
Joined: May 30th, 2017, 9:04 pm
Location: SC Midlands
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by calijones11 » May 30th, 2017, 10:18 pm

Hey all,

This is my second season with this lawn. After lurking last year following discovery of the Bermuda Bible, I'm ready for guidance.

It's Bermuda, not sure what specific kind, but we're in Midlands SC. The sod was placed by our builder. I'm seeing issues with water absorbsion, despite watering for 1.5 hrs once a week. The grass has never really greened up on the edges, despite facing north, and getting really good sunlight all day. The middle isn't scalped. It seems to not be growing. The mower doesn't even graze that section.

So far this year, I scalped as low as I could (Kobalt 80v mower (I know)), have done one application of Scott's starter fertilizer, one application of Ironite (solid/ pellets) and one application of Bayer Advanced herbicide for Southern lawns (hose end sprayer).

After doing a screwdriver test (laughable), I also put down some baby shampoo with a miracle gro sprayer this weekend. Any advice is welcome and needed. In a perfect world, I'd like to get the grass super dense and super low a few summers from now.

My main questions are:

How do I get the grass to grow evenly in front yard?

Good fertilizer? Is rotating Ironite and the starter fert going to get the job done?

Should I dethatch the backyard? It's barely growing at all back there.

Is it realistic to think I could get my backyard barefoot ready for my boys before summer's out?

I seem to be the only one with fire ants all over the place on my side of the street. Is this a soil issue?

Thanks all - J

*I also attached a picture of the backyard, which is an entirely different beast. It's had the same treatments, other than the baby shampoo. Depression in the middle of backyard for large city drain/ easement that's hidden by rocks outside of photo.


Image

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calijones11
Posts: 4
Joined: May 30th, 2017, 9:04 pm
Location: SC Midlands
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by calijones11 » June 1st, 2017, 7:06 pm

Bumping

double_e5
Posts: 48
Joined: April 30th, 2017, 11:22 am
Location: Overland Park, KS
Grass Type: Northern Mix
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Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by double_e5 » June 1st, 2017, 7:40 pm

You might have better luck posting this in the warm-season grasses forum.

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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: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by andy10917 » June 1st, 2017, 7:48 pm

I can move it there for you if you'd like. If you can handle the Bermuda Bible instructions, 2E5 is probably right - you're beyond the 101 Forum.

calijones11
Posts: 4
Joined: May 30th, 2017, 9:04 pm
Location: SC Midlands
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by calijones11 » June 2nd, 2017, 10:55 pm

Thanks y'all. I'd appreciate the move, Andy.


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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: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by andy10917 » June 2nd, 2017, 11:17 pm

Move, as requested

Kevin Mac
Posts: 5
Joined: June 7th, 2017, 6:39 pm
Location: Central NC
Grass Type: Centipede
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Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by Kevin Mac » June 8th, 2017, 11:53 am

I can't speak with any real expertise on your lawn issues, but if you're having a problem with fire ants, I know just the thing. Look for Bifen L/P Granules @ https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/

I've used it in my yard twice because my son has a bad reaction to the bites, and it works like a champ for a good 2 or 3 months at a time. Also keeps those monster ant mounds from killing parts of your lawn. And it's not just good for ants, it kills lots of bugs that are bad for your lawn as well.

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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: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » June 13th, 2017, 1:59 pm

As you likely know bermuda will not grow with fewer than 6 hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight. Thus you should not expect it to thrive in the north shade of buildings, fences, trees, and shrubs.

I suspect you are watering too frequently and likely too shallow. I say that because I have a slightly more water hungry lawn in the Texas Hill Country and I have only watered 2 times this year. With the 1.5 inches of rain we got over the first two weeks of the month I don't expect to water again until July. Here's more on watering.

Watering: Deep and infrequent is the mantra for watering. This is for all turf grass all over the place. Deep means 1 inch all at one time. Put some cat food or tuna cans around the yard, and time how long it takes your sprinkler(s) to fill all the cans. Memorize that time. That will be the time you water from now on. My hose, sprinkler and water pressure takes 8 full hours to fill the cans. Your time will likely be less. I like gentle watering. As for watering frequency, that depends on the daytime air temperature. With temps in the 90s, deep water once per week. With temps in the 80s, deep water once every 2 weeks. With temps in the 70s, deep water once every 3 weeks. With temps below 70, deep water once a month. Note that you have to keep up with quickly changing temps in the spring and fall. This deep and infrequent schedule works in Phoenix and in Vermont, so it should work for you. The reason for deep and infrequent is to grow deeper, more drought resistant roots and to allow the soil to dry completely at the surface for several days before watering again. If it rains, reset your calendar to account for the rainfall.

Just in case there might be issues with your soil biology, you could apply an organic fertilizer like alfalfa pellets (rabbit chow), corn meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, or whatever you can find in 50-pound bags at the local feed store. The normal application rate is 15-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. If you have never used it before, then apply at 10 pounds per 1,000. That will get your microbes off to a slow start without overwhelming them. Then in 3 weeks you can apply at the higher rate. You should start to see the greening effect in 3 weeks.

Before you start spreading insecticides be aware that a vast majority of the insects in your lawn are beneficial. It is far better to use a targeted approach to ant mounds.

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Begotten
Posts: 881
Joined: May 15th, 2013, 3:04 pm
Location: Savannah, GA
Grass Type: Celebration Bermuda, St. Augustine
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Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by Begotten » June 14th, 2017, 11:17 am

Before you do anything else I would have soil samples tested, because I would put money on the possibility that the pH is really low and acidic, among other likely problems. I had trouble growing Bermuda on my property too until soil testing revealed the problems and I started putting down lime on a regular basis. There's also a good chance of there being construction debris in the ground. More often than not the builder just scrapes the lot and plops the sod down as quickly as possible.


All in all you probably just have really compacted soil that's void of nutrients and organic material at this point.

calijones11
Posts: 4
Joined: May 30th, 2017, 9:04 pm
Location: SC Midlands
Grass Type: Bermuda
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by calijones11 » June 18th, 2017, 9:22 am

Dchall - the boys are going to be eating tuna salad sandwiches for lunch so I can actually test my sprinklers. The first year we moved in, I let the husband (from the concrete jungle of Baltimore) fool around with it, and it was set at 30 minutes per lawn zone, 3x per week. Today, I'm renting a dethatcher - lesson learned. We have a local feed store, so I'll check on the alfalfa, thank you!

Begotten - What you said is interesting bc I out down some peat in a test area, and the lawn looked amazing. Which worried me, bc peat is alkaline, yes? In any case, I got a TruGreen analysis, and he suggested lime, so I'm putting down the Pennington fast acting lime today. But - taking some samples before I put it down to send to Logan Labs. Thanks guys.

bpgreen
Posts: 3871
Joined: January 3rd, 2009, 2:28 am
Location: Utah (Wasatch Front)
Grass Type: Western, Streambank, Crested wheatgrass in front (with blue grama added in the heckstrips), sheep fescue in back; strawberry clovetr in both
Lawn Size: 3000-5000
Level: Experienced

Re: Newbie Qs/ Yard in Peril

Post by bpgreen » June 18th, 2017, 7:33 pm

Peat is acidic, but I doubt if it would affect the ph of the soil much, if at all.

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