Laying Bermuda sod in November

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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dcbryant82
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Joined: June 2nd, 2015, 5:43 pm
Location: Austin, TX
Grass Type: Bermuda
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Laying Bermuda sod in November

Post by dcbryant82 » November 23rd, 2017, 1:42 am

Hey guys. I just built a new house and the builder laid Bermuda sod. The last house I built the sod was laid in July so there was no issues with the Bermuda. I live in Austin TX so the winters aren't too bad. I am a bit worried about them laying sod right before the Bermuda is supposed to go dormant. So far the roots have begun to take and its starting to green up. Anything else I should do with new sod in November or just wait until early spring and start fert, milo, etc?

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Joined: December 17th, 2008, 1:53 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Grass Type: St Augustine
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Re: Laying Bermuda sod in November

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » November 28th, 2017, 1:08 pm

Try to stay off of it so you don't break the few connected roots you have.

kg70041
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Joined: May 2nd, 2017, 12:18 pm
Location: Fort Mill, SC
Grass Type: Bermuda Tif 419
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Re: Laying Bermuda sod in November

Post by kg70041 » December 1st, 2017, 4:52 pm

Our builder laid our dormant Tif 419 in December. As Dchall mentioned, we did our best to stay off of it.

If we had an exceptionally dry/windy spell, I would irrigate .25-.5 inch. Just enough to get the roots wet and keep everything from desiccating. Once temps started to warm up in the early spring I got the process started with fert and pre-m. I don't think dropping any fert is necessary until you've done a soil test and know what your deficiencies are.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Re: Laying Bermuda sod in November

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » January 25th, 2018, 11:04 am

I'm curious as to how your grass looks after all these freezes. We always get a "frost" or two, but we rarely get 10 days in a row with highs in the 20s. This is more like Dallas weather, and the last time Dallas had a winter like this, a lot of lawns died.

As for your first fertilizer, WAIT until after you have mowed the bermuda (not weeds) two times. Fertilizer does nothing unless the roots are working. Waiting until you mow for the second time ensures the roots are awake. Fertilizing dormant roots is a waste of fertilizer.

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Dchall_San_Antonio
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Location: San Antonio, Texas
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Re: Laying Bermuda sod in November

Post by Dchall_San_Antonio » January 25th, 2018, 11:21 am

As for a preemergent herbicide, if you have forsythia plants in the area, apply when those are in bloom. If you don't have forsythia, then apply 'during' the first decent rainstorm. That rain event will be what awakens the summer weed seeds. Apply the preem either during the rain or immediately afterward.

Weeds that you may or may not see right now in the soil or under the grass are what I call wildflowers. These plants sprouted the last week in September when we got 4 inches of rain over 5 days. Here is a picture from our local park dated Oct 5.

Image

The microdots of green are the wildflowers in their sprouted and dormant state. Today those are about 1/4-inch across. There are literally millions of them. I can't wait to see what they are. I don't think they are bluebonnets, but that would be nice. With this in mind, next fall you can apply preem again when the late summer rainstorm hits. These are usually many-day events, so they're hard to miss.

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