Todd In Texas – posted 07 November 2003 13:29
Forgive me if these questions are over-asked but I am new to this forum.
I live in the Dallas Texas area and have a healthy bermuda grass lawn. (Greenest on the whole street!)
1) Should I add a “Winterizer” fertilizer to the lawn soon?
2) Is there anything else I need to do to the lawn before winter comes?
3) Should I scalp it in the spring and if so when and how short?
Thank you so much for all your help.
ted – posted 08 November 2003 12:12
sounds like you have a nice lawn. you should soil test it to see what nutrients you may be missing, but generally a higher last number on the bag of fertilizer is what you’re looking for. 6-24-24, etc.- definitely no nitrogen this time of year ( the first number). you might want to consider over seeding with rye- great look for the winter. as for the “scalping” really don’t recommend that- you need to be mowing the bermuda very low anyway.
Brad – posted 13 November 2003 06:30
Prior to moving to Florida two years ago I had a bermuda lawn in Atlanta. I cut it with a reel mower so it was always pretty short in the .75 to 1 inch range. Every spring, usually around mid-March to early-April depending on when I saw the first signs of new green growth on the runners, I would scalp the bermuda at the lowest level the mower would adjust to. This got rid of all the dead grass on top, and allowed light to get down to where the new shoots were starting up. I did it for 10 years and never had a problem. If you do this, just be sure you get as much of the cut dead grass off the lawn or you’ll smother the new spring growth, thereby preventhing the thing you want to accomplish whcih is to allow light down to the ground level. It’s a dirty and very dusty job but go for it, it works great.
ted – posted 13 November 2003 10:01
yeah, but i’m assuming you had a tif -type bermuda? most homeowners in texas have either common bermuda or st. augustine and the “typical” homeowner can do a lot of damage scalping their lawn-very injurious to the grass. the quality your lawn in atlanta was definitely a rarity in the turf world for most homeowners. it sounds like you knew what you were doing with the reel mower, etc.