Grass Rookie

prabhaharan – posted 11 December 2004 06:41

I am needing some advice and information about my grass in the backyard. I live in the east valley of Phoenix, Arizona. I am a new home owner who has never taken care of grass in my life. We are now experiencing temperatures in the night that can get as low as mid 30s with highs in the 70s during the day. I do not know what kind of grass is planted in the backyard. It appears to have been sod grass that is thick and can grow tall. The grass is now (Dec 11) is just about all yellow. I am wondering if this is what is called winter dormancy for grass or is my grass dying? I water daily, however noticed that my sprinkler system does not go high enough out of the ground to water all the grass in its area so I have been also augmenting by periodically hand watering. I have cut around the sprinkler areas to take out the sprinkler’s obstacles so the watering is better. I also fertilized a few weeks back, which made the grass look more green, yet not this week. I followed the fertilizer package and used the spreader that went with the fertilizer manufacturer, so I think that I did not over-fertilize. We bought the house in late May 2004 and this is now December 11, 2004. I have been told to overseed with rye grass and steer manure, however have also been told I am too late in the season to do this. What should I do and where can I get more help? Should I call a landscaping company to come help or can I do this myself? I do want to save my grass as my dog needs an area to run and play. Thank-you.

ted – posted 11 December 2004 11:38

as a 20 year vet of the industry i think the best advice is to call a licensed chemical lawn care operator. too many multiple issues to address online, but you’re going to have to start with identifying your grass. it’s bermuda i assume?

MaryMcP – posted 30 January 2005 07:33

Lots of grasses go dormant in the winter here in Phoenix. Some folks will ‘over seed’ with a winter grass. Friends of mine have St. Augustine in their yards and it seems to be green pretty much all year long. That’s about all I know. Sorry it’s not more.

Mary

mikemaas00 – posted 01 February 2005 08:36

Probably is too late to overseed with rye. Once temperatures stay out of the 30s and the daylength gets longer, you should see some green-up. Wouldn’t hurt to throw down a pre-emergent + fertilizer. Probably want to put a mainly potash fert down now, then a mainly nitrogen fert when it starts to green up. Bermuda likes to eat, so get ready to apply fert fairly often…maybe once a month with a slow release from April thru Sept.