Bermuda Grass – roots turning brown

CEB – posted 17 June 2003 20:11

My grass has been in good shape so far this year, but recently I have noticed the blades turning brown closer to the soil. This is especially apparent when you push the grass to the side…it is brown underneath the green canopy. What could be the cause?

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 01 July 2003 13:05

If this is still going on, I would ask how tall you are mowing the grass? And does it look okay if you stand back and look at it?

Bermuda looks best when mowed at 1 inch high or LOWER. Every day I pass a bermuda lawn that looks like what you describe. I think the guy mows it way too high. His is at 2 inches. When he mows it, it looks scalped because he mows off all the green stuff and the only color left is the brown stems. It’s also real prickly right after mowing, not soft like it should be.

CEB – posted 01 July 2003 19:51

It’s still going on, but not as bad as it was. I may be mowing the grass too high as well…that was my first thought. However, since my lawn is not completely level it looks bad (scalped) if I try to mow it at 1 inch. I was mulching the yard most of the time, but have now started bagging about 50-75% of the time and it looks a little better.

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 02 July 2003 08:32

Bermuda really does need to have perfectly smooth contours under the turf. Have you thought about doing some back filling in around the areas that get scalped by the mower? It doesn’t need to be perfectly level to prevent scalping. It just needs to have smooth transitions from one height to the next. That could take a lot of sand, but sand is cheap.

CEB – posted 02 July 2003 11:05

Yeah, I need to do some backfilling, but my back yard will be alot of work…keep putting it off. My front yard is not as bad and I plan on doing the backfilling up there soon. I appreciate your input!