help my new grass

Newport – posted 05 December 2005 21:05

I have no idea what I’m doing, please help! I just moved into a home on Oahu, HI. where the previous owners didn’t care for the lawn at all. This area used to be a pineapple field and the soil is 4.8ph red clay. I dug a 5×10 area in the yard, added regular organic compound and planted princess hybrid bermuda from the local box store. For the first month things went well. There were some bare spots where the dog had dug a huge hole and I didn’t compact the soil enough but overall I was pleased with progress. I bought a reel mower and over the last couple weeks have been mowing 1/3 of the blades off. My problem is that generally there are large bladed grasses mixed in with fine bladed grasses which look and feel great except in one spot. The grass there is just rough and spreads out like an upside down umbrella from a central stem. Did the little grass just not grow there or did I do something wrong? I hate the look and feel of thick bladed grass. I still have 90% of the lawn to go so It’s not to late to start over if I need to.