Need Help

Rich7735 – posted 02 October 2003 08:01

Hello Everyone, I live in Miami, FL and seeded my 3000sq ft back yard with Savannah Bermuda Grass back in July. Grass is growing and I have watered the grass once a week. I also cut the grass twice a week at .5″ with a reel mower. I applied 50# of alphfa meal for fertilizer early last month. The problem i’m having now is the grass is browning and im having alot of big open patches that the grass never filled in. Also soil is very soft maybe due to heavy raining and grass is very easy to pull out. I have spoke to a few lawn care guys and they told me I need more phosphorus for better root development and to use Scotts Fertilizer Starter. I follow the direction and 4 days later my grass looks like its dying or burned. I need help fixing this problem. I spend so much time and money and do not want to lose my grass. I have gotten to the point I probably end up sodding my yard my St. Augistine if it doesnt work out.

mowingintexas – posted 03 October 2003 18:08

My two cents… Typically on a new lawn you do want to keep the ground moist but you are getting to the point where you may have too much water. Bermuda needs about 1″ water a week so try and confirm how much water he’s getting. Also typical bermuda thrives from 1-2″ in height .5″ may be too low. Try upping your mower settings for a while. (I have had good success here at 2″.) Also get a soil test done by your local lawncare store and get the soil levels right. This to me is extreme but we are trying to rulle out all possibilities so you make the call. Either way you need to get on a regular fertilizer schedule which you can find usually on the rack of a local Home Depot/Loews. Hope that gives you some ideas…

ted – posted 04 October 2003 15:40

first, i’m wondering about the use of bermuda in south florida- i would have to think it would be a tough sell because of your bug/fungus issues due to the warm temps and high humidity. second, if i could get more info on the type of fertilizer (including the numbers on the bag) you used last month. it sounds like you used 50 pounds of something on 3000 sq. ft. and that sounds way too high to be using. even on a 12-12-12 type fert. you would have put down at least twice as much as you should have. post more info.

Rich7735 – posted 09 October 2003 09:57

Thanks for your help mowingtexan. Im going to get the soil test and try mowing at a higher height. The brown grass die off and now there is new bermauda grass growing. I’m going to get on a fertilizer program next month using Lesco.

mowingintexas – posted 15 October 2003 21:55

I tend to agree with Ted about the 50# as well. You can usually read on the bag about how many pounds per square foot that the particular selection of fertilizer reccomends. I think you will have good luck with the Lesco schedule. I have seen it before and the structure seemed appropriate to me. I wouldn’t worry too much either because once you stabilize some of this and the Bermuda takes hold he will grow like crazy. Good LUck.