spongy, leggy bermuda

dmcphail – posted 23 November 2005 15:15

I just moved to the Dallas, TX area and am very disappointed with my lawn. I moved from the Phoenix area and had Tifway 419. The grass I have now is a very low grade bermuda. In AZ I cut my grass with a reel mower. I am unable to use that mower on my lawn in TX. It just seems to pull and yank the long roots of the grass up instead of cutting it. I prefer my yard to be cut low so I have done that with the new rotary mower I purchased. However the new lawn seems spongy and not well attached to the root system. On my lawn in AZ you could walk “on” as opposed to “in” the grass. Like fairways of a golf course the lawn was harder beneath your feet. The lawn in TX seems deeper and spongier. Despite appearing to have a low cut it is actually very long when I pull the grass up to stand upright. When I rake it it just pulls the long root system and lots of dead grass. Is it a matter of having to use a vertical mower to dethatch or is it simply a matter of bad grass?

wrangler – posted 04 December 2005 19:51

Many of the common types have a much wider leaf than 419. I would suggest that you detatch aggressively in the spring and start mowing @ 1/2″ in the spring. The spongy characteristic is most likely due to excess thatch and the stringy stuff you are seeing are stolons (avove ground runners). You will need to “train” the next crop of bermudagrass to grow in a more prostate pattern. If you are not happy with the way your particular variety responds to low mowing with a reel mower you may want to upgrade to a finer leafed bermudagrass.Good Luck.

BuckinNC – posted 05 December 2005 07:50

Wrangler:

How does one “train” their bermuda to remain below the ground level? Never had a problem with it running above ground so I may have trained mine, just did not know it. I start out each spring mowing 419 with a reel mower at 1/2 – 9/16ths. And maybe that’s all it takes. But, I’d like to learn of other tricks you may know of. Would really like to know how to “not train” so as to keep it from taking over my wife’s flower beds.

Thanks

[This message has been edited by BuckinNC (edited 05 December 2005).]

dmcphail – posted 05 December 2005 07:57

Wrangler:

I had someone over the other day that works for a turf farm. Much to my surprise he confirmed that I indeed have 419 on my lawn. He too reccomended an agressive dethatching in Spring. I guess it is just due to neglect from the previous owner. Thanks for the tips.

bermudakid – posted 21 January 2006 22:55

If you see runners above the dirt surface and the stolens are not shooting new rhyzomes into the soil it could be that the soil is very dry/hard. The worst bermuda can be mowed wtih a reel mower if they have a healthy roots system. Here is a suggestion, at the end of February mow as low as possible without stalling the engine. Apply nitron 35, water well, then apply a 1/2 inch layer of fine playground sand. Then apply 1 pound of urea per 1000 sq ft and water well again. Water every third day for two weeks. Then water as recommended in your area. The grass should start coming back nice. It worked for me a few years ago in my parents backyard.Make sure that you raise the lawn mower up one notch and mow one week after the scalping whether you think it needs it or not. Mow once a week until April and then begin to mow every forth day. That will bring your grass to a putting surface.

Good luck

gariverguy – posted 26 January 2006 05:36

I agree with the above post in that thatch is probably your problem. Rent a good de-thatcher and use it on the lawn, then follow your local Cooperative Extension Service recommendations for fertilization. I’ve never seen this severe a thatch problem on bermuda, but it’s common on centipede here in mid- and south GA.