[NA]Nasty grass (lawn care)[NA]

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west Texas
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Dave Taylor
Bermuda grass, irrigated, cut weekly in summer. Little traffic.
Want to stay with Bermuda.

Way too weedy, need plan.
But not ‘Roundup / tilling.’

Weeds are about to emerge & irrigation about to start here.

Weed n Feed, then wait a week then heavily seed with Bermuda?
 
Pre-emergent now.

Fertilize when the grass is >50% green.

Once fully green, hit with a broadleaf weed killer (will probably contain 2,4-D.

Fertilize at least two more times during the summer. Your goal is 1 pound of nitrogen per 1000 SF of lawn every 6 weeks.

Keep it sunny, cut, and fertilized and the bermuda will take over.
 
Where are you at? One of the problems of a warm season grass is that the cools seasons get a head start. What weeds are you talking about? 2,4-D can be applied throughout the growing season for clover, lespedeza, and such. Grasses are tougher but may sort themselves out depending on your climate. If your Bermuda is really well established, you can do a pre-emergent assuming its not too late for where you are.
Edit: I just saw West Texas. I’m not familiar with that climate, but be careful with seeding after a weed and feed. I’ve wasted a good bit of seed to learn that lesson.
 
Go natural! That's what I did in Colorado.
 
I do a number of things starting in the spring to keep my bermudagrass looking good.

1) If I have the time and the will before the bermuda comes out of dormancy, I'll spray a round-up type herbicide some years. I actually use Eraser. I know you said you didn't want to do that, but it works great. I don't like to do that every year, however.
2) Put down some kind of pre-emergent to catch some of the other weeds before they come up.
4) Fertilize. I alternate between 34-0-0 and either 10-20-10 or 13-13-13 from year to year. Be careful with the application 34-0-0 once it gets hot. Pure nitrogen can burn up the grass. I usually do another light application sometime later during the summer.
3) In the spring, before it gets hot, if I haven't already used round-up, I use 2-4-D as a post-emergent herbicide. It will kill most broadleaf weeds. If it's less than 80 or so degrees, put it on a little heavy, say 2.5 to 3 oz/gal. Once it gets hot, you can do 2 oz/gal. 2-4-D does an okay job, but may require a couple of applications 2-3 weeks apart.
4) Once it gets over about 90 deg, I ditch the 2-4-D and spray MSMA. It is a better post emergent herbicide that will kill almost anything besides the bermuda. Like the 34-0-0 fertilizer, you need to be careful once it gets really hot or it can burn up the bermuda. I find that 2 oz/gal won't hurt the bermuda in the hot part of the summer, but may "knock it back" a little. MSMA is particularly useful if you have Dallisgrass. That's about the only thing I've found that will reliably kill it.
5) I have a Nutsedge problem at my house. The ONLY thing on planet earth that will reliable kill that shiznit is a product called Sedgehammer. That's all I have to say about that.

In my opinion, and in my area which may be more fertile, you don't need to seed bermuda unless you have pretty massive gaps in it. Properly de-weeded, fertilized, and watered, that stuff will fill in holes very quickly.

Now, I live in southern Oklahoma in the Washita River bottom. We get up to 105°F regularly in the summer, but do not need to irrigate. I do typically water for a few weeks in the hottest part of the summer, but we generally stay wet enough to grow grass without it, although it may not stay really green. In the fertile valley, we have many different kinds of weeds that come out at different times throughout the year, so my methods are predicated on that fact, and is ongoing throughout the grass growing season. If you don't have all those different weeds in your area, you may get by with less herbicide applications. You'll have to figure out what weeds you have, and what will kill them effectively. The main thing is, most weeds really rob the nutrients from the bermuda. If you can get those nutrient sucking SOBs out of the way, the bermuda will kick butt.


Edit: I just read the most recent posts that popped up while I was writing. I see that you prefer no liquids. Nearly all the weed control I do involves liquids, so I guess it won't help you. I have no idea how to kill weeds without it.
 
Bermuda shouldn't have to be seeded. If it's that weedy I'm guessing it's thin. Has it been neglected for a while, or is it getting shaded? Bermuda has no tolerance for shade.
 
Henbit is the bane of my yard’s existence. It’s in full bloom right now, but the only decent way to kill it is to get it in the fall. By June it’ll be gone and the Bermuda grass will have taken over, but it looks like crap until then. I don’t really care that much, but 2-4-D never kills it for the next season.


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Bermuda shouldn't have to be seeded. If it's that weedy I'm guessing it's thin. Has it been neglected for a while, or is it getting shaded? Bermuda has no tolerance for shade.
Nah. The winter freezes in West Texas cause it to brown and go dormant, and the sun gets to the dirt and germinates the weed seeds.

If you can stay ahead of the early weeds, then the Bermuda thickens, greens up and shades them out for the rest of the year.

Problem is some of the herbacides seem to weaken the Bermuda and thin it out too.
 
Sometimes adding a wetting agent, like a shot of Dawn dishwashing detergent or "Spreader Sticker" from the garden store, can get that 2,4-D and other herbicides to stick better to some weed leaves. Some leaves, like clover, will cause liquids to bead up and not absorb very well. A surfactant gets that spray to spread out.
 
Nah. The winter freezes in West Texas cause it to brown and go dormant, and the sun gets to the dirt and germinates the weed seeds.

If you can stay ahead of the early weeds, then the Bermuda thickens, greens up and shades them out for the rest of the year.

Problem is some of the herbacides seem to weaken the Bermuda and thin it out too.
I'm thinking it's too late for pre emergents in West Texas, I know it is here. When we had Bermuda, I waited until th Bermuda was fully greened up, and then used a liquid broadleaf weed killer, once per year, typically in late April. It's not recommended for use once it gets hot.

The Bermuda has since been replaced with a fine bladed Zoysia. Big improvement over Bermuda.
 
Henbit is the bane of my yard’s existence. It’s in full bloom right now, but the only decent way to kill it is to get it in the fall. By June it’ll be gone and the Bermuda grass will have taken over, but it looks like crap until then. I don’t really care that much, but 2-4-D never kills it for the next season.


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That's precisely why I use round-up. If ya hit it before the bermuda starts to turn, you'll be way ahead of the game. AND, you won't have the clumpy, wet henbit gunk coating the underside of your mower. Hate that purple crap.
 
Sometimes adding a wetting agent, like a shot of Dawn dishwashing detergent or "Spreader Sticker" from the garden store, can get that 2,4-D and other herbicides to stick better to some weed leaves. Some leaves, like clover, will cause liquids to bead up and not absorb very well. A surfactant gets that spray to spread out.

If you ain't using surfactant, you're not getting all the goody out of your herbicide. It's essential!
 
Home Depot carries a Lessco product that is granular. I use that one, but they carry other products too.
 
I did time (at a golf course) in Yoakum County during the big drought a few years ago. One of the best kept golf courses I have ever been to. I suggest you find a country club or well kept course nearby and ask the course superintendent. They'll probably give you an ear full of knowledge and may even throw some samples at you.

Or find the guy that teaches Advanced Turfgrass Science at TTU. I bet that guy will talk to you about grass the same way you would talk to him about airplanes
 
The lawn is dormant, yellow, crunchy. Don't think it has germinated yet. Or is that not the way to tell?
 
Man when i did lawncare in TN people would pay us to get rid of bermuda. Stuff is like a weed and just chokes everything out. Just use a pre emergent and a broadleaf killer.
 
The lawn is dormant, yellow, crunchy. Don't think it has germinated yet. Or is that not the way to tell?

It's not the grass you want the preemergent working on, it's the weeds. Are there any visible weeds? If so, it's probably too late.
 
Entire lawn (which is much too great a % weeds) is that way
Have found some, will apply today & water per directions
 
Actually, I'd stay away from golf course advice. The stuff they put on is pretty nasty and many of the grasses (especially the stuff they use on the greens) is far removed from what you have in your yard.

What you should do is talk to your county extension agent or the like. They typically have local turf experts who can address what the local climate and botanic issues are likely to be. For instance, around here it's getting a little late for preemergent.
 
"County extension agent."

Dave's county's annual budget wouldn't cover Bill Clinton's bar tab.
 
Entire lawn (which is much too great a % weeds) is that way
Have found some, will apply today & water per directions

Found some of what? If you have actively growing weeds, you need a broadleaf weed killer, preemergent has no effect on weeds that have already sprouted.
 
Found some of what? If you have actively growing weeds, you need a broadleaf weed killer, preemergent has no effect on weeds that have already sprouted.

If his bermuda is still dormant, he's going to have success with the pre-emergent. Maybe not as much as if he'd applied it a few weeks ago, but it'll help.
 
Spurge has been THE weed I've had to fight in my neck of west Texas. That stuff is the debbil!
 
You just can't do that in a populated area, especially if there are kids around.
Does Dave live in a more "populated area" than I did? There were definitely kids around the neighborhood, and most yards were field grass, except for some that had a small lawn with real grass.
 
My biggest lawn care problem is those darn mowers wake me up way to early.
 
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Spurge has been THE weed I've had to fight in my neck of west Texas. That stuff is the debbil!

I see that stuff in our beds, where it's easy to get rid of with a squirt of glyphosphate (Roundup). It doesn't much grow in the lawn. There's a variety called prostrate spurge that got in my lawn last summer. I was going to hit it with a broadleaf weed killer in May, but got called away to deal with a sick parent and didn't get to do it before the weather warmed up too much. It got its commuppance in the fall. I haven't seen any this year, but time will tell.
 
Maybe not as much as if he'd applied it a few weeks ago, but it'll help.

(said in a breathe-y, slightly annoyed British voice: )
I must rap some knuckles here, not one single person on POA has provided adequate public notice that last month would have been better to apply this pre-emergent.
All is forgiven, as long as measures are made to ameliorate this shortcoming such as timely reminders here, to do so in plenty of time next year; plus notices also for upcoming broadleaf killer, grub chemicals, post-emergent applications etcetera.
 
Is Spurge SandSpurs?

Sandspurs is the OMG!THERESTUCKTOTHEBOTTOMOFMYFEET!! thingies we DETEST out here.
I think Sandspurs is how the phrase "must hava burr in his britches" expression arose. If someone has one in their socks and it makes it to the laundry, shonuff that baby will end up in the delicate part of your underwear.

(and off lawn, the pasture Devil bush is Mesquite. I mean how many plants do BETTER right after a raging rangeland fire? It defies glyphosate. Chopping it off at ground level and spraying the stump with diesel/glyphosate makes it laugh)
 
(said in a breathe-y, slightly annoyed British voice: )
I must rap some knuckles here, not one single person on POA has provided adequate public notice that last month would have been better to apply this pre-emergent.
All is forgiven, as long as measures are made to ameliorate this shortcoming such as timely reminders here, to do so in plenty of time next year; plus notices also for upcoming broadleaf killer, grub chemicals, post-emergent applications etcetera.

When we had Bermuda, I never did preemergents, and always had spring weeds, at least in the common Bermuda we had in the front. The hybrid Bermuda we planted in the back was much better at keeping weeds away, at least until it got shaded out and sparse. I fertilized three times a year and sprayed a broadleaf weed killer in late spring, that's all it needed, at least in the sunny areas. The dumbass buider put in a Bradford Pear that grew big and killed about a third of the lawn, so we got rid of it and the Bermuda and got a fine bladed Zoysia. Stuff is like carpet now, but really took two seasons to establish. You can cut it with a rotary mower, if you keep the blade sharp, I sharpen ours with a sanding drum on a Dremel each cutting. The thing that annoyed me about Bermuda is that to keep it really looking good you needed to cut it every five days, otherwise later in the season you'd be cutting off most of the green. Zoysia doesn't grow that way and it grows more slowly, so it looks better as well. It's worth the money if you're resodding. I didn't do a preemergent this year, we did have a few weeds, but i could easily pull them all out in a half an hour. I did cut it shorter earlier this month when it first started to green up, I filled 15 of those paper lawn bags, this from a 5000 square foot lawn, and since then the weeds haven't come back. It's slower to spread than is Bermuda, which makes it easier to keep out of any mulch beds you have. It's also sensitive to nitrogen, I fertilize it three times a year but put down half as much fertilizer as I would on Bermuda, otherwise it goes berserk and gets so thick it can't sustain itself, and you get some brown leaves in your lawn. The biggest advantage to the Zoysia is that it is reasonably shade tolerant, which Bermuda is not.
 
Much stuff about Bermuda and Zoysia snipped

I've had both Bermuda and Zoysia. Everything FormerHangie said is true, but in addition to that, I've found that Bermuda is more drought tolerant. My Zoysia will start to suffer drought damage before the neighbor's Bermuda. The other thing (and he mentioned it, but I'll elaborate) is that Bermuda thrives on full sun. If I had sun, water, and fertilizer, I think I could grow a beautiful Bermuda lawn on concrete. Throw in even a little shade and all bets are off. Zoysia is much more forgiving.

For the OP, what is your sun/shade situation. The only "thin" bermuda lawns I ever see are the ones with shade.
 
Does Dave live in a more "populated area" than I did? There were definitely kids around the neighborhood, and most yards were field grass, except for some that had a small lawn with real grass.

It is a 15-minute hike from the rural highway to the house.

Past killer bees.

Really.
 
It is a 15-minute hike from the rural highway to the house.

Past killer bees.

Really.
That's what I was guessing, hence my suggestion of "going natural". I think west Texas and eastern Colorado have something in common, like not that much water. We were only allowed to irrigate 6,000 square feet, according to the well permit.

I'm also lazy, and didn't want to maintain a "lawn".
 
I think we call the grassy area the "firebreak."
 
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