After video of treating the King Kong lawn
29
May
2021
5 Common Problems with Bermuda Grass
Bermuda Grass is commonly used on golf courses, baseball fields, football fields, and soccer fields. It is a thin-bladed grass with much thinner blades than St. Augustine and Zoysis grass. It is great for areas prone to drought due to its resistance to such climate conditions. Furthermore, it is compatible with many types of soils. If the mowing is completed carefully and fertilization is well-taken care of, then it is a fairly good choice for establishing a reasonable turf. The common Bermuda is planted using seed or sprigs. However, there are new hybrid versions of the grass that are much superior in quality. The common Bermuda has a medium texture while the hybrid version is finer. The tolerance to cold temperatures and high traffic is considered to be good. While it is resistant to drought, it needs weekly watering for retaining its green color. While the Bermuda Grass is a well-chosen option for installing turfs, it does have a few problems.
Here are some of the problems you may face having Bermuda grass:
- Weeds – This grass gets both broad leaf weeds (these are weeds that grow in the fall, winter, and early spring). Your store bought weed and feed will kill these weeds.
Note: Remember broad leaf weeds will die on their own come spring when the temp goes up.
- Difficult to control weeds – You have two categories of difficult to control weeds.
- The type that likes to grow during fall and winter months, which die off on their own come spring due to rising temp.
- The type that likes to grow during the spring and summer and die off on their own come fall.
Both types flourish during certain times of the year. So it’s a revolving door; trading one for the other per season. These difficult to control weeds cannot be killed with your store bought weed and feed. You must buy a difficult to control weed controller labeled for that Pacific weed.
Note: I’ve heard this 2 million times. I bought a weed and feed, put it down, and I still have weeds everywhere. You have to buy a difficult to control weed controller and apply it according to the label. If you don’t treat for difficult to control weeds over time, they will take over the lawn.
- Sod webworms – This insect starts feeding around June and stops around December. Moths are commonly seen. Moths lay their eggs, babies hatch, and start to feed on the grass.
- Drought Stress – Needs consistent watering during summer. This grass doesn’t have to be watered as much as St. Augustine; making it more tolerant to summer heat and drought.
- Mower stress – Most common during summer months. Likes to be mowed 2+ 2 to 2 ½ inches high. During the summer, I recommend mowing 2+ 2 ½ due to heat. You may see where the mower has gone across the lawn and left a brown streak. This is common during summer months. Water shortly after the lawn has been mowed. Give 4 to 5 days, let grass grow up, and color will come back.
Bermuda Grass is a good choice for laying a quality turf. Despite a few drawbacks, it is fairly easy to establish; not to mention that it is less costly too. As far as the common problems discussed in this post, you can easily prevent or treat them using a bit of careful maintenance. Hope that the information and solutions I have provided will help you have a better experience with Bermuda Grass.
