That is a lot of thatch. No idea what you should do, but impressive.
Also, have you fertilized it since April? Bermuda likes heat, but also is hungry and wants to be fed. The difference in mine when it gets the Nitrogen and Potassium it needs is night and day. And the more rain the more the nutrients get washed out.

 

That is a lot of thatch. No idea what you should do, but impressive.
Also, have you fertilized it since April? Bermuda likes heat, but also is hungry and wants to be fed. The difference in mine when it gets the Nitrogen and Potassium it needs is night and day. And the more rain the more the nutrients get washed out.

I just hit it with some scotts weed and feed a couple weeks ago, got a little bit of forced growth out of it, not sure how much is making it down to the soil though with that thatch layer. Nice thing about socal summer weather...it never rains

 

Verticut, core aerify, topdress it. What thatch you don't remove you'll dilute with the topdressing.

 

Scalp it down to the dirt. Remove whatever debris comes from that operation. Most people's idea of a scalp is only down to 1/2" or 3/4" I do not call a scalp a scalp unless I see dirt.

 

The two learned gentlemen above, @viva_oldtrafford and @Greendoc, have given you the best advice about how to fix your turf.

That is a matted mess. Be prepared to haul away a lot of dead thatch, because you will create a lot fixing that.

The good news is once it is all cleared away, your lawn will begin to thrive and will grow very healthy and green...!

 

That blade and those stolons look quite large. Pictures can be decieving though. I'm wondering if thats all Bermuda?

 

Scalp it down to the dirt. Remove whatever debris comes from that operation. Most people's idea of a scalp is only down to 1/2" or 3/4" I do not call a scalp a scalp unless I see dirt.

This might be the better option, though the most labor intensive. It'd almost be akin to a light fraze mow.

 

Scalp it down to the dirt. Remove whatever debris comes from that operation. Most people's idea of a scalp is only down to 1/2" or 3/4" I do not call a scalp a scalp unless I see dirt.

This might be the better option, though the most labor intensive. It'd almost be akin to a light fraze mow.

Conventional verticutting does little for incorrectly maintained Zoysia. Everyone in Hawaii knows that converting incorrectly mowed Zoysia to reel mowing involves the equivalent of a fraze mow. Bermuda is not that terrible as far as amount of debris generated. I got 160 gallons of debris from cutting down 50 sq ft on a parkway strip yesterday. Emerald Zoysia

 

That blade and those stolons look quite large. Pictures can be decieving though. I'm wondering if thats all Bermuda?

I agree. The blades and rhizomes look more like kikuyu.

 

Did some more research on my grass type, its looking more like Zoysia to me now too. Vernation looks rolled to me. Pulled this guy trying to make a run for it across my sidewalk.

 

It does look more like zoysia to me but I'm not sure. @Spammage has a good eye for grass id.

 

@Obi-Lawn_Kenobi yeah, the grass looks like kikuyu to me. That close-up pic is definitely not zoysia. Kikuyu is popular in Socal, so I would research that to see if you can confirm.

 

@Obi-Lawn_Kenobi yeah, the grass looks like kikuyu to me. That close-up pic is definitely not zoysia. Kikuyu is popular in Socal, so I would research that to see if you can confirm.

Thanks! I checked out kikuyu when @tn hawkeye mentioned it earlier and didn't think that was correct. Checked out the seed heads photos and this definitely looked liked my lawn in early spring. Actually the whole neighborhood was covered in these seed heads.


But I'm also getting these seed heads a bunch right now. These look like bermuda seed heads from what I've seen online.





Now to decide if I want to try and push one over the other.

 

Rule out chinch bugs also. They are very common this time of year and love a thick thatch layer