[William]

Hi All,

I recently bought a new house with Bermuda installed. The sod was laid middle of July and seems to have taken hold. Now that Fall is approaching, not sure what I should do . . Should I aerate, verticut, fertilize, or what? I moved from a home in FL with St. Augustine that I had a service for. At this point I want a great lawn, and not sure where to start. I have read a lot of information online (from NC State Ag) and it basically says to just fertilize, but I want to do more.

 

[MsTin]

Oh lord. I as in your boat a couple of months ago. Welcome to your new obsession! I am still trying to wrap my head around all the information provided here. You are in great hands/heads on this forum! Good luck with the new house and don't forget to have fun with your lawncare!

 

[William]

Thanks . . I am really looking forward to the work and the new toys I "HAVE" to buy!

 

[Mightyquinn]

Welcome to TLF William!!!!

You most likely have Hybrid bermuda(TifWay 419) since it was sodded and is very common around here in the Carolina's. I would just hold off on doing anything else right now except just keep mowing at whatever HOC you are at.

Has your lawn pretty much filled in and you can't see any of the seems from the sod anymore? If so, you may want to go ahead and put down your Pre Emergent now to get ahead of the Winter weeds.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you might have as we are all here to help you get your lawn where you want it.

 

[William]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I have a HOC on a GM 1000 maxed out at 1 inch as it is still rather bumpy. I know I need to level it in the spring after aeration and plan to over seed with a verticutter after leveling. Or am I doing it backwards?

 

[J_nick]

If your lawn was sodded then don't overseed. Seeded cultivars will most likely be of lesser quality than sodded Bermuda. Bermuda should never needed overseeding once its established. That is unless you want to over seed a perennial ryegrass to have green grass over then winter.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Seeded cultivars will most likely be of lesser quality than sodded Bermuda.

/hijack
Them's fighting words. I'll have you know that my cultivar looks much better than my neighbor's sodded lawn. Of course, he's completely neglected it
/hijack

Welcome to TLF William. You've been given solid advice so far. MQ and J_nick have a wealth of knowledge that they're willing to, and have shared.

 

[William]

Welcome to TLF William!!!!

You most likely have Hybrid bermuda(TifWay 419) since it was sodded and is very common around here in the Carolina's. I would just hold off on doing anything else right now except just keep mowing at whatever HOC you are at.

Has your lawn pretty much filled in and you can't see any of the seems from the sod anymore? If so, you may want to go ahead and put down your Pre Emergent now to get ahead of the Winter weeds.

Please feel free to ask as many questions as you might have as we are all here to help you get your lawn where you want it.

I forgot to mention I still have gaps in my sod. Not really sure what to do about it. They basically scratched red clay and threw the sod down. Builder contracted it out.

 

[J_nick]

I forgot to mention I still have gaps in my sod. Not really sure what to do about it. They basically scratched red clay and threw the sod down. Builder contracted it out.

How big are the gaps? You have any pictures?

/hijack
Them's fighting words. I'll have you know that my cultivar looks much better than my neighbor's sodded lawn. Of course, he's completely neglected it
/hijack

I seeded 9k of Riviera Bermuda this year and it looks amazing. There are some nice seeded cultivars out there but the truth is the best seeded cultivars are equal to the most average type of vegetative Bermuda.

 

[FATC1TY]

Aside from gaps-

Just maintain the cut, and watering as it heads into dormancy.

If your weed pressure looks high, and the sod is established well enough, get the pre m down now to help over the winter and into the spring.

I wouldn't worry about a verticut myself come spring, but depending on your soil, aeration would be advised after spring green up.

Scalp it, clean it up, put down spring pre m, then possibly sand/level some. Let it green up and depending on time frames/weather you could probably aerate, sand it a little more and have at it then the growing season.

Maybe people scalp and thin the canopy out around July, ymmv since it's new grass.

 

[William]

Weeds are pretty well contained. I walk the yard about every day and pull what doesn't belong. As for the rest, thanks for the tip's! I feel like I have a new endeavor and am just excited about it I suppose.

 

[raldridge2315]

Welcome to the forum. I would think that the best thing you could do this fall would be to get a soil test. That way, you can begin planning a soil amendment/fertilization program for next spring. Most important from the test now is soil acidity. If you need lime late fall/winter is a great time to put it down. I would be willing to make a cash wager that you need lime. If it's red clay, you will need lots of it. The pre-emergent recommended above is good advice.

 

[ken-n-nancy]

... the best thing you could do this fall would be to get a soil test. That way, you can begin planning a soil amendment/fertilization program for next spring.

... I would be willing to make a cash wager that you need lime.

Raldridge2315 is right that getting a soil test is one of the best things you could do. He's also right that you probably also do need lime.

However, you do NOT want to make the lime application without having first examined soil test results. If you didn't need lime (maybe because the prior owner applied it regularly) then there is very little that can be effectively done to lower the pH again after it was pushed too high due to unneeded lime applications.

The other important reason to get a soil test before applying lime is to know whether a calcitic lime (supplies primarily calcium) or a dolomitic lime (supplies calcium and magnesium) is better for your specific lawn.

 

[raldridge2315]

... the best thing you could do this fall would be to get a soil test. That way, you can begin planning a soil amendment/fertilization program for next spring.

... I would be willing to make a cash wager that you need lime.

Raldridge2315 is right that getting a soil test is one of the best things you could do. He's also right that you probably also do need lime.

However, you do NOT want to make the lime application without having first examined soil test results. If you didn't need lime (maybe because the prior owner applied it regularly) then there is very little that can be effectively done to lower the pH again after it was pushed too high due to unneeded lime applications.

The other important reason to get a soil test before applying lime is to know whether a calcitic lime (supplies primarily calcium) or a dolomitic lime (supplies calcium and magnesium) is better for your specific lawn.

Absolutely. I did not mean to put down lime without first seeing what the test results are. My intention was to point out that red clay is usually highly acid. But, when you don't know the history, the test is even more important.

 

[William]

I will do the soil sample first. Thanks for the ideas folks. Keep them coming.

 

[ken-n-nancy]

Absolutely. I did not mean to put down lime without first seeing what the test results are. My intention was to point out that red clay is usually highly acid. But, when you don't know the history, the test is even more important.

I hope I didn't offend at all, that wasn't my intent. For that matter, I didn't think you were recommending to just put down lime without getting a soil test, but sometimes an advice-follower, if pressed for time, may be tempted to think, "well, if we're practically sure that <xyz> will be needed, maybe in the interest of time and cost, we could just do <xyz> since it's almost surely the right thing to do..." Sure, one could do that, and it would probably be the right thing to do, but if not, one could easily be making things worse...

 

[William]

I will do the soil sample first. Thanks for the ideas folks. Keep them coming.

Turns out it is free in NC from April 1st to November. Will be getting the kit in a few days

 

[raldridge2315]

Absolutely. I did not mean to put down lime without first seeing what the test results are. My intention was to point out that red clay is usually highly acid. But, when you don't know the history, the test is even more important.

I hope I didn't offend at all, that wasn't my intent. For that matter, I didn't think you were recommending to just put down lime without getting a soil test, but sometimes an advice-follower, if pressed for time, may be tempted to think, "well, if we're practically sure that <xyz> will be needed, maybe in the interest of time and cost, we could just do <xyz> since it's almost surely the right thing to do..." Sure, one could do that, and it would probably be the right thing to do, but if not, one could easily be making things worse...

No problem.

 

[Mightyquinn]

I will do the soil sample first. Thanks for the ideas folks. Keep them coming.

Turns out it is free in NC from April 1st to November. Will be getting the kit in a few days

Really?? I may have to go get mine done too. Might swing by the local AG office next week and pick up some sampling containers.

 

[William]

I will do the soil sample first. Thanks for the ideas folks. Keep them coming.

Turns out it is free in NC from April 1st to November. Will be getting the kit in a few days

Really?? I may have to go get mine done too. Might swing by the local AG office next week and pick up some sampling containers.

This should get you started.

https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/local-county-center/