I decided I would try to put together an actual plan for 2018 and in the process I stumbled down a rabbit hole. I'm going to be the first to admit that this is lengthy and very 101, but felt that what I found might be good for someone who is new to all of this.
My initial plan started something like this:
Now some of you may be thinking, "Wes, if you use pre-emergent before the Vonhaus you are going to tear up the pre-emergent barrier that you just applied." This occurred to me as well, and made me rethink the order of things. If this is true, I should go through the whole scalping/dethatching/vacuuming process and then apply pre-emergent.
I didn't really like this solution because I just felt like pre-emergent needs to go down before the Bermuda starts to green up. Also, I didn't get any pre-emergent down in the fall, and the last time I applied it was mid to late summer at 1/4 rate. Needless to say, I have weeds. Pre-emergent isn't going to help me with those now, but I need to get it down so I can start regaining some control. I also like the idea of applying quarterly as I feel it allows more flexibility because I don't have to worry so much about disturbing the barrier and not being able to apply more.
So I began thinking with the end in mind (this is where I fell down the rabbit hole):
I couldn't really answer these questions without going further down the hole. Ideally, I would want to dethatch right before needing to reapply pre-emergent, but this leads to two more questions:
I've always heard (ahem, or read) that the general rule of thumb is to apply pre-emergent when the forsythia begins to bloom. I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of TX and I've never even seen forsythia....at least I don't think I have. So in the past, I've used flowering trees as indication.
I noticed two days ago that a neighbor's peach tree has begun to blossom, but the Bradford Pears in the neighborhood have not. So although this might work as a general rule of thumb, it's not very precise. This rule of thumb also seems to be based on preventing crabgrass, which has never really been a problem for me. Instead, I find myself fighting Poa Annua, some perennial rye grass (I think it might be Poa Trivalis), dandelions, spurge, Dallisgrass, and sedge (in roughly that order from beginning of the growing season until the end).
So logic would tell me that different weed seeds germinate at different times of the year. Plants don't care about our calendar, they respond to environmental changes. Seed germination is based on soil temperature (among other things). So I started looking up the germination temperatures of the weeds that trouble me most. This is what I found:
This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list, but instead to show how seeds germinate at a range of temperatures. Okay, so that really brings me back to where I was - I need a pre-emergent barrier down all year long. So when is the best time to apply? In my case it would be right after I do the spring cleanup. I don't want to do it before the cleanup and then mess up the barrier when scalping and dethatching. That would be a complete waste... or would it?
So at this point, I'm committed to waiting to put the pre-emergent down until after I scalp/dethatch. The thought process is that if I'm applying pre-emergent at the quarterly rate a year from now I should be roughly on the right schedule to repeat the whole process again assuming the weather doesn't decide to do something completely irregular. So that more or less answers the questions about the appropriate order and avoiding this dilemma next year.
Now I just need to figure out when I can expect to start the scalping process. The Bermuda Bible: New Testament says I can expect to do this in the spring (Feb-Apr), but I decided to look for something more precise. Why? I don't know, because I'm nuts, or because I'm bored, or maybe it's just because I'm a TLF member and that's how we roll.
According to Richard L. Duble, from Texas A&M, "Green-up and recovery of bermudagrass begins when nighttime temperatures remain above 60° for several days in the spring and soil temperature reaches 65° at the 4-inch depth."
This now gives me a much better idea of when my new season will officially start. My meat thermometer just happens to have a 4" probe on it. So I'll be watching the weather for several nights above 60°F and then begin probing the soil.
My new plan looks more like this:
Was all this worth it? I don't know. I feel better about the new plan because I have a better understanding of the mechanics behind it. I also know that I still have three kids under the age of six and a wife who hates it when I spend half a day on the weekend doing yard work. I know I should throw some PGR into the mix, but I have roughly 20k of lawn and a cheap 1 gallon pump sprayer. I'm not quite ready to spend the extra money upgrading to the Spreader Mate and I feel that in the long run, I might regret buying something like the Chapin 20v backpack sprayer... but hey, it wouldn't surprise me if I was going down that hole this summer.
My initial plan started something like this:
- Apply pre-emergent
- Wait for Bermudagrass to begin to show life
- Scalp using rotary mower with bag
- Scalp using reel mower until on lowest setting
- Dethatch using the Vonhaus 2 in 1 Dethatcher & Aerator
- Vacuum everything up
Now some of you may be thinking, "Wes, if you use pre-emergent before the Vonhaus you are going to tear up the pre-emergent barrier that you just applied." This occurred to me as well, and made me rethink the order of things. If this is true, I should go through the whole scalping/dethatching/vacuuming process and then apply pre-emergent.
I didn't really like this solution because I just felt like pre-emergent needs to go down before the Bermuda starts to green up. Also, I didn't get any pre-emergent down in the fall, and the last time I applied it was mid to late summer at 1/4 rate. Needless to say, I have weeds. Pre-emergent isn't going to help me with those now, but I need to get it down so I can start regaining some control. I also like the idea of applying quarterly as I feel it allows more flexibility because I don't have to worry so much about disturbing the barrier and not being able to apply more.
So I began thinking with the end in mind (this is where I fell down the rabbit hole):
- What is the proper order to do this?
- How do I avoid this situation next year?
- Can I apply pre-emergent quarterly and time it so that it coincides with the spring scalp?
I couldn't really answer these questions without going further down the hole. Ideally, I would want to dethatch right before needing to reapply pre-emergent, but this leads to two more questions:
- When is the "right time" to apply pre-emergent?
- When is the right time to scalp Bermuda?
I've always heard (ahem, or read) that the general rule of thumb is to apply pre-emergent when the forsythia begins to bloom. I live in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of TX and I've never even seen forsythia....at least I don't think I have. So in the past, I've used flowering trees as indication.
I noticed two days ago that a neighbor's peach tree has begun to blossom, but the Bradford Pears in the neighborhood have not. So although this might work as a general rule of thumb, it's not very precise. This rule of thumb also seems to be based on preventing crabgrass, which has never really been a problem for me. Instead, I find myself fighting Poa Annua, some perennial rye grass (I think it might be Poa Trivalis), dandelions, spurge, Dallisgrass, and sedge (in roughly that order from beginning of the growing season until the end).
So logic would tell me that different weed seeds germinate at different times of the year. Plants don't care about our calendar, they respond to environmental changes. Seed germination is based on soil temperature (among other things). So I started looking up the germination temperatures of the weeds that trouble me most. This is what I found:
- Poa Annua germinates when soil temps fall below 70°F and continue to germinate throughout the winter. I read somewhere that they can germinate at temps down to 30°F, but cant seem to find where I read that.
- Poa Tivalis can germinates well at lower temperatures of 40°F - 50°F
- Dandelions germinate as low as 50°F and germinate more rapidly at 77°F
- Dallisgrass germinates when soil temps are in the 60°F to 65°F range
This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list, but instead to show how seeds germinate at a range of temperatures. Okay, so that really brings me back to where I was - I need a pre-emergent barrier down all year long. So when is the best time to apply? In my case it would be right after I do the spring cleanup. I don't want to do it before the cleanup and then mess up the barrier when scalping and dethatching. That would be a complete waste... or would it?
So at this point, I'm committed to waiting to put the pre-emergent down until after I scalp/dethatch. The thought process is that if I'm applying pre-emergent at the quarterly rate a year from now I should be roughly on the right schedule to repeat the whole process again assuming the weather doesn't decide to do something completely irregular. So that more or less answers the questions about the appropriate order and avoiding this dilemma next year.
Now I just need to figure out when I can expect to start the scalping process. The Bermuda Bible: New Testament says I can expect to do this in the spring (Feb-Apr), but I decided to look for something more precise. Why? I don't know, because I'm nuts, or because I'm bored, or maybe it's just because I'm a TLF member and that's how we roll.
According to Richard L. Duble, from Texas A&M, "Green-up and recovery of bermudagrass begins when nighttime temperatures remain above 60° for several days in the spring and soil temperature reaches 65° at the 4-inch depth."
This now gives me a much better idea of when my new season will officially start. My meat thermometer just happens to have a 4" probe on it. So I'll be watching the weather for several nights above 60°F and then begin probing the soil.
My new plan looks more like this:
- Watch for several nights above 60°F
- When soil temps hit 65°F scalp/dethatch/vacuum
- Apply pre-emergent at the quarterly rate
- Wait for 50% green-up
- Apply my first fertilizer application using a balanced fertilizer
- Reapply nitrogen every 30 days
Was all this worth it? I don't know. I feel better about the new plan because I have a better understanding of the mechanics behind it. I also know that I still have three kids under the age of six and a wife who hates it when I spend half a day on the weekend doing yard work. I know I should throw some PGR into the mix, but I have roughly 20k of lawn and a cheap 1 gallon pump sprayer. I'm not quite ready to spend the extra money upgrading to the Spreader Mate and I feel that in the long run, I might regret buying something like the Chapin 20v backpack sprayer... but hey, it wouldn't surprise me if I was going down that hole this summer.
I think it's a John Deere 518 slit seeder. For a year or two, I would rent one from Home Depot and it seemed to get the job done pretty good.
