When is the last time you verticut the lawn? I had to verticut to get rid of mine. It did a pretty good job.

 

+1 @Vandy, if it were my grass doing that I would verticut it. You can either rent one or buy a SunJoe. Use the fixed-blade cartridge.

 

That particular area has not been verticut this year.
And with out current drought and heat have, I am hesitant to do it now.

Edit. I have a Classen.

 

@DFWdude Congratulations on the Classen! Where did you get the delta-blade cartridge? We waited over a month for our to finally arrive. I would say once the grass is not under any stress go at it with that machine.

 

@Redtwin I got the Classen in late '20, and it came with the flail cartridge. I ordered the new one shortly after I got the unit from SLE Equipment and it came in short order....before any supply chain issues. It was around $500.

 

@Redtwin I got the Classen in late '20, and it came with the flail cartridge. I ordered the new one shortly after I got the unit from SLE Equipment and it came in short order....before any supply chain issues. It was around $500.

Good to know that the price hasn't changed just the availability. We also got ours through SLE Equipment.

 

Ok so I'm just theorizing here, but I noticed this happening earlier in the season before my pre-emergent wore off. It's almost like the stolons were struggling to find a place to tack down with that vapor barrier present, so they were crawling on top of the grass instead. I don't have that issue now nearly as much, and I haven't verticut. Crazy idea? (probably lol).

 

Vapor barrier? If they were not tacking down in open dirt/sand I would say the pre-em was root pruning but he has complete dense coverage so I think the stolons are just hopping around looking for some open soil to root into. It's a great problem to have and can be managed with verticutting.

 

I had the same issue early in the season. Verticut and scalp solved it, but I am not sure which one

 

Vapor barrier? If they were not tacking down in open dirt/sand I would say the pre-em was root pruning but he has complete dense coverage so I think the stolons are just hopping around looking for some open soil to root into. It's a great problem to have and can be managed with verticutting.

Yeah, it's a thing. https://thelawncarenut.com/blogs/news/prodiamine-which-is-better-liquid-or-granular-pre-emergent-for-crabgrass

But good point @Redtwin. I was needing some fill in in the spring, so I did have some bare spots, which the stolons still weren't tacking onto and floating above the established grass. I blamed it on the pre-em. But yes, in the OP's situation, it just seems like a natural thing for really thick bermuda to do, I guess.

 

I have this issue near the fence line where I planted some trees and couldn't fit the aerator around to aerate compacted/clay soil.

 

Yeah, it's a thing. https://thelawncarenut.com/blogs/news/prodiamine-which-is-better-liquid-or-granular-pre-emergent-for-crabgrass

That's a decent comparison of liquid vs. granular but I've just never really considered pre-emergents as either a vapor or a barrier. I think it's more like a zone than some sort of barrier that can be broken or made ineffective because something poked through it. It could certainly be an issue with grass spreading to the point that not even disturbing the soil or even tilling would prevent. I think that once it is down you will have to do some significant digging or replacing the soil in order for it to not have the potential to affect stolons tacking down... or better yet, waiting until it wears off. I can say personally that I have not had the issue of stolons not tacking with either Prodiamine or Simazine at the 6-month rates but that's not to say that my application was perfect by any means.

 

Yeah, it's a thing. https://thelawncarenut.com/blogs/news/prodiamine-which-is-better-liquid-or-granular-pre-emergent-for-crabgrass

That's a decent comparison of liquid vs. granular but I've just never really considered pre-emergents as either a vapor or a barrier. I think it's more like a zone than some sort of barrier that can be broken or made ineffective because something poked through it. It could certainly be an issue with grass spreading to the point that not even disturbing the soil or even tilling would prevent. I think that once it is down you will have to do some significant digging or replacing the soil in order for it to not have the potential to affect stolons tacking down... or better yet, waiting until it wears off. I can say personally that I have not had the issue of stolons not tacking with either Prodiamine or Simazine at the 6-month rates but that's not to say that my application was perfect by any means.

Yeah @Redtwin I think there's certainly still some ambiguity with it. I've applied Dithiopyr for 4 years now, fall and spring, and every year I've closely monitored areas that needed to fill. It does seems like the stolons either don't tack down or move very slowly for about 3 months or so for me, until wear off.

My spraying is a whole 'nother matter. :roll: I think my local Rural King (yeah that's a real retailer around here lol), sold me a lemon 15 g boom sprayer and no matter what I do it won't apply evenly.

As far as "vapor barrier", it's probably just terminology, as a popular Prodiamine granular is named Barricade, as if nothing at all could penetrate the soil once it's applied :lol:

 

Scalping is the only thing that worked for me.