[alpine0000]

Initially I didn't plan on doing a complete renovation. My lawn has been green and looking pretty good... But I've been fighting this infestation of Bermuda Grass for a few years now. I have sprayed Turflon Ester, Acclaim Extra, and then a few weeks ago as a last resort, I dropped over $400 on Pylex to try to finally nip it.

I did all of this as opposed to a complete renovation because I was thinking my lawn was only about 15% Bermuda. After my application of Pylex, when all the Bermuda turned white, I could really see just how bad of a problem it was. I was shocked to see that the lawn was over 90-95% Bermuda. Add in the fact that I just had an irrigation system installed a few months ago and they did a very poor job leveling the disturbed areas, so this is a perfect chance for me to glyphosate the whole front/side lawn, level the ground as good as I can, and then start over with some Midnight KBG in the front and Bewitched KBG in the back yard where it's much shadier (and also mix in some TTTF that I bought online a month ago, before I planned this renovation).

Anyways, some pics! Here is the lawn in spring earlier this year, before the Bermuda started coming in for the season:





Then here is where we are at today, after Pylex a couple weeks ago, then a change in plan today to just kill everything and start over. This is post-glyphosate today. By next week, this should all be dead!





I'll power-rake everything next week to remove all the dead stuff. Then I'm going to level, aerate, then slit-seed (as well as broadcast seed with my spreader, too), then add some starter fertilizer and broadcast a dusting of peat moss over everything.

 

[social port]

You've had one app of glyphosate?
The bermuda could very well survive that, even with the turflon, pylex, etc that have already been applied. I'd be ready for the possibility of another glypho app in 1-2 weeks.
Your lawn was amazing.

 

[alpine0000]

Yea, I am prepared to do another application of Glyphosate next week.

I'm just worried that I may run a couple weeks too late to seed with KBG, since it takes a few weeks to germinate. But I won't start that until I know this Bermuda is gone!

 

[social port]

I'm just worried that I may run a couple weeks too late to seed with KBG

Yeah, I'd be worried about that too. Here's to hoping that first frost takes its time.

We have such a short window to get our seeding done. It's almost as if mother nature doesn't want us to grow grass.

 

[Vols_fan08]

Make sure you get at least 2 on Bermuda. Mine is taking 3. It's worth being a week or two late to get it right or you'll be back in the same boat next year or year 2.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

FWIW, that bermuda was looking pretty good it's like being married for a long time, "Cheaper to keep her."

 

[J_nick]

You most likely won't get a very successful kill on the Bermuda this fall. Hopefully you set it back enough to get you desired turf grass to establish. You're on the right track with the Pylex. Multiple applications over a few years has been what's been reported for Bermuda control. I checked the label for seeding restrictions and it said you can spray before the day of seeding then 28 days after seeding. Depending on when you get your seed in the ground you might be able to spray the Bermuda another time before it goes dormant for the winter.

 

[alpine0000]

I'm leaving to head to Myrtle Beach for 4 days in the morning, so I did another application of glyphosate today. If needed, I'll do a third one next weekend.









On a different note, I just started using PGR (Podium) last month (on my back yard for now), and wow -- it really works. I was mowing every 4-5 days before, and it was long when I mowed. Compared to now... I've only mowed once in the last 2 weeks and it wasn't even in desperate need of a mowing. I can't believe it! I mowed Thursday and I was going to mow again today before I leave for vacation, but it still looks like it was freshly mowed, so I skipped the mow today since there was really no point. I cannot believe how well Podium is working for me. PGR isn't cheap, but IMO it pays for itself, since I'm mowing only half the number of times (or maybe even less than half!) per season now, which saves me gas, wear and tear on my equipment, and time too.

I'll post more pics next weekend when I'm home from the beach.

 

[Colonel K0rn]

Hope you don't get soaked while at MB!

 

[alpine0000]

We got wet the first day at Myrtle, then it was beautiful after that!

I got home this evening, and here is what the lawn looks like now. I'll spot-spray a few areas that need it, but most of it appears to be dead.

 

[alpine0000]

I was going to spend the day today doing some work in the lawn, but I woke up to rain. Anyways, here are some photos of what it looks like today. I'm definitely going to have to spot-spray some areas that survived the first 2 apps of glyphosate. My neighbor walked over the day I was leaving for the beach when he saw me outside, and said "what happened to your lawn, man??", thinking I made some kind of fertilizer mistake or something. :lol:

 

[Colonel K0rn]

I was going to spend the day today doing some work in the lawn, but I woke up to rain. Anyways, here are some photos of My neighbor walked over the day I was leaving for the beach when he saw me outside, and said "what happened to your lawn, man??", thinking I made some kind of fertilizer mistake or something. :lol:

I had the same thing happen to me! I guess those of us who have done our own renovations requiring a total kill will understand that we have to deal with the ugly brown before we get to enjoy the lush green of both the lawn, and the envy of neighbors. :mrgreen:

 

[Roosterchest]

I recently used a Toro slice seeder on my back yard renovation. Now that I'm on day 7 I can really tell that there are places where the seeder either didn't seed or put it too far down. Clear rows despite overlapping and going in 45 degree angle.

Saying that, if I could go back I would save the $100 rental and just broadcast.

This is simply my experience---others possibly have had better success w a seeder. It's still early so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[alpine0000]

I recently used a Toro slice seeder on my back yard renovation. Now that I'm on day 7 I can really tell that there are places where the seeder either didn't seed or put it too far down.

I plan to both broadcast-seed and slice-seed. I've never done both before, so we'll see how it goes!

 

[alpine0000]

Today I aerated and then started on the lawn-leveling. I ran out of sand though, so I had to quit for the day. I need to head back up to Home Depot to pick up some more. I have a lot more leveling to do. I'm using 2 parts sand, 2 parts top soil, and 1 part peat moss.

 

[pennstater2005]

I'm using 2 parts sand, 2 parts top soil, and 1 part peat moss.

I like this mixture. I'll have some leveling to do in the future in my front yard but don't want straight sand.

 

[monty]

I'm using 2 parts sand, 2 parts top soil, and 1 part peat moss.

I like this mixture. I'll have some leveling to do in the future in my front yard but don't want straight sand.

How does one decide what mixture to use for leveling?

 

[alpine0000]

How does one decide what mixture to use for leveling?

I'm not sure if there is a certain proper mix for different zones/grass types, but this is a mix I've seen a lot online and it somewhat closely matches my soil type (sans the clay), and it works for me. I see some people use just straight sand... I haven't tried that before though.

 

[alpine0000]

I noticed that I still had a few green patches, so today I did a 4th application of RoundUp.



First, though, there was a lot of dead thatch from all the stuff that died off that I wanted to remove with the power rake.









Afterwards, I ran the Turfmaster with the bag attached over the area a few times to pick up all the loose thatch.



Then I sprayed what I'm hoping will be the last application of RoundUp on the entire area. After that, I let the RoundUp dry and did some more leveling with my mix of top soil, sand, and peat moss. There is still a lot of leveling left to do this weekend. Monday I plan to run the power rake once more over the area to remove any final remnants of dead stuff, then I'm going to slit-seed and broadcast-seed with a KBG and TTTF mix, as well as broadcast some starter fertilizer and peat moss over top of everything.

 

[Sinclair]

This is a most thorough kill!

Looking forward to your results. :thumbup: