I bought my house two years ago and the yard was a disgrace. I've fertilized and watered and managed to somehow get a half yard of St. Augustine and half yard of Bermuda. I figured one would choke out the other sooner or later, but this has not happened. If I could choose one over the other, I'd choose Bermuda but only if it's thick. Either way, I need one to win. Any ideas? By the way, I grew up in the sticks where lawn maintenance consisted of a once-over with the brush hog every week or so, so I'm still figuring out the lawn maintenance thing.

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Water less.
Mow shorter, more frequently.
St. Augustine will tolerate the shade, so if you've got a big tree in the yard that provides lots of shade, you ain't gonna get the Bermuda under there.


Now the thing that I call livin' is just bein' satisfied with knowin' I got no one left to blame

If it gets the water, light, and food it needs the st aug will win out. I fight that battle yearly. And the st aug wins 90% of the battle. Just needs a little tlc but the bermuda is the champ this time of year. Im greening up now and the bermuda is in the lead for now. Our yard was horrible when we moved here. Took a lot of work but it sure looks nice these days.

With all due respect to Master Aggie, all else being equal, if you mow it shorter the Bermuda will win.

Well maybe the laws of physics cease to exist in my yard. I mow short through may and raise a notch after that, water like hell and feed and the st aug kills out 90%+ of the bermuda by june. Im not an agronomist and didnt stay at a holiday inn express last night but it works for me.

[This message has been edited by MasterAggie (edited 3/12/2010 10:06p).]

You live around Houston. Scrape the remaining Bermuda and put down St. Augustine sod. Make sure you have a sprinkler system. Get a company to come out and add a layer of organic compost over the whole thing, especially if you have crappy soil. Then your lawn might rule like mine does.

MasterAggie,
Go back to my first post. Keep mowing short (not just through May) and cut back on the water. Those cultural practices will favor the Bermuda. What you're doing is favoring the St. Augustine and that's why it's thriving in your yard.


Now the thing that I call livin' is just bein' satisfied with knowin' I got no one left to blame

Dood! Czech the sarcasm meter! I was fooquing with you. Sorry. Its late and i wanted to be a smartass. You are correct. I do ky lawnwork to favor the st aug.

Hmm. More mowing, more water, eh?

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I like St. Agustine. MasterAggie's practice is true.

Bermuda seems much more "tolarable" to weeds than my St. Augustine, especially during the weed season.

Cut it short, water like hell, expecially on the outer edges of the St. Augustine runners. Fertilize the runner areas to boot.

My back yard was mostly Dallasgrass a few years ago. The method above now has my backyard 3/4 St. Augustine, and growing.

You best water like a madman though. There used to be a section outside my fence that was almost all St. Augustine, and with this last years drought and only being able to effectively water all but that with the sandy soil we have...is now crap grass.

Having the lawn you desire is a constant battle.

Thanks. When you say "cut short", what are we talking here?

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LSRAR,

If you are asking me.... this time of year I mean short.

I cut it short to the point of my mulching John Deere rider deck bangs a little cause it is bound up some.

In other words it gets cut as tight as it can without scalping. As it warms, it cut it longer. Naturally, the cuttings this time of year are rare. Fertiize, water, and cut. Today was the first cut and it was SHORT. Chemlawn sprayed my yard for weeds two weeks ago, and it was the first time I ever let anyone else do it. Looks like it worked well, as the weeds were dying.

While I usually "do" the yard myself, I have a backup man. My oak trees are moulting this time of year. He mowed, and picked up about 25 bags of 55 gallon capacity bags of cutting and leaves. Most of which were oak leaves. It will take another "pick up" of probably about the same in leaves in about a month.

My oaks are my problem though.

If you have St. Augustine, cut it short this time of year, fertilize in the next couple of weeks and water like hell if rain is not every week.

St. Augustine will prevail...just find the crabrass and weed it out. For some reason St. Augustine has an issue with that.

I think I over fertilized the St Augustine in the back yard last year, and it went from thick and hard to mow to not so great...or the drought got it...I hope this will come back somehow. I just mowed down a crapload of weeds in the back yard and need to fertilize now. Any suggestions to get the St Augustine to come back? Also front yard could use some help as well. I am interested in laying down some mulch to help the poor yard or maybe even some additional grass...
Buck- did they do this on top of the grass in a thin layer or what?

Kyle Field is Bermuda. It is mowed at 1/4 inch. You can't mow Bermuda too short.

The shorter you cut it, the more often you need to mow.

growing up, we had a lot of trees and a mostly St Augustine lawn. however one area was full sun, and somehow some bermuda got in there. it achieved about a 50/50 balance, and that patch of yard was the BEST lawn ever! I think a mixed lawn is awesome.

Once the heat gets here, mow high and keep your grass @ 4"'s, that way it will choke out the weeds & bermuda, and you will have to water less!

both have advantages.

St. Aug looks great, chokes out weeds, spreads rapidly, and grows in shade.

But it also takes a ton of water, is suseptible (sp?) to disease, and cannot tolerate a lot of traffic.

Bermuda looks great if its thick, doesn't require much water, is very traffic hardy and doesn't get as many diseases.

But it is harder to get thick, and can't grow in the shade.

88 has it right. They are a great mix, but you have to be careful what chemicals you use because St. Augustine will not tolerate all that bermuda will.

quote:

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The shorter you cut it, the more often you need to mow.

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You will lose your whole yard of grass if you forget this rule. Never take off more than you leave.

Where are you and what type of yard do you have?

Mow high, 3 - 31/2 inches, water 1" once a week once and fertilize = St. Aug wins!

Mow lower, water 1" once a week and fertilize + a little MSMA = Bermuda wins!

I know a lot of people bad mouth it but the best luck ive had with any fertilizer is scotts weed and feed. Im going to use it agian in a week or so and then i think ill try some of neil sperrys fertilizers. Ive only heard good things about it. I tried some organic stuff last year and the stuff the coop here offers over the last two years with average results at best.