Bermuda hybrid brown

asbury park

Have tifsport Bermuda in my yard and for a while it was kept too long. I went in vacation and the person supposed to be cutting it let it go. So had to cut it at 3" for a while. Last week I cut it back down to 2". I cut it again at 2" several days later. It is pretty brown now. It will start to green up but once I cut it it goes back to brown. It is showing some signs of turning green. I gave it about half the normal application of 16-4-8 about two weeks ago. Will it go back to green this summer? Should I keep the height down or let it go up a bit?

sdsester

First reaction is even 2" seems awfully tall to cut bermuda. Mine looked most spectacular with the gardener using a heavy reel mower and giving it a buzz cut at least once a week.

Where are you? You might update your profile. I would be guessing at your dormant season without the information.

I had a bermuda front lawn in Northern California that was gorgeous with lots of care but did turn brown and go dormant starting late September through February or early March as I remember.

During the growing season I sought to give it 1 pound of nitrogen per 1,000sf per month---fast acting not time released fertilizer. Some months it got straight nitrogen.

So in your case with 16-4-8 (Nitrogen is the first number of the NPK ratio always you know?) 16 percent of the package is available nitrogen. Or 16 pounds out of 100 pound sack put another way. You could feed 2,000sf of lawn 8 times.

I suspect if you applied at half the recommended rate you certainly did no harm but I would put the rest on now, especially if it is fast acting and not time released. If you are in a climate like N California, now is about your last chance for the season though. You just waste money feeding it during the dormant season.

Fall was generally a good time for maintenance things like dethatching and I am thinking if yours was allowed to grow tall its thatch layer may have gone a little crazy too?

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asbury park

I am in North Carolina. It is a new turf, sodded in march. It had been beautiful up until now. When it was tall it was nice and green. I agree the 2" is still a bit high. Like I said, I was on vacation and the guy who was supposed to cut it let it go. You are correct on the 16-4-8. That is the recommended fertilizer her for Bermuda. That or 12-4-8. At least until 4-6 weeks before the first frost. I may go ahead with another application. And, yes the thatch appears to be building up.