different strands of bermuda?

denemante

Hey all - my backyard looks like a golf course - and my front yard....doesn't. We live in Atlanta. It's all bermuda grass. The front is original (13 years old laid when the house was built). The backyard was redone by the previous owner 5 years ago.

The front yard - the grass is in fact healthy as confirmed by TruGreen. No dethatching needed, properly fertilized, properly watered - I have in-ground sysytem.

It's just that it sorta looks like the blades of grass are more sparse and less tightly packed, and about one of of 10 is tan. The backyard is like a plush carpet.

The front yard - between weekly mowing - it sprouts up 5-7 inch high stalks that split at the top. The back yard does not.

This tells me it must be two different kinds of bermuda grass.

I'd really like to get the front looking like the back - a green carpet.

Any ideas? Bermuda has to start growing somewhere - is there some seed I could spread to thicken it up out front?

pucks101

Firstly, this situation question could really use a picture attached. Second, which way does the house face, i.e. which yard is southern / western exposure, and which is northern / eastern?

denemante

I'll take a pic as soon as I can. But all the grass, front yard and back, gets equal sun. It's about an acre total with shade trees around the edge and by the house - not really casting shadows on any significant portion of the lawn.

I noticed this AM that all my neighbors grass looks the same - the front yard has sprouts that Y at the top about 5-6 inches tall between mowings. The difference has got to be the newer (and perhaps better) sod that was laid in my back yard.

pucks101

Sounds like you're just describing the flower cluster that pops up taller than the grass. No idea why it's more obvious in everyone's front yards vs back yards, but you can look here to decide if this is what you're seeing:http://science.howstuffworks.com/env...grass-info.htm . If not, we'll probably need to wait for your own pics.

denemante

That's exactly what I'm seeing. Everyone else - it's in both their front yards and back yards - originally planted sod when the neighborhood was built 13 years ago. In my yard, it's only in the front. My backyard was redone 4 years ago by previous owner. It's definitely all bermuda...only question is if it's all the same strand (if there even are different strands.)

So my frontyard gets the flower clusters tall between mowings, and the overall quality is slightly scraggly and the blades a bit more sparse with a few tan blades mixed in....while my backyard gets limited flower clusters and looks like a golf course.

Perhaps it's the soil. Even so, TruGreen claims they've got the right nutrients in the mix. Still, if there is different quality (or harder) soil in my front yard - what could be done? Sprinkle a layer of topsoil across it then airate it to somehow blend it downward?

pucks101

I'm not an expert on Bermuda grass specifically, but I'm pretty sure that flowering (aka inflorescence of Bermuda grass) is just part of the normal way that it goes to seed and spreads. I don't know if there's a way to prevent it from happening other than cutting it often enough, and to a height, that shows less stalks. Do a Google search for inflorescence of Bermuda grass and check some college / university web sites and you may some something helpful.

I am a little more versed in Kentucky Bluegrass, and I've noticed that it goes to seed at a much taller height when it's thick and healthy, which sounds like what you've noticed in your front vs rear yards. Do you bag your clippings or mulch? Maybe mulching would let the seeds from the flowers grow the lawn thicker? It's also possible a little more feeding between the TruGreen treatments (such as Miracle-Gro) may help, but that is just a guess.