I am in KC and maintain a bermuda lawn. I picked Yukon Bermuda specifically for it’s cold tolerance and because it can withstand the high traffic from 4 dogs running over it constantly. I am about as far north as I’d consider using bermuda grass. I still have to let the grass grow out closer to winter and always expect a little bit of winter kill that then fills in for spring.
If they can find a way to keep the soil warm, they can help mitigate bermuda going dormant earlier. I will be curious to see how everything holds up.
That’s awesome @StormGuyNovi. I bet it looks nice…especially right now.
PGR’s (plant growth regulators) could be your best friend. We use a product called PRIMO MAXX (trinexapac-ethyl) from Syngenta on some of our Bermuda lawns. It is used on just about every Bermuda golf course.
It basically stops or slows down the plant from growing vertically. It will reduce the seed heads and give the turf an beautiful dark color.
Mow less — darker color — fewer seed heads ---- thicker blades.
The plants still ‘grows’ and cells continue to divide…but they do no elongate.
It’s a next level improvement for higher end turf stands.
…another one is verti-cutting. Similar to a de-thatcher, you have vertical blades slicing through the plant.
Similar to this…
When you vertical cut the bermuda it slices the Rhizomes and Stolons (lateral roots), which creates more ‘crowns’ for the plant to grow from. I’m sure you have ‘runners’ of rhizomes that grow on to the sidewalk or driveway.
I’ll try and draw an example:
Before verti-cutting ______I_______I______I______I
After verti-cutting ___I___I___I___I___I___I___I___I
Yep, I’ve got a Sunjoe and it was a godsend for prepped a seedbed and making nice rows for the seed to grow. I am a member of a lawn forum where I learned everything I could about grass. I accidentally killed most of my lawn off after moving to a new home, then was torn on going between KBG and bermuda. I had a grow off, and I liked the bermuda better especially for summer.
I like to harvest the runners out and replant them in areas where the grass where the grass may be growing a bit weak and needing a boost. I’m on year 3 of my renovation. Most people said I’d never be able to get bermuda to grow, but I did my homework, and now have one of the nicest lawns on the block. When the Kansas summer hits, everyone’s cool season lawn goes yellow, and you can clearly see where my lawn thrives and starts encroaching into other properties.
We’ve got 2 people on our block who know what they are doing, so it’s nice to see people who care. I never did before, hated cutting grass as a kid, and didn’t care much about the lawn. I was tired of the lawn being a mud pit and the dogs dragging mud in every time they went outside.
2 stories. One, while I was in the middle of the reno, I killed off all the front yard with roundup so I could get rid of all the bad grass. I had a couple who was walking down the street, and the woman stopped to take a picture and laughed at my lawn. They came back about a month later and saw the new lawn growing. Next time by, they weren’t laughing anymore. That felt good.
I did have one neighbor across the street, guy is a complete jerk. I was outside doing some leveling, and he came over to tell me I was killing my lawn, and that he knew a guy who could come over and help me fix things if I was interested. I told him no thanks. Guy mows his lawn super short, and sure enough as summer hits, his lawn is now toasted. The only green “grass” this guy has, half of his lawn is now pure crabgrass. Meanwhile, mine is doing just fine. I wonder if he lost the number for his guy?
My neighbor has one of these perfect lawns and we constantly give each other shit about it. Its a 25 year fun war with practical jokes galore. Nothing mean, mine you. Its just a long running neighborhood entertainment.
It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. That’s all grown from seed. No sodding. I used SPF 30 KBG in a few shaded areas next to my garage that don’t get enough sun to support bermuda. The grasses blend well, and both fill in on it’s own if there’s any dog damage that takes place.
Eh, as someone who worked at a greens and grounds crew at a prestigious country club for a number of years - it’s moved for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest reasons cups are moved is because it drastically changes how you play a hole. You want members for cash flow, but if you want members you have to keep things fresh. Moving that cup helps. But yes overall you rotate the cup around to keep foot traffic from building all in one area. Very similar to the tee box - you slide the markers back and forth to give some stressed areas a chance to recover.
I think people would be shocked at how often these pro fields are re-sodded.
