(Need ODT Advice ) So, this is my yard…..

[greg vess]

I worked the lead Mechanic or Shop Forman at a golf course. Atlant National in ALPHARETTA. for a number of years. I will tell you keeping up a meticulous yard is no cake walk. Be prepared to give up all your off time to yard work. One thing I know for sure is you need to aerate you have to remove the hard plugs and then spread sand over the whole yard. This allow the soil and grass to breath and shed excess water. You will need to do this twice a year. If you don't scrape up the hard plugs and sand it you are just replacing hard dirt with hard dirt. We did this to out green and fairways twice a year like clock work. Spring and fall before the Zoysia went dormant.

I would start of tilling the yard and mixing top soil and sand about 60/40 and then rolling it to smooth it out. Then start your seeding or Sod work. Seeding or laying Sod on that hard low nutrient soil is going to fail miserably.

 

[greg vess]

Pesticide and herbicides might be required at times if fungus emerges. Zoysia comes in earlier and goes dormant later. It is a creeping grass like bermuda but once it takes and matures it's thick enough with a Heleva root system that keeps a lot of weaker weed strains at bay.

 

[greg vess]

When we aerated our fairways we had a blade mounted on a tractor to scrap aĺ the plugs off the fairway so we could put down a 60/30 mix down each time. This keeps the soil soft and nutrient rich.
I imagine then first time you aerate your plugs will be short with shallow holes. Get a pro with a hydraulic aerator. Those rolling drum type unit are crap and the hydraulic type stabs the yard forcing the tines to penetrate the hard earth.

 

[dr9]

It’s a builder special, 30 feet of bermuda, with ‘whathever the hell was already back there when they finished’ the back half of the yard.

The Bermuda is getting worse - patches develop and wont’ grow in. 2 dogs and a kid put it to good use, but it’s fricking Bermuda. It should hold up to it. I have it serviced by Top Turf throughout the year and while they do a decent job with the weeds the grass won’t fill in.
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Areas by the patio and fence are particularly bad now.
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I need options on how to best fix it for a decent price. I’ve tried seeding once and it didn’t work too well. May try again after it’s aerated next week. Sod, seed, different species - what’s the best option?

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Some of the worst spots also look like they are in shadier areas around corners of fence or structure and with bermuda, there is no fix for that. The other bad spots look like typical high traffic spots.

Something else to consider is that bermuda is just now starting to come out in many places, not sure where you live but with plenty of water and sun, post more pics in a month.

Also, I fully agree with the guy above who said don't mow it too short. That's for golf courses and retired people who can mow daily and train the grass that low. That's not the best way to do residential once-a-week mowing. And don't bag the clippings, especially with that piss poor soil. The more clippings the better. Builders scrape out all the topsoil and sell it, then hard pack down the remaining clay, throw sod on it, and walk away. If you do want to start over, you will need to not just till, but likely plow it back and forth in zig zags over and over and over to break up all the hard pack. It's a bitch. Then you will actually be able to till in the amendments. Then sod. But even then, those shady spots will still suffer with bermuda.

 

[Retired Army]

I was a head golf professional for 8 years in NC. As stated, soil sample first. Don’t do anything until after you have the results in hand. You can make decisions after that. It may be a simple fix I aerate mine now in April-October, same as my golf course. I also water heavily before aerating, helps get deeper penetration. Different schools of thought on the plugs. I drag mine in after aeration.

 

[greg vess]

I was a head golf professional for 8 years in NC. As stated, soil sample first. Don’t do anything until after you have the results in hand. You can make decisions after that. It may be a simple fix I aerate mine now in April-October, same as my golf course. I also water heavily before aerating, helps get deeper penetration. Different schools of thought on the plugs. I drag mine in after aeration.

If you have good soil dragging is fine for a yard. However on a golf course where Kenny Roger's has a house overlooking an Island green #17 dragging fairways just won't do. I do think they drug the range.

 

[greg vess]

Don Sutton played everyday out there for money. One day one of his foursome dropped dead of a heart attack. The next day he was back out there with a new player. LOL I say Ian Baker Finch play out there and met Alice Cooper out there as well. We had employee day and I went Fishing with a famous tournament fisher. I can't for the life of me remember his name though.

 

[greg vess]

Bill Dance. Took me a minute. I was catching crap. He was was pulling in lunkers in on every 4th cast. AMAZING!

 

[FreedomUSMC]

I hadn’t thought about that. Thanks.

Nope.

Aerated each of the last 2 years in May. Coming again next week.

’Should be’ I know. the fence is shading the right side of my yard, so that would explain that bare streak ,but the rest of it gets plenty of sun this time of year.

I was sort of leaning this way, but that sounds like a massive pain in the ass. What should i do - split the seed 50/50 initially or overseed in the fall with Fescue?

Mixing 50/50 is good. Some companies premix the stuff for you. In dense shade, increase the Fescue amount (up to 100%) since it grows better than most grass.

 

[rbalan]

If 2 dogs and a kid are in the picture, don’t even consider zoysia. If re-sodding, Tiftuff Bermuda is the way to go, but dog urine will damage it as well. There is no inexpensive way to fix the yard, but I’d say amending the soil with a sand/organic mix will be mandatory for improvement.