Bermuda Grass

[janverbeem]

Since the grass sods are at an incredible inflated rate at the moment,around 80 Bht/m² I have been looking into the seeding option and consider to purchase the Bermuda grass seeds as they grow quickly.

My only concern is as how much maintenance it needs.

Since there are members who have the Bermuda grass,can you please inform me how often you need to cut it?

[drtreelove]

Mow Weekly, as you should with all lawn grasses. If you extend the mowing intervals you have to cut too much percentage of the leaf; it will look scalped and is not healthy maintenance practice. Mow frequently enough to only cut 1/4 to 1/3 of the grass blades/leaves at each cutting.

Fertilize every 6 to 8 weeks unless you have good organic matter content in the soil. Water twice daily, early morning and evening except when rains provide, or during the coldest months when growth slows down.

The biggest problem with standard Bermuda, that you will get if you find seeds, is very invasive via seeding and especially the underground rhizomes/runners. The hybrids (from sod, plugs or stolons) a little less so. Prepare for this with defined edging (header-board, concrete or brick mowing strip) where weekly mechanical or chemical edging will be facilitated.

I saw your recent discussion on the CM forum; there is mixed good and bad advise there. I recommend sticking with the two or three commonly available sod choices. Bermuda's invasiveness is a serious concern, unless in your situation it doesn't matter. There are some other choices of specialty grasses available and one of the discussions on this forum highlighted a supplier. I think it was from ForeverFord, an avid golfer and former golf course landscaper.

Preparation is everything; you can get away with following the advise of some posters, just to loosen up the soil, stomp down on the new sod and water it; it may look okay for awhile, but within an year or two it will start to decline. If you want a beautiful, sustainable lawn and to minimize chemical fertilization for environmental concerns, you need to prepare adequately with good top soil and incorporating compost to achieve a high organic matter content. This provides slow release nutrient supply and helps hold moisture between waterings.

I disagree with those who say that Ya Malaysia is for shade only. One of the best looking, large-area landscape lawns that I know of (in Sarapee at one of my tree service customers) has full sun exposure, is green, lush and beautiful. I asked the expat owner about his fertilization program to keep it looking so good. He said that he has never fertilized; he prepared well with high organic matter topsoil. That and conscious irrigation to maintain soil moisture, and weekly mowing.

Start you prep now, follow the advise of those who say wait for the weeds to grow up, control them before planting your grass, and life with your lawn will be a little easier. Plant the grass at the beginning of the rainy season and your watering requirement will be lessened. Still pay attention to soil moisture and water if it doesn't rain that day. Walk through and pull or dig weeds daily or at least weekly before they get too big, well rooted and go to seed. I used to pay my daughter one baht per pulled weed. She never lasted long enough to break me, but did put a dent in the weeding requirement, and that was okay for awhile, until her teenage hair, mobile phone and social networking began to take too much of her valuable time. Somehow make it a discipline so as not to let it get out of hand. Forget about Feed and Weed fertilizer/herbicide products; they are dangerous to broadleaf trees and shrubs bordering your lawn.

There have been several discussions on lawns and grass choices, here and in the Plants, Pets and Vets forum and CM forum. Search those and you may get some more useful tips. don