Xtremehorticulture

Xtremehorticulture of the Desert

Design and Installing Lawn Irrigation Not As Easy As It Looks

Leave a Comment / brown spots, lawns, turfgrass /

Q. We installed a lawn 18 months ago, but it has a difficult time during summer months. I aerate it, fertilize it and I know the drainage is good because the landscaper installed the system to our HOA requirements. I water twice daily, six days a week around 5 AM and 9 PM. There is a decent amount of shade and the yard faces south. Even the heavily shaded areas have problems. What can I do differently? Brown patches in lawns during hot summers will quickly show irrigation weaknesses. Notice these patches are also close to the patio where people walk. This area should probably be core aerified annually due to traffic. A. I looked at your pictures and the lawn looks good in most places except for a few small brown areas. Brown spots during summer months frequently point out weaknesses in the irrigation system. In your case the brown spots are also in front of the patio where there is alot of human traffic. Areas like this should be core aerified annually. Hollow tine aerifier             My first suspicion is the irrigation system and was not installed or maintained properly. Let’s cover the basic “must dos” when installing and maintaining an irrigation system. Water pressure The operating water pressure MUST be within the operating range of the sprinkler nozzles. Frequently this is 15– 30 psi. Some expensive sprinkler heads have built in pressure regulators, but lesser expensive ones may not. If the water pressure is too high, fogging or misting will occur out of the nozzle. If the sprinkler head is “fogging”, then brown spots will occur in weak areas. If pressure is too high, reduce it with a pressure regulator. If water pressure is too low, remove any pressure regulator, change it for the proper one or install a booster pump to increase the water pressure. Head to head coverage Water must be thrown from the nozzle far enough to reach neighboring sprinkler heads. Sprinkler heads must be installed at distances specified by the nozzles. These distances are meaningless if you don’t have the right water pressure. Sprinkler nozzles Sprinkler nozzles specify the operating pressure range, allowable spacing between sprinkler heads and precipitation rate in inches per hour among other things. These nozzles must be matched to each other. If someone maintains the irrigation system and replaces a nozzle with the wrong kind, it will produce brown spots in underwatered, weak areas.             Curved areas and re-curved areas of the lawn are the most difficult to water. There are adjustable nozzles that can be used but it will always be a weak irrigation area subject to brown spots.             Never water early at night like at 9 PM. If your lawn is healthy and it has a good irrigation system, one irrigation per day during summer is all that most lawns need IF the sprinkler system was designed and installed correctly. Irrigation should finish just before dawn. If you must water late in the day, apply water so that the grass leaf blades dry before it gets dark.             Don’t rake or catch the grass clippings when mowing. Most mowers now are “mulching mowers” with a special blade and deck design. Returning the clippings to the lawn substitutes for one fertilizer application each season.

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Brown Spots in Lawn Probably “Frogeye” Disease

Leave a Comment / disease, Fusarium, grass, insects, irrigation, lawn, turfgrass /

Q. I have some large dead areas in my lawn. I don’t think it’s an insect problem. Watering is at 2 AM and 7 AM. This was my first lawn problem in 16 years! Unusual pattern for dead grass. Too random for irrigation I think. This picture you start to see the “frogeye” disease pattern. Looks like it could be a chemical spill. Here is where “frogeye” starts to make an impression. But its over.  A. I looked at the pictures you sent, but the last picture was the most “telling” to me. I think your lawn had a disease problem that is now finished. Don’t do anything now! Let me tell you why I came to that conclusion.             Insect problems here are not like those “rolling back like a carpet” problems described in books and online. Those descriptions apply to Kentucky bluegrass damaged by white grubs. We have grubs, but we don’t have much bluegrass anymore. Our lawns are 95% tall fescue and tall fescue reacts differently to insect damage. It pulls out like loose hair from an old animal skin. Plus, the pattern of dying grass does not resemble insect damage. Rolls Back Like a Carpet             I first thought the brown spots were an irrigation problem, but the pattern doesn’t fit an irrigation problem. With irrigation problems, dead or damaged areas are in a pattern that relates to the location of sprinkler heads. I didn’t know where the sprinkler heads were, but the damage was irregular, so I ruled out irrigation. Irrigation problems are nearly always easy to see how they connect to the sprinklers.             The pattern does, however, resemble a chemical spill flowing downhill and damaging the grass in its path. It was a possibility, but the last picture looked like advanced stages of a disease problem. We used to call this disease Fusarium blight or “frogeye”. This disease has since been renamed Necrotic Ring Spot. I thought “frogeye” was much more descriptive. Seldom will you see it this obvious but this is frogeye. See how it got its name? In advanced stages these dead areas can become one but you still look for little patches of green grass that would still be there. Sometimes its hard to see them.             What led me in the direction toward disease were the small patches of green grass still alive but surrounded by dead grass. These small green patches of grass are how “frogeye”, now Necrotic Ring Spot, got its name.             From the pictures, it looks like the disease has run its course and the grass that’s alive is healthy. I say this because the grass surrounding the dead areas appears healthy. This is the way lawn diseases usually work. They have a window of opportunity, when the weather is right for the disease to spread, and it takes off. The weather changes and the disease stops.             You would be wasting your money to apply a fungicide now that it’s over. But, don’t disturb the brown, dead grass and leave it alone until fall. If you remove it now, it opens the soil to invasion by Bermudagrass. Bermudagrass loves sunshine, bare soil and water. It hates shade. Wait until the weather cools in late September or October, remove the dead grass and either seed or sod these areas.

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When to Fertilize Lawns

Leave a Comment / fertilizer, lawn, turfgrass /

Q. When is it time to start fertilizing lawns again? Lawns can be beautiful but they need regular feeding. The light green color of this lawn is an indicator it needs an application of nitrogen fertilizer. That nitrogen fertilizer will turn that light green lawn into a dark green lawn in a matter of a couple days. A. It depends on whether the lawn is fescue, only Bermudagrass or Bermudagrass overseeded in Fall to maintain green winter color. Fescue lawns and overseeded Bermudagrass lawns are fertilized the same during winter months. Ammonium sulfate fertilizer contains only nitrogen that the plants need when their color is not dark enough. The sulfur in the sulfate is also important for plants but in the case of light green color, all that’s lacking is nitrogen.3 to 5 pounds of this fertilizer spread evenly over 1000 ft.² of lawn and watered in will turn the color a deep green instead of light green.             Fescue and overseeded Bermudagrass should have been fertilized last Thanksgiving to maintain dark green color through winter. If this fertilizer application was missed and temperatures get cold, the lawn can turn brown when it gets very cold or just light green if it does not.             The next fertilizer application to fescue lawns would be when air temperatures enter the 60s. Fertilize Bermudagrass that was not overseeded when temperatures enter the 80s. Once or twice a year add a better quality fertilizer to the lawn like this one. It has a little bit of phosphorus, the middle number. Lawns don’t need a lot of phosphorus because we don’t grow them for their flowers and fruit. I would like to see the potassium, the last number, higher than this but this is a good lawn fertilizer.             Established lawns require fertilizers containing high nitrogen, and occasionally an application of iron, for dark green color. However, they will perform best if this fertilizer contains also low levels of phosphorus and moderate to high levels of potassium.             For this reason, fertilizers similar to 21-7-14 or 10-5-10 are frequently recommended for lawns. Some people use only high nitrogen fertilizer such as 21-0-0 and omit phosphorus and potassium.             I think this is a mistake and a good lawn fertilizer should be applied at least once during the growing season. Instead, experiment and try fertilizing with only half the amount of fertilizer recommended on the bag. This is all that is usually needed if you are not bagging lawn clippings but mulching them back into the lawn using the mower.

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Are Organic Fertilizers Really Organic?

1 Comment / biosolids, compost, landscapes, lawns, Organic fertilizers, turfgrass /

The organic movement has a foothold in the turfgrass and ornamental industry. The same industry brewing for decades in home vegetable gardens, and then with small-scale producers, has emerged as a significant market percentage for commercial landscapers. Homeowners are asking for “organic” landscape plants, organic methods of controlling pests and applications of “organic” fertilizer to their landscapes. Migration of Organics to the Landscape Industry             Alternative methods for producing and maintaining ornamentals and turfgrass have been around for a long, long time. In the past, very few residential clients were willing to pay for the additional costa associated with the product. That may be changing thanks to local food movements and organic agriculture1. The word “organic” has become synonymous with “wholesome” and “safe”. Organic fertilizers for vegetable gardens             Organic has a different meaning in landscape horticulture industry. Organic can mean sources that are not synthetic or conventional. Organic amendments, such as municipal and animal sources of biosolids, can be applied to improve soil physical and chemical properties which in turn can improve turfgrass establishment rates, growth, and quality. We know, for instance, that in poor or marginal soils the incorporation of compost improves soil properties, increases soil nutrients and consequently improves plant growth. In soils with a naturally higher percentage of organic matter these improvements are less noticeable. Nitroform urea used in the landscape industry could be classified as an “organic” fertilizer even though it is manufactured  Composted Dairy Manure Reduced Turfgrass Disease in Colorado             Research at Colorado State University evaluated the effects of applying composted dairy manure as topdressing to Kentucky bluegrass. Researchers applied compost at the rates of 13.3, 26.6 and 40 cubic yards to the acre. Applying composted manure as topdressing to established bluegrass in 2003 through 2004 improved the soil’s physical properties and nutrient content. EZ Green Is a composted chicken manure product for the landscape industry that is OMRI listed product for the organic program by USDA             Although nothing new, the application rates are important. The two higher rates improved turfgrass overall quality and allowed the grass to retain color in the fall, early winter and green up faster in the spring. Not bad for a product that is not considered a fertilizer.             During the hot summer months the two higher application rates produced about 50% more clippings. The researchers concluded that compost improves turf quality and shoot growth via its action as a slow-release fertilizer. Lawn clippings remove from the grass and left on the curbside for dumping in landfills. These clippings are filled with valuable nutrients that could be returned to the lawn resulting in one less fertilizer application each year.             More turfgrass clippings sound like a potential landscaper’s nightmare but there is a positive side to this “problem”.  Increased amounts of clippings in summer months helps suppress the incidence of hot weather diseases. Infected leaf blades are removed through regular mowing and mulched back into the turfgrass sward or removed from the property.             Disease suppression by composts, composted biosolids and compost teas in vegetable crops has been documented fairly well. But research has been conducted on the suppressive effects of composts, such as biosolids, on turfgrass diseases as well, dating back 20 years or more. Compost tea applicator used for soil applications             This research shows promise to “organic” gardeners by reducing the application of fungicides, synthetic fertilizers and other chemicals to home lawns. Composts show promise in controlling turf diseases such as Pythium, summer patch, brown spot, dollar spot, red thread, necrotic ring spot and others.  Reductions in the applications of pesticides such as fungicides, directly supports the “organic” movement whether it is truly organic or not. Lawn clippings from commercial properties represent a huge amount of fertilizer that is removed from the lawn grasses and buried in landfills. Composted Biosolids Benefits To Landscapes Shown by Texas Researchers             Researchers at Texas A and M University, from 2005 through 2008, demonstrated the benefits from composts used for soil improvement and nutrient enrichment can be transferred from the sod farm to newly established landscapes. Previous studies with sod that recycled manure-based soil amendments as topdressing indicates that 77% of the phosphorus and 47% of the nitrogen might be removed and transported in a single sod harvest.             About one quarter of the cubic yard of composted biosolids was incorporated to rootzone depth in a cubic yard of native soil when establishing Tifway bermudagrass sod. Researchers measured that five times more nitrogen and seven times more phosphorus was available to turfgrass grown in biosolids compared to grass grown without biosolids. Fertilizer content of composted biosolid product by a local Las Vegas supplier             After two sod harvests, all of the nitrogen and phosphorus applied from the biosolids was removed with the sod. These nutrients were transferred, with the sod, to the landscape.             Although not demonstrated, researchers claimed that this could result in faster establishment times and better turfgrass cover in a shorter period of time. This, of course, would reduce the amount of fertilizers needed during sod establishment. Another coup for the organic movement.             They also found that sod established with biosolids was lighter in weight than sod grown without biosolids. Biosolids-grown sod contained more water but less native soil than sod without biosolids. This helped preserve the native soil. Less fuel is needed for transporting the sod. Organics, are you listening? Composts Release Fertilizer Nutrients Slowly             Composts, when used as a fertilizer, releases nutrients slowly, acting like a slow-release fertilizer. When establishing turfgrass in sod farm operations, rapid turfgrass establishment is important so a rapid release of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, is needed.             This was not going to happen with compost-amended soils. So the researchers applied either 50 or 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre at the time of sprigging (establishment) to supplement the slowly-released nutrients contained in the compost.             Because of the application of supplemental nitrogen, the time between harvests in biosolids-amended soil plus fertilizer was reduced 60% compared to

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Bermudagrass Lawn Change of Color May Be Drought

Leave a Comment / brown patches, dead areas, drought, grayish green, irrigation, lawn, turfgrass /

Q. We have lived in the same house in Las Vegas for the last 42 years and every June my lawn has the same problem. The lawn is a mix of common and hybrid Bermudagrass. First the grass turns grayish (in patches) and then it turns brown. It slowly comes back by September. I water according to local recommendations, use Scott’s Turf builder 3 to 4 times a year and use Ortho Bug-B-Gone insect granules twice a year.   A. If this were tall fescue I might be tempted to say this is a disease problem. However, since it is a mixture of Bermudagrasses I think this is an irrigation problem. This will be particularly true if these problem areas are in the same locations every year. Turfgrass or lawns will turn a smoky or grayish green when they are not getting enough water. This is because the leaf blade either folds in half or roles depending on the grass. This creates a different color; smoky or grayish green             Bermudagrass in our climate doesn’t develop many insect or disease problems.             The success of lawns in our desert climate is directly tied to the quality of an irrigation system. In technical terms we say the irrigation system should provide head to head coverage; water from a sprinkler head should be thrown far enough to reach the head to its right and it’s left. If we don’t provide this kind of uniformity in the design and installation of an irrigation system it can result in brown patches that don’t receive enough water. A close-up of the grayish green color where the lawn is not getting enough water             The water pressure in the sprinkler system should fall within a range recommended by the sprinkler manufacturer. If the water pressure is too high or too low it will affect the distribution of water and create browning of the lawn in the same areas year after year. Otherwise, there are sprinklers now that will lower the water pressure before the water is applied to the lawn. Another indicator of drought or lack of water in a lawn are footprints. If you walk across grass that needs water, look behind you. If your footprints remain in the grass does not spring back quickly, the grass needs water.             You can correct this problem in the short run by increasing the number of minutes that you apply water. This delivers more water to the dry areas. Unfortunately, it also delivers more water to the wet areas resulting in overwatering of the green areas.             It is also a good idea to punch holes in the lawn with an aerating machine in the spring, particularly in the brown areas. This helps water to move into the soil and not run off into low spots if there are any.             Bermudagrass is notorious for building up “thatch”. Thatch is a buildup of old grass stems and debris under the surface of the lawn but on top of the soil. Years ago this thatch was burned off of the lawn with fire. We can’t do that anymore. We must do it mechanically now. A core aerifier for lawns pulls plugs or cores out of the lawn that are about 4 inches deep. This type of verification provides better drainage and water penetration for lawns suffering from drought             It is important to dethatch Bermudagrass each year. This is usually done in the fall when overseeding it with a cool season grass like ryegrass to maintain a green winter lawn. If the lawn is not overseeded in the fall then thatch can be a huge problem in Bermudagrass. D thatching machines, sometimes called vertical mowers, pull debris from a lawn which allows water to better penetrate the soil and reduces runoff.             Making changes to the irrigation system will correct some of this problem and reduce the amount of water needed to keep the lawn green. Increasing the number of minutes you apply water during the heat of the summer should solve this problem in the short run.             But I would combine this with lawn aerification every three or four years and dethatching every year to improve the amount of water entering the soil in the dry areas.

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Clover-Like Weed Not Clover, Difficult to Control

Leave a Comment / oxalis, turfgrass, weed control in lawns, woodsorrel /

Q. I have reddish, clover-looking weeds that have taken over my lawn.  Last year they nearly covered it.  I tried weed and feed several times but that didn’t seem to get rid of them.  A friend of mine had the same problem and had to remove all of their grass and re-sod their lawn. They bought their own lawnmower made their landscaper use it because they said the lawnmowers that landscapers use can spread this clover everywhere. Readers picture of “clover” A. the picture you sent to me appears to be oxalis and not clover. Oxalis has a yellow flower. Clovers usually have white, pink or reddish flowers. They both have clover-like leaves.             Oxalis is extremely difficult to control once it gets established. We see them growing in flowerbeds and shrub beds as well as lawns. In beds, it is usually brought in with the plant material as a weed contaminant in the container. But it also can be brought in on lawnmowers. Oxalis Focus on weed killers for lawns that include the weed “oxalis” on the label rather than clover. If you are not sure, give me the name of the product in an email and I can help you from there. Control it now or in the fall, not during summer heat. If there were not too many, you could consider digging out the contaminated lawn areas to a depth of about 6 inches and replace it with sod. In your case it sounds like it’s covering the entire lawn. There are many different lawn weed killers labeled for controlling dandelions. They contain several weed killers in different combinations to control a different array of weeds. Look at “dandelion” weed killers but make sure the label includes controlling oxalis. Use a product that is sprayed rather than a dry granular applied to the lawn. Related links to this post http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2014/02/clover-looking-weed-with-yellow-flowers.html http://xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com/2012/11/this-clover-looking-weed-is-hard-to-get.html

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How to Water Your Lawn During Summer Heat

Leave a Comment / bermudagrass, grass, irrigating lawns, tall fescue, turfgrass, watering lawns in the summer /

I know that your municipality may have you on water restrictions in the desert. And that is good. We need to manage our water resources.You need to be aware of how to water turfgrass (your lawn) to minimize water waste and optimize lawn health. These are key principles: Sprinklers are designed to apply water when there is no wind.  Wet grass encourages disease. Winds increase after sunup. Heat resistant lawns have deep roots. Sprinklers apply water faster than soils can absorb it. Water lawns when half the applied water is gone. Most home lawns are tall fescue or bermudagrass. Water in the early morning hours before sunrise. Don’t leave grass wet during the night time. This fosters diseases. When the sun rises, winds increase. Winds blow water “off course” and water is wasted. Apply enough water to penetrate 8 to 12 inches. After the irrigation is finished the water should wet the grass roots to a depth of several inches. This waters the entire root zone of the plant. Grass on slopes should receive an irrigation divided into several smaller applications. Most irrigation sprinklers apply water too fast. This water runs off the surface to low spots or into the street. Water delivered several times in smaller amounts has less chance or running off the surface. Irrigate bermudagrass less often but with more water than tall fescue. Bermudagrass can use 25 to 40% less water than tall fescue. It has deeper roots. It should be watered differently than tall fescue.

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Trees Planted in Grass Need Extra Water

Leave a Comment / irrigation of desert trees, mesquite planted in lawn, turfgrass /

Q. I had a 3 year old mesquite tree in my front yard that just blew over in the wind today.The original landscapers planted a tree without a drip system. I have an area of grass around the tree and they told me in the past that that is sufficient to water a tree. Today the landscapers that came to cut down the tree told me it fell because of the roots being at the surface. Do you recommend putting in the drip line? I can tell you the soil under the tree was very moist from the sprinklers. I have attached a picture of the felled tree. Any suggestions for a tree that would be sturdy to the wind? The original tree planted was a glossy privet that died after the first year. It was replaced by the mesquite. I have to plant something in the 24 inch box size per HOA rules. Mesquite tree that blew over A. I am sorry to hear about your tree that blew over. This can be a problem sometimes with trees that are planted in or near lawns and rely only on lawn irrigation. Lawns require shallow irrigation that are frequent. Trees and large shrubs require a larger amount of water applied less often. Be very careful of planting trees that originate from deserts and used for desert landscaping (examples are acacia and palo verde) planted in the lawn. This usually does not work well. Trees that are suited for lawn areas are those that are not desert trees. Trees and large shrubs getting water only from the lawn will fight for the shallow irrigations of the lawn. If you are an efficient lawn irrigator, the tree will have a difficult time getting the deep irrigations it needs for deep rooting. When trees are planted in large turfgrass areas, such as golf courses or parks, the trees always grow faster and perform better if they are supplemented with water for the first few years. After three or four years of successful growth, you could eliminate the hose irrigations around the trees except perhaps during the hottest parts of the summer. Mesquite roots can good deep if given a chance. This is a native mesquite in Zacatecas, Mexico, near a river. The roots had found moisture from the river but not at the surface and so were forced to go deep where moist soil was located. Some golf course superintendents would send out a water truck once every week or two to flood the area around the tree with water. This encouraged deeper rooting and kept the lawn from robbing the tree of its shallow water supply. You can do the same thing with a hose. When a tree is planted in the lawn area it is best to leave a shallow depression around the tree 3 to 4 feet in diameter. This can be a basin for flooding the area around the tree every week or two with a hose. It also helps, as you have done, to keep that area free of grass and weeds. If you can remember to water with a hose, particularly during the heat of the summer, you can save yourself the expense of installing a new drip line. Mesquite trees are what we call riparian tree species. Unlike Palo Verde or acacia in the desert, Mesquites are only found near waterways. They grow when water is available and stop growing when water is not. When water is constantly available, they constantly grow. When Mesquites get water they can grow quite rapidly, as much as 8 feet in a single year.  Honey mesquite with mistletoe in the Mojave Desert in North Las Vegas This is a problem when they receive constant watering because their tops grow faster than their roots and this contributes to blow over. For this reason Mesquites are not a good choice for a lawn area but are more appropriate for a desert landscape. In lawn areas stay away from desert trees. Trees like many ash, Locust, honey locust, privets, and others are not desert trees and they will survive in the lawn much better. Personally, I think you are better off without the lawn unless you have a use for it. You can substitute green groundcovers and achieve a similar look to a lawn. When you plant trees and you do not have a lawn make sure that you surround the trees with some smaller shrubs to help keep the trees irrigated. Focus on smaller trees that are in scale to your home. Don’t put in 40 foot trees if you have a single story home.  Take advantage of the shade they give and put them so they shade the south and west walls and provide shade to where you have outside activities. Trees should probably not be planted just for looks in the desert. They should also have something to contribute to your comfort as well. So remember to keep your trees small, use desert adapted trees whenever possible, minimize the use of tall trees and shrubs to reduce your water use and to make sure they contribute to your home environment and your outside living environment.

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What Kind of Grass Do I Have?

Leave a Comment / identification, lawn, turfgrass /

 If you see this on your sidewalk you have common bermudagrass either as a weed or as a lawn grass. Q. We moved here last year and have not ever had the experience with the type of grass that is in our back yard. My husband says we need a four wheel drive lawn mower for mowing, extremely bumpy and patchy. What kind of grass seed should we be using here for this environment, and when to re-seed? Thank you and the Gazenias you advised me to plant and thick and healthy!! A. It will be tough to tell but the two common grasses here are fescue (a bunching grass which might be giving you all the bumps) and bermudagrass. Bermudagrass runs along the ground and is flat. The bermudagrass, if that is one you have, will turn brown this late fall and early winter (November/December). If you have a mixture of the two then you will see the parts of the lawn with bermuda turn brown this winter and the tall fescue will stay green in clumps. If you do have a mixture it is usually because of an inadequate irrigation system or not very good irrigation practices. The bermudagrass can survive with lots less water than the fescue. So when water is limited, the bermudagrass takes over those areas. From left to right upper leaf surface of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and tall fescue. Actually the tall fescue leaf surface could also pass for annual ryegrass. It is easy to spray and kill the fescue during the winter in the bermudagrass (beremudagrass is brown then and sleeping and will not get hurt) with Roundup but not the other way around. But most people do not like a bermudagrass lawn. Hope this helps.

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What Do I Do? My Lawn Has Dead Spots in Summer

Leave a Comment / brown spots, disease, insects, lawn, turfgrass /

This lawn is starting to recover. Just the dead spots remain. Wait until mid September or even October before you begin to remove dead grass. Leave it there for mulch to prevent weeds like bermudagrass from getting started. If you had dead areas develop in your lawn and you are pretty convinced the damage has passed then it is time to wait until fall to repair it. Three types of problems lead to dead spots in the lawn: insects, diseases and irrigation problems. It is pretty easy to determine if the problem has passed. If it has passed, the grass surrounding the damaged area and throughout the rest of the lawn area will appear healthy and rapidly growing. All that will remain of the damage are the brown spots surrounded by healthy, vibrant, green grass. Whatever you do, DON’T rake up the dead grass now and reseed or resod. Dead spots in a lawn are ugly. But what can be worse if you are not careful is to open up your lawn to a weed invasion, particularly bermudagrass, if you try to clean up these dead spots now. Wait. Wait until Fall, around mid September to mid October, to rake it up and reseed or resod. If you try to reseed it now you will fail. Even laying sod right now will be difficult to keep alive. But if you rake up that dead area and expose the bare soil to sunshine and irrigation, bermudagrass WILL seed itself right into those spots. And then you WILL have a problem. Leave the dead grass alone and let it “mulch” or cover the dead area, protecting it from invasion by bermudagrass.

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