T-10 Certified Bermuda

This is the best turfgrass for low maintenance athletic fields and active home lawns. T-10 is a new, ultra low maintenance Bermuda grass with a deep blue-green color. It has excellent cold hardiness and requires less mowing than traditional varieties of Bermuda grass. It has excellent lateral growth for quick recovery from traffic, but grows much slower upright cutting mowing in half compared to traditional Bermuda grass varieties. It has a medium coarse leaf blade and can easily be maintained with a rotary type mower. If you want your local athletic field or park to look like the professional fields on TV, install T-10 certified Bermuda grass and let the games begin.

This calendar of suggested management practices is designed to assist those in the seasonal care of your bermudagrass lawn. Location, terrain, soil type and condition, age of the lawn, previous lawn care, and other factors affect turf performance. For these reasons, the following management practices and dates should be adjusted to suit your particular home lawn conditions.

Mow the lawn when it first turns green in the spring with a reel mower set at 3/4 to 1 inch or a rotary mower set as low as possible without scalping. Mow before grass gets taller than 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Then practice grasscycling. Grasscycling is simply leaving grass clippings on your lawn. Glass clippings decompose quickly and can provide up to 25 percent of tire lawn's fertilizer needs. If prolonged rain or other factors prevent frequent mowing and clippings are too plentiful to leave on the lawn, they can be collected and used as mulch. Whatever you do, don't bag them! Grass clippings do not belong in landfills.

Fertilization
Apply 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet several weeks after the grass turns green. Submit a soil sample to determine nutrient and lime requirements. In the absence of a soil test, use a complete nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (N-P-K) turf-grade fertilizer with a 3-l-2 or 4-1-2 ratio (for example, 12-4-8 or 16-4-8). (Contact your county Cooperative Extension center for details.) Apply lime if suggested.

To determine the amount of product needed to apply 1 pound of' nitrogen per thousand square feet, divide 100 by the first number in the fertilizer ratio. For example, for a 16-4-8 fertilizer, divide 100 by 16. The result is 6.25 pounds of product per thousand square feet.

Irrigation
Water to a soil depth of 4 to 6 inches. Probe with a screwdriver to determine moisture depth. Bermudagrass needs a weekly application of about 1 to 1 1/4 inches of water. On sandy soils it often requires more frequent watering, for example, 1/2 inch of water every third day. It is often necessary to irrigate an area for 3 to 5 hours to apply 1 inch of water. (It requires 640 gallons of water to deliver 1 inch of water per thousand square feet.) Because clay soils accept water slowly, irrigate just until runoff occurs, wait 1/2 hour until the water has been absorbed, then continue irrigating until the desired depth or amount is obtained. A dark bluish gray color, footprinting, and wilted, folded, or curled leaves indicate that it is time to water. Proper irrigation may prevent car reduce pest problems and environmental stress later in the summer.

Weed Control
Apply preemergence herbicides to control crabgrass, goosegrass, and foxtail by the time the dogwoods are in full bloom.

Apply postemergence herbicides in May as needed to control summer annual and perennial broadleaf weeds such as knotweed, spurge, and lespedeza. Products containing two or three broadleaf herbicides usually control several different broadleaf weeds in a lawn more effectively. Be sure the product is labeled for use on bermudagrass. Apply postemergence herbicides only when weeds are present, and wait until three weeks after the lawn becomes green. (See Extension Service publication AG-408, Pest Control Recommendations for Turfgrass Managers.)

Insect Control
Check for white grubs and control them if necessary.

Thatch Removal
Vertically mow in May to remove the thatch (layer of undecayed grass) after the lawn becomes green if the thatch is more than ½ inch thick.

Renovation
Replant large bare areas using sod or sprigs (3 to 5 bushels per thousand square feet). Common bermudagrass can be seeded using hulled bermudagrass at 1 to 2 pounds per thousand square feet. (See Extension Service publication AG-69, Carolina Lawns.)

Mowing
Follow the March through May mowing guidelines.

Fertilization
Apply 1 pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet every 4 to 6 weeks using the March through May fertilizing guidelines.

Irrigation
Follow the March through May irrigation guidelines.

Weed Control
Apply postemergence herbicides as needed to control summer annual and perennial broadleaf weeds such as knotweed, spurge, and lespedeza. Crabgrass, goosegrass, dallisgrass, nutsedge, annual sedges, and sandbur can be controlled with postemergence grass control herbicides. Two or three applications 7 to 10 days apart are required for effective control. Apply herbicides only when weeds are present, the grass is actively growing, and the lawn is not suffering from drought stress. (See Extension Service publication AG-408 Pest Control Recommendations for Turfgrass Managers.)

Insect Control
Follow the March through May insect control guidelines. August is the best time to control white grubs because they are small and close to the soil surface.

Thatch Removal
Vertically mow to remove the thatch if it is more than 1/2 inch thick. Thatch can be removed monthly if the lawn has sufficient time to recover.

Mowing the lawn following the March through May guidelines until several weeks before the first expected frost. Raise the mowing height 1/2 inch as winter approaches if the lawn will not be over seeded. Mowing height is usually raised in mid- to late September in the Piedmont. Mowing height of lawns in the western and northwestern areas of the piedmont may be raised one or two weeks earlier, whereas mowing height in the south central and southeastern regions may be raised one to two weeks later.

Fertilization
Apply no more than 1/2 pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet in September, four to six weeks before the first expected frost. Use a low-nitrogen, high-potassium fertilizer such as a 5-10-30, or supplement a nitrogen

fertilizer source with 1 pound of potash (K2O) using 1.6 pounds of muriate of potash (0-0-60), 2 pounds of potassium sulfate (0-0-50), or 5 pounds of sul-po-mag (0-0-22) per thousand square feet.

To determine the amount of product required to apply 1 pound of potash per thousand square feet, divide 100 by the third number in the fertilizer ratio. For example, for a 6-6-12 fertilizer, divide 100 by 12. The result is 8.3 pounds of product per thousand square feet:

Irrigation
Follow the March through May irrigation guidelines. Dormant bermudagrass may need to be watered periodically when warm, windy weather prevails.

Weed Control
Apply preemergence or postemergence herbicides as needed to control winter annual and perennial broadleaf weeds such as chickweed and henbit. Preemergence herbicides do not control existing perennial weeds. Apply postemergence herbicides only when weeds are present. Do not apply herbicides designed to control annual bluegrass if the lawn is to be overseeded with ryegrass. (See Extension Service publication AG-408 Pest Control Recommendations for Turfgrass Managers.)

Insect Control
Follow they March through May insect control guidelines.

Mowing
Mow overseeded bermudagrass at 1 inch before the grass gets taller than 1 1/2 inches. Recycle nutrients by not collecting the clippings unless they accumulate heavily on the surface. Dormant bermudagrass that has not been overseeded need not be mowed.

Fertilization
Do not fertilize bermudagrass that has not been overseeded. For overseeded bermudagrass, apply 1/2 pound of nitrogen per thousand square feet in December and February. In the absence of a soil test, use a complete

(N-P-K) turf-grade fertilizer with a 3-1-2 or 4-l-2 ratio (for example, I2-4-8 or 16-4-8).

Irrigation
Dormant bermudagrass may have to be watered periodically to prevent desiccation, especially when warm, windy weather prevails. Watering is particularly important for lawns that have been overseeded.

Weed Control
Apply broadleaf herbicides as needed to control weeds such as chickweed, henbit, and hop clover. Selective herbicides can be applied in November or December to lawns that have not been overseeded to control annual bluegrass (Poa annua) and several winter annual broadleaf weeds.

Related Topics

	Integrated Pest Management
	Grasscycling
	Certified

T-10 Bermuda is recommended for Golf Courses, Athletic Fields and Landscaping.

To compare the various grasses offered by Sandhill Turf, view our
Sod Comparison Chart or click its name below.

	T-10 Bermuda
	Tifway 419 Bermuda
	TifSport Bermuda
	El Toro Zoysia
	TifBlair Centipede
	Piedmont Gold
	Bentgrass