How to make Bermuda grass thicker

You may not know this, but Bermuda grass is the most popular kind of warm-season grass for lawns in the USA. Bermuda grasses are best adapted to regions where climate never goes extremely cold (winter temperature below 0°F / -17°C). Bermuda grass types do well as athletic field turf and can be used on golf courses. Bermuda does not grow well in shady conditions and will go dormant if there’s low sunlight, so don’t plant it under trees or near walls that block the direct sunlight.

Here are useful tips on how to make Bermuda grass thicker and greener:

9 Best Tips How to Make Bermuda Grass Thicker and Fixing Thin Bermuda Grass

Mow the lawn lower and more often

Mowing is essential when you’re trying to create an even more lush and thicker lawn. Mowing is the process that helps the grass expand laterally instead of vertically.

What you’ll need to do is cut your grass a little lower than what you’re accustomed to. However, what’s the best mowing height to use for Bermuda grass? Adjust your lawnmower just a little lower than 1.5 inches when you are mowing Bermuda grass in order to prevent vertical growth and promote more growth in the lateral direction. The increased lateral growth of the grass’s stolons aids in filling gaps left by the lack of grass which makes your lawn grow larger and more fuller faster.

Bermuda grass is a tough grass that can grow up to 4 to 12 inches in height if mow it. However, you need to ensure that it grows and spreads easily to create a dense carpet. So, you should make it expand more laterally rather than vertically.

Be aware not to cut too low or you could have the risk of damaging your lawn. The suggested mowing height of Bermuda grass is 1-1.5 inches. So you should set your mower between 0.5 to 1 inch lower in order to have the fullest lawn.

Other ways to make your Bermuda lawn thicker by cutting it regularly include:

• Make use of a reel mower to cut Bermudagrass to get a cleaner cut.
• Make sure your mower’s blades are sharp to avoid cutting the blades of grass and exposing your turf to disease.
• Mow the lawn every 5-7 days. Mow less often if the lawn is in drought.

If you feed your Bermuda lawn correctly and trim it as I’ve suggested in the past, your turf will start to fill in and get much fuller and thicker very quickly.

Also, cut your thin lawn a bit more often than you’re used to in order to increase the speed of growth. But that’s not all that you need in order to create Bermuda grass more dense, thicker and green.

Take note of the following two points to help encourage the development of Bermuda lawns.

• Always finish the mowing by watering.
• Always monitor and increase the fertilizer levels.

It is important to remember that these suggestions don’t only pertain to Bermuda grass. Nearly any grass will become thicker if you employ this method. It’s just it happens that Bermuda grass is extremely at ease with this method. This is why there are some golf clubs that have carpet-like grass that is thick green, lush and healthy. They tend to mow nearly every day!

Overseeding to fill in the tiny and empty spots

Overseed a thin bermudagrass lawn so that it fills in gaps and areas where the grass is thin. It is the best time to sprinkle grass seed on the lawn is during the fall to replenish its thickness during the active growing season in spring.

Overseeding Bermuda grass is an excellent way to allow it to grow thicker and stay green throughout the entire season. I would recommend overseeding with a cool-season grass if your lawn is barren and brown in the winter cold months during the time that Bermuda grass becomes dormant.

Alternately, you can cover the lawn with Bermuda grass seed in order to bulk your lawn if are willing to wait out the dormancy season and begin enjoying your lawn’s greener appearance in spring.

Here are some great tips for overseeding to improve the look of your lawn’s condition:

• Apply a pre-emergent herbicide to eliminate weeds from between 45 and 90 days prior to covering. When you use a weedkiller too early before reseeding, it can stop seeds from germinating.
• Overseed with around 8 pounds of ryegrass seeds for 1,000 sq feet of lawn to ensure more dense, fuller growth.

A good grass to overseed bermuda grass is perennial ryegrass as well as annual ryegrass. Avoid overseeding with grasses that are cool-season and persist for a long time into the warm season, such as tall fescue or Kentucky bluegrass.

Feed your Bermuda grass nitrogen fertilizer

The best occasions to really make your lawn become more dense and to get the lush, green look is during spring and the beginning of summer.

This is the time that is generally best particularly for lawns that have Bermuda grass. Also, make sure to feed it enough fertilizer to allow it to grow as quickly as it is able to.

• Perform a soil test in order to determine the level of nutrients at the bottom.
• Apply a good general purpose fertilizer. Apply a general purpose fertilizer NPK (Nitrogen Phosphorus, Nitrogen, Potassium) in the ratio 4:1:2 or a 16-4-8 combination is ideal to push Bermuda expansion and growth.

Plants that are healthy require fertilizer that has the three elements that make up the ratio 4:1:2. Before you begin applying anything to your lawn, begin by conducting a soil test. If the low levels of fertilizer cause your lawn to look thin then must decide when to fertilize.

The benefits of applying a proper fertilizer can be that it will stop the spread of weeds, disease and makes your grass more drought-resistant. Also, it helps to encourage Bermuda grass to grow fast.

The majority of lawns that have Bermuda grass begin to thin during droughts. This can be avoided by making sure that your lawn grows as dense as you can prior to the start of the season.

Apply pre-emergent herbicides to the weeds.

Lawns with weeds typically have signs of thinning or patches. If this happens repeatedly each year, then what do you need to take care of is manage the weeds.

In order to kill weeds such as crabgrass, poa annua or quackgrass to grow is among the best methods to make the Bermuda grass lawn more dense and greener. It also makes your lawn more lush and fuller.

• Apply pre-emergent as early as possible in the springtime to stop the majority of weeds from germinating and cutting off the Bermudagrass.
• If you suspect that there’s extensive weed growth A great yard maintenance suggestion is to apply a pre-emergent every 60-90 days.

I wrote a detailed piece on what are the best anti-emergent as well as post-emergent herbicides. Go through it if you are at this point.

If you can stop the weeds in time then you won’t have to be concerned about those scorching months like June or July. Spraying lawn weedkillers during these months typically will have negative effects on the development and growth the lawn. Do not spray weed killers during 90-degree temperatures.

Based on my experience, the most harmful weeds that eat away at Bermuda lawns include quackgrass, and crabgrass. If these grass weeds grow and limit the expansion of other lawn grasses due to their dominance and fierce. Agricult lawn weed control strategies are the best method to have an even more lush lawn quickly.

How to make Bermuda grass thicker by regular watering?

The stress of drought often results in the lawn being thin and bermudagrass sloppy. If your lawn isn’t receiving at least an inch of water each week in the spring and summer months the lawn will show slow growth and slow spreading.

To allow Bermuda grass to grow thicker make sure you water it with a minimum 1-inch of water each week to encourage root growth and the growth of lateral grasses stolons. A proper irrigation program promotes deep root growth, enhanced absorption of nutrients, and eventually an extremely dense Bermuda grass lawn.

Here are my top watering tips to get Bermuda grass thicker

• In the summer you should increase your watering rate by more than 1 inch per week in order to reduce the effects of drought.
• If the turf you are growing is planted with sandy soil you must provide 0.5″ of water three to four days apart, as the soil is not able to retain water for very long.
• In the event that you notice that the turf is growing on clay soil you should water for shorter intervals but more often to give the water to be in the roots zone.

Ideally, water once per week for a prolonged period rather than regularly watering daily for a shorter time. Regular and consistent irrigation can trigger deeper root growth, which can bring in more nutrients to create an overall healthier lawn.

If you are watering the Bermuda lawn, continue to water until you’ve soaked around 1/4-inch of soil. Don’t overwater your lawn since this could ruin the Bermuda grass and cause it to disappear from its green. Make use of a rain gauge to determine how much watering you’ve applied using the manual lawn sprinkler.

Additionally, it is best to do aeration right after scalping, if the grass is still slender. If you’ve got clay soil or any other hard-packed soil on your lawn, it’s crucial to start with aeration as soon as you can to encourage the better absorption of nutrients and water.

Apply post-emergent to weeds that are visible

There will be times when you’ll have the weeds that are growing in your backyard. In this situation, you’ll need an herbicide that is post-emergent in order to kill crabgrass as well as other grassy weeds that have broad leaves.

There are many methods of getting rid of these plants, such as uprooting them or killing them using an herbicide that is post-emergent, for example.

My favorite method is to apply the herbicide. You shouldn’t apply it everywhere on your lawn. Focus on the areas affected to eliminate the weeds there and also allow Bermuda grass to spread large and lush.

It is important to note that weeds such as quackgrass can be difficult to control since they are able to grow and spread their roots underground. It is possible that you need a plan of action to eliminate the weeds if a large portion of the lawn has been affected.

Remediate lawn ailments

As I’ve previously mentioned lawn diseases can be the cause for the slim Bermuda grass lawns. Fungal diseases could seriously impact the health and growth of Bermudagrass.

The spring dead spot brown patch diseases as well as dollar spot, are widespread fungal illnesses that generally result in slow growth and thinness in turf.

Another deadly disease that could cause thin lawns is called root rot commonly referred to as Bermuda decline. It attacks the roots and eventually causes poor growth and thin lawns.

Spring spot appears in small circular patches that gradually grow and eventually form larger areas of the body that are affected. The issue usually manifests in the fall, but it can show its presence in spring. It is also the result of applying huge amounts of nitrogen to the lawn.

The dead root is typically caused by poorly aerated soil. If your lawn is made of clay soils, getting it aerated must be the first priority on your list of priorities if you’re looking to make it stronger healthy, more full, and lush.

Grubs as well as Japanese Beetles are some of the lawn bugs that can impact your lawn, making it appear thinner than you would like.

Enhance soil’s pH, soil structure, and soil health to 5.8-7.0

Unhealthy growth and general degeneration of your Bermudagrass turf is an indication of poor soil. I’ve observed that pH issues can be the main cause of poor and weak lawns. You can tell if a low soil pH could be the root cause of a thin lawn by performing an analysis of pH in the soil. The local extension office will assist in this.

Bermuda grass becomes robust and healthy when the pH of the soil ranges somewhere between 5.8 to 7.0 and is able to withstand more acidic conditions. When the pH becomes too acidic nutrient availability decreases and the grass can shrink and then grow in poor quality.

Add lime on the lawn regularly at a daily interval in order to reduce the acidity in the soil. This will fix the pH to a range of 5.8 to 7.0. The lawn will be able to absorb nutrients more efficiently and will grow more dense and fuller.

Beyond pH, the kind of soil may be a reason for thin lawns. While Bermuda grass is able to grow in clay soils thanks to its well-adapted rhizomes as well as fibrous roots, it grows best in soils with good drainage.

It is important to ensure that you have well-aerated soil and contains many organic materials, and permits proper drainage. So, you should amend the soil of your yard so that your grass can grow into lush grass.

Apply organic manure or topsoil on the lawn prior to planting Bermuda grass seeds to create an ideal substrate for the roots to develop into. If your lawn is dense, mix a bit of manure or sand in order to loosen it and allow the grass to get thicker and spread more quickly to cover any bare areas.

It’s also possible to enhance the tilth of clay soil with mulching since it improves the retention of nutrients and moisture. I’d suggest mulching with chop-and drop the nutrient-accumulators. These are the plants whose roots typically store important soil nutrients. Thus, when cut back and incorporated as mulch, they greatly enrich the soil, thereby facilitating more dense turfgrass growth and spreading.

Another option for mulching is to use topsoil. Topsoil that is commercially available is typically filled with various nutrients that enhance it and make it suitable for lawns that have low-quality dirt.

Dethatch in the spring and summer

Dethatching is a good option for the Bermuda grass lawn when it’s done during the season of growth that is active and only when it is more than half an inch thick. If you cut it off at times when Bermuda grass is not in use it is likely to end up killing the lawn or leaving it thin and sloppy.

I’d suggest you supervise your lawn with bermudagrass to allow it to grow faster If you dethatched using an electric rake during the dormant or slow-growing time of the year.

While overseeding a lawn of bermudagrass will best be carried out in late September during the autumn, you can also do it earlier in spring when the grass is from dormancy. This will fill in the barren and thin areas that are caused by the heavy dethatching that occurs during the time of dormancy.

Do you think there is too much shading?

You may also want to think about the amount of shade on your lawn. Bermudagrass needs a lot of direct sunlight. When there are too many buildings, trees, and other structures that affect the lawn, it’s likely that you’ll have areas of thinness.

Reduce the shade you provide so that the bermudagrass can get thicker and stronger.

Ways How to Make Bermuda Grass thicker and Greener

The majority of Bermuda grass lawns appear light and any indication of discoloration could indicate that something is not right in your lawn. If you stick to a Bermuda grass maintenance calendar you’ll have a lush, green, and thick lawn that feels like carpet under your feet. If the lawn is looking unhealthy there are some ways to turn it green once more.

Here’s how you can make Bermuda grass greener:

Use an iron-based supplement

If you are able to water your Bermudagrass lawn every week, but it appears green instead of yellow It is most likely that the turf is not getting enough nutrients. The grass blades that are yellowed are known as chlorosis, and they can be treated by a supplement of iron.

Use an iron supplement like Ironite to aid in helping Bermuda grass to grow greener. Iron is a beneficial nutrient for the color of lawns. It assists in the creation of chlorophyll, which is the green pigment found in plant leaves.

It is important to note that Ironite is not a fertilizer, and you’ll need to nourish your grass with a balanced fertilizer in order for Bermuda grass to get denser. However, you can apply a 2-in-1 fertilizer, such as Milorganite to nourish and grow Bermuda grass fast.

Feed with nitrogen fertilizer

Nitrogen is a vital element that helps regulate the flow of water and the uptake of nutrients. Insufficient nitrogen not just makes the lawn weak and undeveloped, but also causes it to be less attractive.

• Apply 1 lb of nitrogen for every 1 square foot of grass. This will encourage the grass to become more dense and greener lawn.
• Utilize a slow-release organic fertilizer to feed your lawn for 8 to 10 weeks, helping the grass grow and become green all through the growing season.

Pro tip: Although there are certain fertilizers that are suitable for Bermudagrass I would suggest that you begin by conducting the soil test to determine the nutrients that are deficient. This will help you select which is the best fertilizer to use for the needs of your Bermuda grass lawn.

How to Make Bermuda Grass Thicker – Summary

Bermuda grass is a popular choice for lawns in the United States. It is a warm-season grass that does well in full sun and requires less water than some other types of grass. One common problem with Bermuda grass is that it can become thin and patchy over time. There are several things you can do to help thicken your Bermuda grass and improve its appearance. Follow these tips, and you should be able to get your lawn looking healthy and lush once again. Undoubtedly, each householder would like to have a Thicker Bermuda grass lawn.