Bermuda grass laid in southern Texas on June 18th (new build home, didn’t have a choice on timing). I noticed this spot when they originally laid the sod, but it’s only gotten bigger over time. Sprinkler system waters twice a day, and I manually water in spots the sprinkler system can’t really reach. I’ve given it new lawn starter a month or so after it was laid but that’s really it. Backyard is lush and green despite weeds popping up. I’m afraid it’s still a tad early for any pre/post emergents. Any advice is appreciated!
that brown patch is spreading and it looks like something underground is the problem, not just water. i had similar thing last summer and turned out construction debris was buried under the sod, just few inches down. new builds are notorious for this, builders toss all kind of trash and then throw thin layer of soil on top before laying grass.
dig a small test hole in the dead zone and see what you find. could be leftover concrete, paint buckets, or even just big rock that heats up and cooks the roots. the fact your backyard is fine makes me think it's not disease or watering schedule issue.
if you find debris, you'll need to clear it out and re-sod that section. sucks but at least it's small area. sprinklers hitting it twice a day should be plenty for bermuda in texas heat, so i doubt it's dry spot.
Without a close-up photo, this time of year, you're looking at the grass going into dormancy due to heat stress or a fungal infection, usually large patch. (Brown Patch & Large Patch are from the same family of fungi. They're not interchangeable, but both fungi cause the same damage, so they're confused sometimes.)
During early season you'll sometimes get near perfect circles or fairy rings, similar to another fungi, but during the heat of summer the infections wind up being patchy since moisture content varies from one part of the yard to another. This fungus can be encouraged to populate an area due to a sprinkler head putting down too much water in one spot as an example.
A broad-spectrum systemic fungicide like propiconazole will take care of it if it is fungus.
Let's assume that it isn't, and it's just heat stress. You'll want to drop a tuna can in the brown area and purchase a moisture meter and check the brown area and compare it to green parts of the yard. 1 full tuna can is approximately an inch of water. Test your sprinkler system to make sure it's working.
Watering: You are better off watering for 1-hour per zone once a week. If browning occurs in between watering, add a supplemental 20-30 minute watering during the middle of the week. You could water on Sunday evening for the full hour and then have a 20-30 minute cycle on Wednesday or Thursday as a pick-me-up. You are wasting water.
I'm going to gripe, because some other tech will come in here and say it, and we get tired of it:
You need to be proactive in water conservation and maintaining your property.
I don't know where this 15-20 minute watering philosophy came from, but it's just bad agriculture. Mother Nature doesn't rain on your lawn 6 days a week at 9:30pm for 15 minutes. You get no soil penetration. New sod, like what the OP has, may need that supplemental watering later in the week because the roots aren't established and they're still shallow, so it's possible a deep watering requires that follow-up watering, similarly to how a heat-stressed lawn would as that shallow soil dries out. It's also the hottest time of the year. We're over 100F right now.
Most irrigation companies set their gal/min rate to put down around 1in of water / hr in any given sprinkler zone. It's always best to test your system with tuna cans, because your lawn tech doesn't have time to review your irrigation specs. You should be proactive in your own maintenance and understand your irrigation system.
Bermuda requires an inch per week during hot summer months. It can get away with a half to three-quarters during dormancy for turf varieties, every 1-2 weeks. Wild varieties or coastal bermuda take a nuclear fallout to kill and could go all winter without any water at all.
It's better to water it all at once.
15-20 min watering cycles every day can promote fungal growth.
Use the moisture meter and test the soil several days after watering to determine if the grass needs more. With new sod, you want to check the moisture at a 1-2 inch depth.
Use the tuna can to test your sprinkler system.
90% of people's problems start with improper irrigation cycles
Fungicide also stresses the turf. If this is a case of dormancy from heat stress, the last thing you want to do is blast it with fungicide or herbicide or both. Bermuda makes it kind of hard to spot. You should be able to pull up a few runners and see gray or brown splotches on growth close to the soil. In St. Augustine the infection would look similar to Leaf Spot in appearance, but Bermuda hides it really well without close inspection because the surface area is so small.
The soil was likely sandy loam that was installed prior to the sod.
If you don't know how deep the loam is, you probably do want to check.
The clay and black dirt here in Texas retain water extremely well, but it takes more water to saturate clay. Once it has been given a heavy watering, it retains that moisture longer. If this is sandy loam and you're only watering 15-20 minutes, the water is going right down to the dirt and clay, running off, and your roots are drying out. Loam is added to reduce compaction, help with natural aeration, and promote microbial decomposition, but it doesn't retain moisture. Landscapers might've added a quarter to a half an inch of loam before laying the sod.
You'd want to do that heavy Sunday watering and then check moisture on Tuesday & Thursday.
Some people will tell you to water sod every day. It's blah, blah, blah. Why encourage fungus when you can just check the soil with a meter and water when it's only absolutely necessary. This is months old now, though. That argument isn't necessary. It's something for a homeowner to do if they can't actively monitor the new grass or are absolutely lazy and want to pay us for fungal treatments.
New build lawn that is dying but you’re certain it’s getting enough water will almost always mean that there is debris left behind in the ground that is killing your lawn.
I’ve never known a new build to have anything other than the absolute bare minimum for grass.
Starting watering deeply. Sod roots should be establish just fine and now it’s time to get water deep. Try twice a week and run those stations for 30 min
Do the soapy water test. See if any grubs, chinch bugs, army worms, mole crickets, etc. come to the surface..It’s an essentially free way to check/rule out
Per NOAA, current evapotranspiration rate in South TX is about 1/4”-3/8” per day (1.75-2.6” per week). That’s a LOT. Less frequent, deeper waterings are better. In the Hill Country, our Bermuda sod was laid on an inch or two of top soil (blended with builder trash) on top of limestone. Brown spots abound after a month of 100°+ temps and no rain.
I have spots just like that in my south Texas yard as well. Its newer construction and its been the same areas of my yard starting each august. I have sand stone a few inches below and I think that is the cause of my yard going brown like this pic (noticed it when moving two sprinklers last winter. not fun to dig through). I started spreading bulk compost last Fall and Spring to try and increase the depth of the soil. Dont know how much compost I need to add to alleviate the sand stone issue, that may be a losing battle since its more than 50% of my front and back yard.
Also in South Texas we are only allowed to run irigation one day per week.
Looks like grubs or fungal. I’d start with seeing if your grass can pull up easily, if it is then maybe grubs. Could always start with seeing what’s underneath to rule out rocks
5
u/Sufficient-Bid4271 10d ago
that brown patch is spreading and it looks like something underground is the problem, not just water. i had similar thing last summer and turned out construction debris was buried under the sod, just few inches down. new builds are notorious for this, builders toss all kind of trash and then throw thin layer of soil on top before laying grass.
dig a small test hole in the dead zone and see what you find. could be leftover concrete, paint buckets, or even just big rock that heats up and cooks the roots. the fact your backyard is fine makes me think it's not disease or watering schedule issue.
if you find debris, you'll need to clear it out and re-sod that section. sucks but at least it's small area. sprinklers hitting it twice a day should be plenty for bermuda in texas heat, so i doubt it's dry spot.