Following - ours is similar. Two 80lb dogs that go outside a couple times a day to stretch and do their business. We can't keep grass alive and the dirt becomes mud when it rains. They are inside dogs so it's a mess.

Looking for best practices and advice… till/seed/sod..?

When we bought our first house, it wasn't quite as big as this, it was maybe 60'w x 40'.


Anyway, we DIY'd sod. Got some help, went and bought it, and piece by piece 4 of us got it in there in a day.

I also DIY's some irrigation - coming off the tap on side of house, I built a manifold out of pvc and bought a controller. I buried the pvc along the fence line, and had basic rotary spike in the dirt type heads.

It worked great for many years.

I wouldn't have the patience to have your backyard with a dog for very long.. and seed is going to take a long time.

For the OP:

For the entire yard - go to HD or Lowes and get a Broadleaf weed killer (even though I don't see many) in a hose-end spray bottle - it is ready mixed and easy to use. Then, a week later apply Image(can be bought at HD) through a hose end sprayer - better yet would be to go to a farm store around Gainesville and see if they will sell you some Certainty(1.33oz bottle will treat 1 acre, but cost ~$100). These apps will kill all your weeds and let you know how much grass you actually have. In Gainesville, you won't have a very good idea about your grass until at least mid-May.

Zone 1 - You will most likely be able to recover a good portion of this area(probably not near the dog house or along your deck). When temps at night are consistently in the 60s(early-mid May) apply 21-0-0 once a week at 3-5#s/1000 sq ft. You will need to water it in. After a month you will have a pretty good idea about what you have to work with.

Zone 2 - you probably won't have a lot of luck with grass in the fence corner. I would probably get a pallet of St. Augustine and work my way out from the corner and cover what I could. Or, install some kind of landscaping in that corner. You can probably grow bermuda in the rest of the area, but I don't see much left in that area. I would sod if I could afford it - installed bermuda will cost you around $500/pallet installed(450-500 sq ft). Conversely, you can buy bermuda for around $200/pallet. Either way, fence it off for 2-3 weeks to keep your dog off it while you are watering it after installation.

Zone 3 - I would consider some St. Augustine sod along the fence- maybe 2 rows. Treat the rest of the area like you did in Zone 1 with fertilizer. I would put some sod in the portion where your dog is in the pic. I can't tell if I would use bermuda or St. Augustine from this pic.

Zone 3.5 - depending on your planned use for the area, I think I would prep it and install a decomposed granite pad. Going in and out of the gate and the dog are going to make that area problematic

Zone 4 - once all the weeds are killed you won't have a whole lot left and I think bermuda will be problematic there. I think even if you sodded berumad it would thin out after 1.5-2years and never be a good stand of turf from then on. St. Augustine will probably do fine there, but you would have to sod it. If budget is an issue, I would leave it to last and see how it goes. You could just scatter pieces of St. Augustine sod and let it take its time filling in or wait until next fall and plant tall fescue from seed.

Zone 5 - kill the weeds and fertilize, you'll be fine there. It will take until mid summer, but it is the least of your worries.

If you are impatient and want to seed the bermuda areas, do as the other poster said and fashion at least a temporary irrigation system. Then, get it hydromulched. Be prepared to keep your dog off those areas for 4-6 weeks. Don't seed before Mid-May.

Feel free to ask any questions or PM me.

This is what I did on approx. 15k square feet. I am not an ag expert, but I have seen success on my own property through some trial and error.

1. Glyphosate everything you are seeding. Will take about 3 applications over maybe 4-5 weeks.
2. Have a decent top soil laid and spread
3. Have irrigation installed, repaired, etc. (Sowing bermuda seed without an irrigation system is going to be an uphill battle, or at the least will take much longer)
4. Lay seed and lightly rake into the top soil. I would advise most to wait until at least mid-May when temperatures are higher and the spring storms are generally over. I prefer lighter, more controlled watering to get things started. Heavy rains will wash a lot of the seed out and around. I bought my hybrid seed from Hancock. It is not expensive. I recommend them.
5. First 1-2 weeks need to keep very moist. Don't drown the seed but multiple lighter watering per day is what I had success with. The bulk of my germination was within 7-10 days.
6. Once there begins to get good coverage with some established blades growing, you can dial back the watering to maybe once per day.
7. I used a manual reel mower to cut often as it was getting established. Probably overkill. I bought it on Amazon for $120 and sold it on years later on Marketplace for about half that amount.
8. Use a good starter fertilizer and root development supplement.
9. No preemergent the first fall. Maybe this is overkill, but what a I read not to do. Grass is not established enough.
10. I highly recommend a good backpack sprayer and using all liquid fertilizers and supplement products. Granules are harder to evenly distribute.

10andBOUNCE said:

---

This is what I did on approx. 15k square feet. I am not an ag expert, but I have seen success on my own property through some trial and error.

1. Glyphosate everything you are seeding. Will take about 3 applications over maybe 4-5 weeks.
2. Have a decent top soil laid and spread
3. Have irrigation installed, repaired, etc. (Sowing bermuda seed without an irrigation system is going to be an uphill battle, or at the least will take much longer)
4. Lay seed and lightly rake into the top soil. I would advise most to wait until at least mid-May when temperatures are higher and the spring storms are generally over. I prefer lighter, more controlled watering to get things started. Heavy rains will wash a lot of the seed out and around. I bought my hybrid seed from Hancock. It is not expensive. I recommend them.
5. First 1-2 weeks need to keep very moist. Don't drown the seed but multiple lighter watering per day is what I had success with. The bulk of my germination was within 7-10 days.
6. Once there begins to get good coverage with some established blades growing, you can dial back the watering to maybe once per day.
7. I used a manual reel mower to cut often as it was getting established. Probably overkill. I bought it on Amazon for $120 and sold it on years later on Marketplace for about half that amount.
8. Use a good starter fertilizer and root development supplement.
9. No preemergent the first fall. Maybe this is overkill, but what a I read not to do. Grass is not established enough.
10. I highly recommend a good backpack sprayer and using all liquid fertilizers and supplement products. Granules are harder to evenly distribute.

---

I agree with almost all of this. I would just wait on the Glyphosate and kill all the weeds first and see what you have. Looks like some of the areas will have enough grass to re-establish and other areas will be thin enough that Glyphosate won't be necessary if the weeds are dead and you still want to seed.

Good stuff from TMFrisco regarding Bermuda vs St Augustine! For a good read on the subject, take a look at the linked article that goes into detail on sun requirements for those two and some other types. It's from a company in the DFW area, so it's relevant for your location. From scanning the article, it sounds like you might want to consider some tall fescue in the future for the heavily shaded areas depending on how problematic those zones are. I don't have any experience with it myself.

The Best Grass For Your Lawn

TMfrisco said:

---

10andBOUNCE said:

---

This is what I did on approx. 15k square feet. I am not an ag expert, but I have seen success on my own property through some trial and error.

1. Glyphosate everything you are seeding. Will take about 3 applications over maybe 4-5 weeks.
2. Have a decent top soil laid and spread
3. Have irrigation installed, repaired, etc. (Sowing bermuda seed without an irrigation system is going to be an uphill battle, or at the least will take much longer)
4. Lay seed and lightly rake into the top soil. I would advise most to wait until at least mid-May when temperatures are higher and the spring storms are generally over. I prefer lighter, more controlled watering to get things started. Heavy rains will wash a lot of the seed out and around. I bought my hybrid seed from Hancock. It is not expensive. I recommend them.
5. First 1-2 weeks need to keep very moist. Don't drown the seed but multiple lighter watering per day is what I had success with. The bulk of my germination was within 7-10 days.
6. Once there begins to get good coverage with some established blades growing, you can dial back the watering to maybe once per day.
7. I used a manual reel mower to cut often as it was getting established. Probably overkill. I bought it on Amazon for $120 and sold it on years later on Marketplace for about half that amount.
8. Use a good starter fertilizer and root development supplement.
9. No preemergent the first fall. Maybe this is overkill, but what a I read not to do. Grass is not established enough.
10. I highly recommend a good backpack sprayer and using all liquid fertilizers and supplement products. Granules are harder to evenly distribute.

---

I agree with almost all of this. I would just wait on the Glyphosate and kill all the weeds first and see what you have. Looks like some of the areas will have enough grass to re-establish and other areas will be thin enough that Glyphosate won't be necessary if the weeds are dead and you still want to seed.

---

I think it would be an opportunity to lay down a specific hybrid variety of your choosing versus not knowing what's there now and having a combination/variety of bermuda types in your yard. No doubt some may survive but just a personal preference to completely start over.

If it has been this way for a couple years I wouldn't rush. I would put down weed and feed and just let the grass grown in. Maybe weed and feed monthly and make sure you are watering regularly if you don't get rain. You will have really good coverage by the middle of summer. There is a dfw lawn and garden guy that has some products he recommends.
If you have money, have someone put in sprinklers while the yard is ugly. Don't fix the yard and then tear it all up installing sprinklers.

10andBOUNCE said:

---

TMfrisco said:

---

10andBOUNCE said:

---

This is what I did on approx. 15k square feet. I am not an ag expert, but I have seen success on my own property through some trial and error.

1. Glyphosate everything you are seeding. Will take about 3 applications over maybe 4-5 weeks.
2. Have a decent top soil laid and spread
3. Have irrigation installed, repaired, etc. (Sowing bermuda seed without an irrigation system is going to be an uphill battle, or at the least will take much longer)
4. Lay seed and lightly rake into the top soil. I would advise most to wait until at least mid-May when temperatures are higher and the spring storms are generally over. I prefer lighter, more controlled watering to get things started. Heavy rains will wash a lot of the seed out and around. I bought my hybrid seed from Hancock. It is not expensive. I recommend them.
5. First 1-2 weeks need to keep very moist. Don't drown the seed but multiple lighter watering per day is what I had success with. The bulk of my germination was within 7-10 days.
6. Once there begins to get good coverage with some established blades growing, you can dial back the watering to maybe once per day.
7. I used a manual reel mower to cut often as it was getting established. Probably overkill. I bought it on Amazon for $120 and sold it on years later on Marketplace for about half that amount.
8. Use a good starter fertilizer and root development supplement.
9. No preemergent the first fall. Maybe this is overkill, but what a I read not to do. Grass is not established enough.
10. I highly recommend a good backpack sprayer and using all liquid fertilizers and supplement products. Granules are harder to evenly distribute.

---

I agree with almost all of this. I would just wait on the Glyphosate and kill all the weeds first and see what you have. Looks like some of the areas will have enough grass to re-establish and other areas will be thin enough that Glyphosate won't be necessary if the weeds are dead and you still want to seed.

---

I think it would be an opportunity to lay down a specific hybrid variety of your choosing versus not knowing what's there now and having a combination/variety of bermuda types in your yard. No doubt some may survive but just a personal preference to completely start over.

---

He said he was going to seed so he isn't going to get any kind of hybrid. There are "improved" varieties of seeded bermuda, but no hybrids - only available by sod.

If he was going to sod the whole yard, I would absolutely agree with the Glyphosate. But, since he is going to seed and doesn't have an irrigation "system", I think I laid out a pretty good plan with some options.

It is really hard to tell from pictures, but some of those areas he will be able to grow back from what is there. The more of that he can do, the better. Seeding will be somewhat difficult without irrigation and with a big dog. Thus, I recommend sodding areas that where St. Augustine will do better and any areas he needs immediate coverage. This will cut down the area that needs to be seeded and make it easier on him.

I personally think St. Augustine and bermuda mix pretty well and the best suited to a particular area will eventual "win". A mixture in other places is not a bad thing.

Seed is going to do nothing on that soil. You'll either need to bring in topsoil (like someone else mentioned) or sod, which will come with a little.

Did you price DIY sod? From my experience seed is incredibly difficult to germinate.

wcb said:

---

Seed is going to do nothing on that soil. You'll either need to bring in topsoil (like someone else mentioned) or sod, which will come with a little.

Did you price DIY sod? From my experience seed is incredibly difficult to germinate.

---

10 laid out a good plan for seeding. A little topsoil and hydro mulch increase his chances of success.

I think it is important to try to grow as much back from what he has to make his job easier. I've seen areas just as bad almost completely cover in a growing season with the right care.

Thank you for all the responses.

I applied certainty to the front yard this morning. I will apply it to the backyard later this week. Excited to see how killing off weeds will open up existing bermuda growth.

Just some top level questions.

What do you really want out of this lawn? Somewhere to play with kids? Something that looks nice and to be proud of? Keep dirt out of your house? All of the above?

80% of why your previous owners 'neglected' their yard is because they didn't have sprinklers. Its tough to move a garden hose every few days for 6 months out of the year. Even when you're young and don't have kids.

Its never going to be easier to install a sprinkler system than right now. You're going to nuke your lawn anyway, don't care how destroyed the lawn is in the meantime, you need topsoil and you're not tearing up any hard work you've previously done. Rent a trencher and put a sprinkler system. Will only cost two weekends. You could get it completely done yourself for $1500.

With a big dog, you're never getting a perfect lawn. Thats just life. Big dog is gonna put yellow circles all over your perfect bermuda one day. So just keep that in mind.

Since you just moved in, I would plant some trees along your fence line to screen out your neighbors. Future you will thank you for doing that. Time flies and trees take time. I recommend eagleston hollies in a 15 gallon sized bucket about every 5 or 6 feet apart. You can put in a drip irrigation system to help you here as well.