By now, you’ve surely noticed that your bermudagrass has gone from a lush green to a yellow or straw color. Aside from looking out of the ordinary, this is a completely normal phase of bermuda grass’s life cycle.
What’s Happening With Your Grass?
When bermuda starts to turn tan it’s simply going into a dormant (non-growing) state. The reason it does this is to shield itself from the harsh and cold conditions that it’s about to endure. Typically, it only happens in the cooler months, but grass can also go dormant during the summer because of too cold or too warm temperatures. Although that makes it seem delicate, bermudagrass is some of the heartiest sod you can have in your yard.
Bermudagrass is Tough
If you were to spill gasoline on fescue, or tall-type grass, it would harm it to such a degree that it could possibly kill it. Now if you spill gas on bermuda it would likely turn light brown for a bit, but eventually, it would grow back just as green. The heartiness of bermudagrass can be a lifesaver when it comes to drier and cooler seasons or lack of sun. In fact, this sod choice can be quite invasive and almost a nuisance to keep out of your garden. It’s much easier to keep alive than it is to kill it. Unlike the human body, keeping bermudagrass watered isn’t hard at all.
Reasons Bermudagrass Rocks
Once established, this grass can take very little water. So little, in fact, that it could turn brown in midsummer, then green right back up couple days later. It’s also great for foot traffic unlike its bluegrass counterparts. Even if you do manage to mess up the way the grass looks (ie with a slip and slide), within a few days it will be back to normal. One reason so many homeowners and homebuilders in the southeast choose this grass is because of how it stands up to all of the elements.
Whether it’s rainy and icy or windy and stormy, bermudagrass stands the tests of time and weather. Very little care can go into keeping it from dying. Keeping it pretty is another story – between edging, mowing, blowing, and lawn treatments, there are quite a few tasks to help it thrive. Most of this can be done yourself, but the treatments should be left to the consummate professionals better known as Perfectly Green Lawn Care. Keeping lawns healthy is a 12-month task!
From burning your grass to core aeration benefits, Perfectly Green Lawn Care covers all the bases. We will make your lawn look as lush and green as it’s able to. Now that you know how bermudagrass dormancy works nothing can stop your lawn!