Not sure what is wrong with my yard (pics)

[cochranjd]

My wife and I moved into a new home last October. The first week or so of October, the builder put down bermuda in the front and back yard. The winter hit (we're in Dallas, so it is mild) but it was enough to prevent the yard from really ever filling in. It has always had a very "patchy" look to it.

On one side of our house is are empty lots - same across the street - and then a neighbor on the third side.

We water M/W/F for 10 minutes in each "zone" of our sprinkler system. I put down Halts crabgrass preventer but I think it was too late when I did and I have also used Scott's Southern Turf Builder fertalizer with little to no affect.

I'm really not even sure what's going on - most of the yard doesn't even look like grass - it just doesn't grow. I've had a couple of recommendations - one person mentioned that I should overseed with ryegrass for the winter, then try and build the bermuda back up in the spring. His theory was that the ryegrass would kill off anything else in the yard during the winter, leaving the bermuda a better yard to grow in when it burned off.

Another person just said to be a winterizer/fertalizer on it for now and in the spring put down a fertalizer, but I am skeptical cause I feel like it will take more than that (seems far too passive to change things).

I'm new to all of this, so ANY suggestions are welcome - I'm just trying to get all the input I can before proceeding. I can get more pics if these don't work (sorry - I didn't realize some of the settings on my camera until I had already taken the pics, so they have a real shallow depth of field and the whole shot isn't in focus).

Thanks!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2530/3960349299_94f17edbdd.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/3960344953_458bc9c33d.jpg
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http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3524/3960337139_6c9772aacd.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2506/3960333305_5b3cd4615b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3960329235_242b76f843.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3432/3961097982_78135eff04.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3960321891_11869df505.jpg
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[Kiril]

Sprinkler type?

[cochranjd]

Not sure - I'll try and check when I get home (but honestly, as a first time homeowner I'm not even sure what "types" there are).

It is all in ground with a control panel in the garage. The yard is small and gets ample coverage - the yard has ones that pop up and spray in a circular pattern - along the edges this is a half-circle (to keep from soaking the drive way).

Sorry - I know that probably isn't very helpful.

[Kiril]

Two types .... spray or rotor. Rotors rotate, sprays are fixed.

[whoopassonthebluegrass]

I'm shooting blind here, but 10 minutes of water where I'm at isn't hardly gonna get the grass wet, let alone put anything of value down into the soil...

[cochranjd]

They're sprayers - no movement (other than popping up).

That's interesting about the watering possibly not being enough - some people have stated they thought I was over watering.

[Kiril]

They're sprayers - no movement (other than popping up).

That's interesting about the watering possibly not being enough - some people have stated they thought I was over watering.

Depends on how well the system was designed. 10 minutes every other day in a heavy clay will more likely than not be too much water, especially for a bermuda.

Assuming a fairly well designed system, I might go to twice a week at 15 min per run to start and see if you can get it to once every 5-7 days with higher run times.

Best way to dial in your irrigation once you are certain it is functioning efficiently is to monitor the soil moisture right before the next run and keep backing off the water until you achieve the proper balance for the turf and soil conditions.

An easy method you can use to monitor soil moisture is explained here.

http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/agronomy/soilmoisture/guideline.html

I would shoot for a SMD of 1.8-0.8 for a fine textured soil before triggering another irrigation cycle.

Remember, there is a lot more to this then what I detailed above, but it gives you a place to start.

[alf500series]

your pics aren't showing up on my end, but if it is anything like a client of mine, its because the lawn wasn't smoothed and leveled before the seed/ sod was put down. now -when the lawn is mowed-you have lots of high and low places. the low places hold water longer -green grass-and the high areas are closer to the mower blades-which give the scalped/ brown look. this can give you the patchiness that you are talking about. to fix this problem you will need to bring in more topsoil and basically top dress the entire yard. not sure if that's the problem but hope it helps.