Question
hi, we recently moved into a new home in Ga. which has bermuda sod, it been down about 10 months.
the back of the house faces north so it doesn't get full sun and it's lower in elevation so it gets alot of water when it rains/run off.  because of this the grass is sparce.  what would you reccomend to get the bermuda to take off; is it even possible under these conditions. the front yard is alot better although I still have areas that haven't thickened up and are not as green.  any suggestion on what I should be doing to get a nice thick lawn would be appreciated.  

Answer
hi Daniel;
I would think it is more the lack of sun than too much water, unless it stamnds in water for several days, like 4 or 5 to a week.
Is the elevation that much lower?
If it is only say, 4 or 5 inches lower, i would raise the elevation.
Don't till up the grass, just add good soil about 2 inches at a time. Don't cover the blades entirely. Let it grow to about 5 or 6 inches high, then put a couple inches of soil on top, and water it good.the grass needs most of the blades (all if possible) sticking above the new soil to catch the sunshine.After the new soil has compacted some, mow to about 2 inches if your temp is 85 or below. If your temperature is above 85 or in the 90s or above, leave it at 3 inches, to shade the soil and roots a little.
Putting the soil on top will make the runners send out new runners. In a couple weks or so, you should see new grass coming up.
Burmuda needs at least 6 hours of sun per day. If it gets some in the morning and some in the late day, and it totals 6 hours, that should be enough sun.
The house next to me on my north side is about 15 feet from me, so that causes a little shade, besides the trees my neighbor and I have, but it gets at least 5 or 6 hours of sum, combined, and it is thick and lush.
Could be the former occupants of your house used that weed and feed junk, and over stressed the grass. I have never used that stuff, after I used it once and half my grass died.
Using the sugar to keep the beneficial microbes alive thickened up my grass really nice.
You may not see such great results this year, but your efforts should pay off in next year's lawn.
My daughter found a variety of Burmuda that takes to shade very well. She used it and she had very little sun on one side, not nearly 6 hours, and it grew great.
We have been trying to find out the name of that variety for 5 years. All we can find out it a variety of Burmuda they use on the golf courses in this area.
I got my newsletter from the National Gardening association today, and they have an article on No-Mow grass.
Check it out. This is the web address

//:www.garden.org/home

Looks interesting, but I think out North Texas summers are too hot for it.
Have you read my posts on using sugar to keep weeds away?
I spent tons of money and countless hours of hard labor battling weeds while I was using a chemical program.
I read an article by our organic gardener in the Dallas paper, and he said fertilizers kill beneficial microbes that enrigh the soil. Putting dry molasses or sugar on the lawn, keeps them alive.
My soil is so rich. I haven't put any fertilizer on my lawn for 7 years now, and it is thick and lush and a darker green than St. Augustine usually is, and weed free.
Weeds like poor soil, and will not thrive in rich soil. Even if some come up, in a couple of mowings, they will be gone.
It even stopped the poison ivy that was growing in the alley. I put sugar there last fall and early this spring, and so far have seen no poison ivy plants.
No crabgrass, johnson grass, dandelions, clover, nothing like that. I had them all and some others before I started using sugar.
Some would come up each spring, but fewer than the year before, and after about the 3rd year, we just stopped seeing them come up.
Do some in your area have St.Augustine?
You might put in some plugs of that among the burmuda. That stuff will live in a swamp almost.
I use 1 pound sugat per 250 to 300 sq.ft.
I broadcast it by hand, and then water it in well.

If you decide to add more soil to raise the elevation, I would get some sandy loam, and mix it half and half with Landscapers mix. That has humus and peat in the right amounts. A really good loose mix for the new soil would be 1 part Sandy Loam, 1 part Landscaper's mix, and 1/2 part cedar bark mulch.
when we moved in here, there was just hard pan clay and very little grass, and every variety of weed that grows here.
I mowed the weeds because they were at least green.
I brought in Sandy loam and mixed it up and tilled it in for the first few applications. the next year I had a pretty good lawn, but not that great, so I added more soil, starting the next spring. I didn't till that in, I just put it down with about 2 inches of the blades showing.
I have such a deep root system, that if I don'r put a drop of water and it doesn't rain for 2 weeks, my Burmuda doesn't even look stressed. The st. Augustine has a deep root system too, and it will just fold it's blades in half to expose less surface to dry out. But that Burmuda has roots all the way to China, I'll bet.LOL
I always water to a depth of at last 6 inches. a deep root system protects more from heat, cold, and drought damage.
When it rains, if it isn't enough to soak down that deep, I water till it does.
hope that helps you some. If you haven't read my previous answers, go in there and read the ones on organic gardening.
Write if you have any questions or need clarification, and i will try to help any way I can.
Charlotte