Question
We live in Woodlake, 50 miles south of Fresno CA in the Central San Joaquin Valley.  The weather is very hot and dry.

WE have 4 different areas of lawn and about 4 acers of pasture.  The lawn and pasture have a mixture of grasses but the bermuda is dying in large patches in both the lawn and pasture.  We have watered it more in the last week and it is getting worse and spreading.  

A UC Extention pest person came out about 6 weeks ago when it started and said it just needed more water - that the roots were fine but it is getting worse.

I took the grass to a nursery and they said they didn't know what the problem was.  Serval neighbors have a similar problem and have gotten no answers from the Ag extention service.

What do you suggest?  Who can I call or take a sample of the lawn to check to see what to buy to stop the Mold of Fungus or pest.

We entertain a lot and would like a solution soon.

Thanks sally

Answer
Hi Sally Pace,

>>"...the bermuda is dying...?"

Bermuda grass should do well in your climate.  A soil-test may reveal some problems with the soil IF the areas have lots of sun-light and at least 1-3 inches of water per week.

It is a help to any lawn or plant to continually work to improve the top-soil.  Adding better soil and soil amendments is cheap and will always be worth the effort.  Composts can be purchased by the truck-load, and this increases soil fertility and its ability to retain moisture.

Bermuda grass is one of the hardiest and easiest plants to grow plants on Earth.  And almost no other plant has been more improved/hybridized through genetics.  However, as with all living things, Cynodon species (Bermuda cultivars) are subject to various diseases.  The disease agents are most commonly fungi, and there are remedies for these.  There are also bacterial and viruses that can cause problems, although these are apparently rare or at least not much diagnosed.  Your stand of Bermuda may have a viral or bacterial disease and there are no cures for these types of problem.  I would think a representative for the UC phytopathology department would know more.

If it is indeed a FUNGUS infecting the vegetation, this can always be discerned by simply taking a closer look at the grass foliage and stems.  Once a diagnosis is made, you can go from there in finding FUNGICIDE chemicals to use.

In summary, do not waste a lot of time and money with a troublesome cultivar of a usually nearly care-free grass type giving you continual lawn appearance problems.  Use Glyphosate to destroy the old stuff and re-seed, sprig or sod with one of the new  super-high-tech hybrids now available. These have been carefully bred to be more drought and disease resistant.

If this is a  scenario, you are advised to eradicated the entire lawn, under-till the top-soil and start over with a named/patented certified cultivar of Bermuda.

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With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, ...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.
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I Hope this has answered your question(s)!

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___ Jim Gibbs,
    Microbiologist/Botanist