What is the cost of water where you live? Having previously lived in Scottsdale, Bermuda fries in the intense heat of Arizona in the summer, with the exception of the really old sections of Phoenix that still flood irrigate from canals (like N Central Avenue in Phoenix). Turf there best left for installation at sports fields or possibly a functional turf area for play. Sixty-five thousand gallons is a lot of water in a desert.
Iām in Chandler. Water rates are pretty cheap. 65K gallons cost me around $100. The other $50+ was mater read fees, sewer base, solid waste, and taxes.
I personally wouldnāt have grass if it wasnāt an HOA requirement. Around Chandler, we didnāt get the memo that we live in the desert. Look at a satellite map. We all have grass yards, pools, and more corporate fountains on every corner than you can count.
I may sound like a rambling idiot right now, but Iām simply tired and frustrated. Especially after I was outside playing with the kids in the rain and the f***ing sprinklers went on. Pulled out the Rachio app and it says 100% precipitation! Ya think???
I canāt recall everything Iāve done (itās been about a year), but I remember going outside with 20+ kids bowls all the same size and placing them all over the yard, running the sprinklers, measuring the bowls, filling out the documentation that chandler water provided, taking soil samples, etc. Iāve put more time into this than I should have already. My neighbors on the other hand have dump controllers that their landscapers set to run 2-4x per day and their grasses look much better than mine. I seriously saw a dust tornado brewing in my yard the other day itās so barren. I have large sections with just dead Bermuda. I didnāt think anything of it until a few months ago when I logged into Rachio and it decided watering my grass every other day once for 5 minutes was enough to grow grass here. By then it was too late. Iām honestly not a landscape guy and couldnāt care less about water savings. I just want green grass, healthy looking plants, and am happy hiring landscapers to mow and blow twice per month for $100 in 115 degree weather. I bought the Rachio to make my life simpler, not more complex.
I have to respectfully disagree with this. Hereās my 6 year old yard in North Phoenix, all from sprinklers. Last water bill was $115. This included some additional water added to my pool. Only threw on Nitrogen fertilizer once this summer and no seeding.
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@Modawg2k I want that lawn. I went through all of the detaching and fertilizing, and it does seem to be working. I had so many gaps from years of neglect itās taking a while to fill in. Last year (pre-Rachio) my lawn was pretty green. I chose to ignore the fact that a third of it was green due to weeds acting as ground cover.
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@JBHorne What are your major crossroads? I may be able to swing by some time when I get a breather. It would be more likely the closer your location is to mine. Otherwise just post some pictures of your lawn in a new thread. Honestly that would probably be faster and youād get a wider range of advice anyway.
FYI I asked my landscaper about using seed for bare patches and he said it never worked for him with Bermuda. When was the last time you had the yard detached? That can have a significant impact as the build up prevents water and nutrients from getting to the soil.
So 4 times a day for twenty minutes is way overkill unless you have a very very poorly designed system. It will definitely get it green eventually but you will be wasting money you donāt need to. Of @azdavidr is able to stop by and help you he will get you on the right track and save you a ton of money in the long term. Otherwise like he said you can always keep posting here and the community will take care of you. If youāve already done cup tests and you saved the data it may only take some math to setup a good schedule
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I have these same types of heads. Easy to work with and easy to replace the tops if you find they arenāt evenly distributing water.
I did 10 minutes each and if two zones overlapped, I made sure to use both zones together. What will you be using for your catch cups? Bowls around the house or are you going to get actual cups. I got the orbit cups and Iām glad I did. Made life a whole lot easier.
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Based off my experience, seed wonāt do the trick. Itās all about proper watering and letting the bermuda rhizomes and stolons do their work
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What pr did you end up with? I wonder how it compares to the 1.5" default for fixed spray heads that @AzJazz is using.
I have 3 zones, each have some overlapping with other zones so I took that into account.
- Zone 1: 1.35 (system runs 15 min x 2)
Zone 2: 2.20 (this zone is the smallest and has a great deal of overlap, so itās getting watered a bit through all 3 zones, system runs 9 min x 2)
Zone 3: 1.89 (system runs 12 min x )
@Modawg2k Thanks. I should have asked before, but before the monsoon what was the approximate frequency?
Here is last week. I would say throughout the summer it averaged every other day, sometimes skipping an extra day, rarely but sometimes going 2 days in a row. This week I adjusted my crop coefficient to 0.65 from 0.73 since my grass is very healthy and that is the default anywaysā¦ so Iāll see a bit more spacing.
@Modawg2k Iām at every other day too, or every 3rd. I bumped up my Kc intentionally to make up for the thatch issue. I figure I have another week or so before I start dialing it back down. Thanks for the posts, itās nice to confirm. I figure by next year when the Bermuda comes out of dormancy weāll know how to start out the schedules from the start. Iāll be pulling out the dethatching rake earlier this time.
At least July is the hottest month and we are past that now.
I agree, i see more water savings next year because our roots will be pretty strong and deep.
Iām debating on getting a rake or just renting a machine. I have ~1300 sq ft of grass so itās a toss up.
I have at most 600 sq.ft., and it took me about 3.5 hours, and I collected for large trash bags of thatch! At the end I had a couple of blisters to show for it. Itās more work than one would think at the start. How strong are your kids? 
With 1300 sq.ft. Iād seriously consider the rental. If you can split the cost with a neighbor or two itās a no-brainer!
@azdavidr - I did dethatch last year, and aerated this year. The vegetation that I have in my grass area doesnāt look like bermuda. It isnāt āvineyā, has longer leaves, and is a dull green. I havenāt fertilized at all, since my yard was already mostly brown/gray and stressed. Iām concerned that I may only have weeds filling my yard now. BTW, I live at the other end of the Valley - Iām up near the Deer Valley Airportā¦
Here is an updated copy of one of my grass settings:
Ignore the July 31 - August 1st blip. I was desperate, and started modifying my Rachio settings before I got much smarter and started asking yāall for advice.
@JPedrego - Thanks for the Water Use It Wisely link. I actually saw that a few years back, and forgot about it. It looks like I may have a lot of cypherinā to do.
Iāll try to stop over at Sprinkler World and pick up some catch cups in the next few days, if that would help make my measurement easier.
@sunny - I looked at the NMSU publication. My brain really Hertz now.
Rental it is! My kids are 7 months and 2 years, so I donāt think Iāll get much out of them this year. I went 50/50 with my dad last year and then he went and got a artificial putting green.
Hmmm, thatās interesting. Iām only used to seeing Bermuda around here. If you can take a couple pictures of the lawn, one from further back and another getting as close as you can while still focusing, Iām sure others here could help identify it. Thatās great that you detatched and aerated. The schedule doesnāt seem too far off either, so Iām surprised youāre having that much of a problem unless there is another issue going on. There are some lawn diseases that can be a factor, and the pictures will help determine if thatās in play here.
You should detatch it for him.