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Have a Happy Bermuda Lawn with less water...

For those who want the original source material, see here:

Bermuda grass loves nitrogen fertilizer.

Indeed, it loves it so much, that it effectively will substitute available nitrogen for water, as the chart below (sourced from the aggi-horticulture page above) illustrates.
And nitrogen is cheaper than residential water.

Translated from pounds of elemental nitrogen per acre to pounds of home-center nitrogen fertilizer per 100 square feet of Bermuda lawn, we get:


  1. •46-0-0      4 lbs/ 100 sq ft

  2. •34-0-0      5 lbs/ 100 sq ft

  3. •28-0-0      6 lbs/100 sq ft


If you have an average 5000 square foot lawn, that means you can apply (per year):


  1. •200 lbs of 46-0-0

  2. •250 lbs of 34-0-0

  3. •300 lbs of 28-0-0


This is a lot of nitrogen. 

It is almost 10 times what most “experts” recommend, even for Bermuda.

I start applying it in the spring, when the weather will probably water it in, and make the last application in mid-June. You might as well work when the weather is nice. You can probably apply at double the bag rate each time, and leave a week or two between spring applications. Try to apply the fertilizer just before a pretty good rain.

If you are using anything but 34-0-0 (Ammonium Nitrate) it must be watered in quickly or you will lose much of the N2 that you paid for. 34-0-0 doesn’t deteriorate, but tends to be hard to find. Home Depot seems to have it at this writing for about $12/40lb.

After the last application is watered in, you shouldn’t need to water for the rest of the summer.

In the spring, lower your mower to the lowest setting and leave it there until after the last Nitrogen application in mid-June. Then raise your mower one notch every time you mow until you run out of notches. Leave the grass at the maximum height during the winter.

If you use a mulching mower, you may be able to cut back on the fertilizer in subsequent years, as the Bermuda mulch will be nitrogen-rich.