Brown or thin bermudagrass in Lubbock usually comes down to one of six causes: drought stress from too little or uneven water, normal winter dormancy, spring dead spot disease, white grubs feeding on the roots, iron chlorosis from alkaline soil, or scalping from mowing too low. Where the damage shows up, when it starts and what it looks like will usually point you to the right one. Each cause has a different fix, so it is worth diagnosing before you buy anything.
Quick diagnosis
| What you see | When | Likely cause |
|---|---|---|
| Whole lawn tan, crisp, evenly brown | November to April | Winter dormancy |
| Brown arcs or strips, often between sprinkler heads | Summer | Drought stress or poor coverage |
| Round, well-defined dead patches that stay brown | Spring green-up | Spring dead spot |
| Irregular dead patches that keep spreading | Late summer | Possible grubs |
| Yellow or green-and-yellow striped blades | Cool, wet spells | Iron chlorosis |
| Brown, stubbly look right after mowing | Any growing month | Scalping |
1. Drought stress and uneven watering
Lubbock averages 18.33 inches of rain a year, and the average July high is 93.4 °F (NOAA 1991–2020 normals). Bermuda has "very good to excellent" drought tolerance, according to AgriLife's Turfgrass Selection for Texas, but it still browns when the root zone dries out. Damage that follows sprinkler patterns, such as dry arcs, corners or strips along the sidewalk, usually means a coverage problem rather than too few minutes.
What to do: AgriLife's E-242 recommends wetting the soil to about 6 inches, then waiting for drought-stress signs, usually 5 to 10 days, before watering again. Use the tuna-can test to see how much each zone actually puts down, and cycle-and-soak to stop runoff. Stay within the City's assigned days and its guidance of about 1.5 inches per zone per week (see the Lubbock watering schedule). Broken or tilted heads and misting nozzles are common culprits. Our sprinkler repair guide explains what a repair involves and the Texas license rules for irrigation work.
2. Winter dormancy (normal)
If the whole lawn turned tan after the first hard freeze, the grass is dormant, not dead. NOAA's median first fall freeze at Lubbock's airport is November 2, and the median last spring freeze is April 4 (NOAA annual normals). Bermuda stays brown through that stretch and greens up as soil warms.
What to do: very little. AgriLife says not to fertilize bermuda from September through February unless it has been overseeded, so skip the "winter green-up" fertilizer. Water only on your assigned day, above 35 °F, if the soil is very dry. If you want winter color, AgriLife notes perennial ryegrass is used to overseed bermuda in late September through October.
3. Spring dead spot
The Texas Plant Disease Handbook describes it this way: "When turf begins regrowth in early spring, well-defined circular dead spots become evident." The patches stay brown while the lawn around them greens up, and the same spots often return in later years.
What to do: timing matters more than products. The Handbook says fungicide treatment "must begin in late summer or early fall," not in spring when you first see the spots. It also says "judicious use of nitrogen fertilizer helps to reduce disease severity" and that "ammonium-based nitrogen fertilizer combined with potassium reduce[s] spring dead spot over time." In spring, help bermuda spread back into the patches with normal mowing and watering, or patch large spots with sod.
4. White grubs
White grubs are beetle larvae that feed on roots below the surface. Grass with damaged roots browns in irregular patches that can spread even when watering is fine.
What to do: confirm grubs are present before treating, by having someone check the soil under the edge of a brown area. If treatment is needed, AgriLife's E-242 says "the most effective time to treat for white grubs is in August." Treating random brown spots without confirming grubs wastes money and treats a problem you may not have.
5. Iron chlorosis from alkaline soil
Lubbock-area soils such as the Amarillo, Acuff and Olton series are alkaline, with a calcium-carbonate (caliche-type) layer typically 30 to 60 inches down. The AgriLife/TCEQ guide GI-407, Managing Lawn Problems in Texas says iron chlorosis "causes the blades of the grass to develop green and yellow stripes, or to turn completely yellow," and occurs "in alkaline (high pH) soils with high phosphorus levels, and under cool and wet soil conditions." St. Augustine is the most susceptible grass, but a yellowing bermuda lawn on alkaline soil is worth checking for it too.
What to do: GI-407 recommends avoiding high-phosphorus fertilizer, topdressing with ¼ to ⅓ inch of compost, aerating once a year, and using iron supplements "for temporary relief." A soil test before you fertilize, which E-242 also recommends, shows whether phosphorus is already high.
6. Scalping
Scalping happens when a mower cuts into the brown stems below the green leaf. This is common when a lawn has grown tall between mowings, on uneven ground, or with a mower set lower than the grass can handle. It leaves a brown, stubbly look right after mowing.
What to do: E-242 says to mow common bermuda at 1 to 2 inches and hybrids at ½ to 1½ inches, never removing more than one-third of the leaf at a time, and to leave the clippings. If the lawn got away from you, lower the height in steps over a few mowings. Raise the deck over humps and along edges.
Why bermuda gets thin
A thin lawn that never quite fills in usually has a growing problem rather than one bad event:
- Shade: bermuda has very low to low shade tolerance, so it thins under mature trees. Shrinking the lawn or switching that area to beds may work better than reseeding.
- Thatch: if the spongy layer is over ½ inch, AgriLife says to vertical-mow (dethatch) in May.
- Compaction: core-aerate while the grass is actively growing.
- Underfeeding: E-242 suggests 1 pound of soluble nitrogen per 1,000 square feet every 4 to 6 weeks after green-up, based on a soil test.
- Weeds: thin turf invites goatheads and other weeds, and dense turf helps crowd them out (see getting rid of goatheads).
If the damage is too large to grow back, re-sodding may be faster. Our sod vs. seed guide compares the options.
Texas pesticide rule: In Texas, anyone who applies weed killers, insect or grub control, or other pesticides to a lawn for hire must hold a Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) applicator license. Fertilizer-only applications do not require one. Before you hire, ask for the company's TDA license number and verify it with TDA. Weed-and-feed products contain herbicide, so they count as a pesticide application. This is general information, not legal advice.
Get a second set of eyes
Lubbock Lawn Care Pros connects Lubbock-area homeowners with independent local lawn care, landscaping, sprinkler and tree companies for free, no-obligation quotes. That can mean a lawn maintenance plan, a fertilization program based on a soil test, or sod installation to patch dead areas. See typical Lubbock lawn care prices, then request a free quote and compare.