Galloway45 – posted 17 April 2003 14:44
A few weeks ago I foolishly sprayed Roundup on some patches of fescue coming up through my bermuda. The bermuda was dormant at the tiem but now is greening up and showing many brown, dead patches. I guess I sprayed Roundup way too close the bermuda coming out of its dormancy. Help! The bermuda has never done well in the shaded areas of our yard and I am now considering plugging or sodding with St. Augustine in the back. What are the pros and cons to using St. Augustine in my back yard and having bermuda in the front. Will plugging St. Augustine in with the living bermuda work? Will the St. Augustine eventually spread? Thanks.
ted – posted 17 April 2003 16:29
The problem was that it wasn’t in dormancy. Anyplace that would have St. Augustine growing, the bermuda would have already been out of dormancy. you might try resodding the bermuda spots where you roundupped. i would not recommend mixing and matching these particular grass types in the same sections of the lawn- too many different maintenance issues all at once, etc. however in separate sections ( front or back) you would probably be ok. don’t go for the plugging /sprigging routine- it’s too slow. also, you might want to see how the dead bermuda fills in at the roundupped spots first. depending on the size of the spots, with aggressive maintenace, the problem might fix itself. you would only want to use roundup on warm weather grasses when it’s really cold – like 30 degrees. even at that, there are products which could kill the fescue without even touching the bermuda, even at this time of year. where do you live?
Galloway45 – posted 17 April 2003 20:11
Thanks for your reply. The reason why I said I thought the bermuda was in it’s dormancy is because I had fescue, not St. Augustine, coming up through my bermuda sod. The only reason why I mentioned possibly going to St. Augustine is because I have read that it is good in the shade where most of my problem is. I live in upstate South Carolina. My thought was that the St. Augustine if put in my back yard might eventually take over the existing still living bermuda. The comment about the conflicting maintenance schedules makes alot of sense though. I just feel like if i re-sod the dead areas of bermuda with bermuda that it still won’t thrive there because of the shady conditions. I certainly won’t ever use Roundup again unless it is December or January. Thanks again.
ted – posted 18 April 2003 09:02
I don’t think st. augustine would be a good choice. you’re definitely on the northern edge of it’s growing zone. you might find it for sale , but i think you’re better off with the bermuda. there’s nothing wrong with using roundup on the bermuda when it’s totally dormant, it’s done all the time. it seems like your options are to selectively prune or relandscape the back yard or better yet why not look into using fescue in the back yard. if you’re having problems with the bermuda just switch to the fescue, i think it makes alot more sense given your geographic location.