Getting a Bermuda yard started…..

goocho9 – posted 23 August 2005 10:23

I live near Raleigh, NC in a subdivision where the builder placed fescue sod in the large majority of the homes in the neighborhood. The backyard was hydroseeded with bermuda grass and is more appealing than the now burnt Fescue.

Is there a way (avoiding sod replacement) to have Bermuda grass grow over the fescue as I have it (or do not have it in August…hahahahaha) now ?

I realize that Bermuda should be seeded and planted in May…. This is a project for next season, but I would like some responses…

Buck – posted 23 August 2005 11:57

In Chapel Hill I have had no problem with bermuda running right over fescue. I don’t know what it costs to hydroseed the area you have in mind, but there are likely enough warm, long days left in the season to give it a try. And I’d give the fescue a shot of roundup about a week before you seed.

goocho9 – posted 23 August 2005 12:21

Do you just hydroseed over top of it ?? (i.e. without getting rid of any of the good fescue)

Most of my fescue has burned off…

goocho9 – posted 23 August 2005 12:22

How much does hydroseeding roughly cost ??

kyleinmarietta – posted 23 August 2005 18:41

Dunno what hydroseeding costs, but seeding bermuda is no problem. Your first step is to scalp the fescue. Then, you need to go over the yard with a rake (or power rake, or dethatcher). Then, seed and keep it wet. You’ve probably got 6 good growing weeks left for bermuda, so you won’t get a good stand this year, but come late next spring, it’ll take off.

Next spring, you might want to overseed again, just to make sure you get good coverage. By mid-summer, you’ll have a mostly bermuda lawn. The following winter, cut your grass very low, let any remaining fescue grow tall, and go over it with a mop loaded with roundup. This will kill the remaining fescue without killing the bermuda.

Some people will simply spray the fescue with roundup when the bermuda looks dormant, but unless you hit it when the bermuda is really, honest to gosh dormant, you’ll harm the bermuda.

Bottom line, you can have a nice looking mostly bermuda lawn by mid next summer, and can further refine the lawn for summer 2007…