Help with establishing bermudagrass in Florida

by Legacy post · 2016-05-11

scorpio0679 – posted 07 May 2006 21:54

Hello everyone. I’ve finally found a great website for this subject area . . . Anyway, here’s my problem:

I live in Orlando, Florida (central) where I inherited an unkept yard full of various grasses and weeds. From what I can tell, the lawn was about 1/3 bahia, 1/6 st. augustine, 1/6 common bermuda, 1/6 goosegrass, and 1/6 other random species.

I decided to dig up the front lawn and experiment with some sort of planting and cutting methods in the back yard.

This is the current situation. After turning the sod upside down and waiting a week to make sure everything is dead, I laid down about 1/2 inch of topsoil in the front yard. Last week I spread around topsoil in the back yard and planted seed.

I’ve got about 15 lbs of pennington bermuda triangle seed left and want to make sure the front yard is successful . . . so here are my questions.

1. My main question is what can I do to help the bermuda triangle blend of bermudagrass establish itself and then take over the lawn from all the other species? Is there anything I should do or CAN do to achieve this result? or am I doomed to a lawn of competing grass species with no clear winner emerging?

2. When I rake the bermuda seed into the front yard, do I need to mulch it with anything? I’ve read that mulching with straw is good, but I can’t get straw around here. The only thing I can get is hay; and I’ve also read that hay produces weeds. I work long hours and really can only water in the morning and at night, and the sandiness of Florida soil results in drying really quickly . . .

3. Any other suggestions on how to make my project a success would be super helpful!

Thanks!Adam

EDIT: please also let me know if I am doing something clearly wrong or if I am NOT doing something that I should . . . still kinda new at the whole lawn thing . . .

[This message has been edited by scorpio0679 (edited 07 May 2006).]

tommy – posted 08 May 2006 09:37

Cover the seed lightly (1/8 to 1/4 inch) with an organic top dressing. Many types are available at your garden center. Later after the bermuda is established, many of the grasses you mentioned can be killed with MSMA (crabgrass killer), without harming the bermuda. Two applications may be neccesary-2 to 3 weeks apart.