Killing fescue in a new Bermuda sod yard

SimplyJLH1 – posted 13 March 2010 20:46

We are in Wake Forest / Raleigh North Carolina. We bought a new house and wanted to lay down bermuda. The existing yard was small clumps of fescue (mostly bare ground). The landscape company put down roundup, or some similar product and killed all the fescue that did exist. They then added an inch of topsoil and put down the Bermuda sod in mid-September 2009.The Bermuda stayed green through November and then rapidly went dormat. Throughout the last 3 1/2 months (Dec. – mid-March)fescue clumps came up through the Bermuda to the point that there are hundreds of bright green clumps about 4-5 inches tall; they are everywhere in the lawn. My landscaper says we cannot put pre-emergence down now as it would impact the Bermuda. I went the sod route to ensure a beautiful, consistent Bermuda lawn in the summer with little-to-no maintenance in the winter. The landscaper also says the Bermuda will choke out the fescue when it starts growing again this spring. Am I getting the runaround? Is there some reasonable way to eliminate the fescue clumps without impacting the Bermuda later this spring?

tommy – posted 13 March 2010 22:07

If the bermuda is still dormant, you can spray ‘Roundup’ on the fescue, without harming the bermuda. Roundup will not kill unless there is green tissue to absorb into. It does not effect the soil.

SimplyJLH1 – posted 14 March 2010 08:49

Thanks Tommy. Do you have any idea what the “average” time that Bermuda comes out of dormancy?Larry