Revival in August????

Zeta09 – posted 20 July 2006 06:55

Hello everyone.

I am a new owner of a property out in Phoenix, AZ with a back yard that is 1250sf. I had a sprinkler system put in and had decent results with the perinnial rye I placed in there last fall. I planted Pennington Bermuda Hybrid summer grass and put it down in May. I did NOT till just placed the seed on the dying rye and added a vigiro 16-16-16 fertilizer 6 days after the seed was placed down. I watered 3 times a day for the first week then every other day thereafter. The sprinklers seem to get decent coverage

I have not had good growth with the bermuda. It is sporadic at best and unfortunately crab grass and some weed has taken over in parts of the yard.

1) Is it too late to salvage this yard??2) What must I do next year when I try the summer grass again??3) Does seed brand really matter??4) Is an every other day watering schedule enough???

Grassguy – posted 20 July 2006 12:33

simply tossing the seed down on the soil is not adiquite, That provides insufficent seed / soil contact, should of covered it (1/2″) peat moss or finished compost. then rolled to get good seed soil contact. new seeds require frequent light irrigations, as the seed sprouts water more deeply to encourage the root depth. I would get a soil analysis thru your county extension office before attempting to replant next season. seed brand matters to some degree because you want a high PLS number and a seed that isnt full of noxious and “other crop” garbage. what type of soil do ypou have?Is it compacted, sandy… If you re-do next season kill everything with round up and re-establish. You can mix sahara and yuma bermuda if you want a medium input bermuda lawn or you can go with the synthetic hybrid seed and mow 3 to 5 times per week,(depending on the variety).

Zeta09 – posted 22 July 2006 15:17

Thanks for the response.

I figured as much but I am new to lawn care so I lived and have now learned. I had sod put in originally (BobSod) and the soil content is more

-Can I do anything with it now or should I just wait to plant the Rye in October???

-for the Bermuda next May (07′) I should till and then use a synthetic or real fertilizer??

-I have seen several posts and sites talk about a high Nitrogen content. Is this the key??

-Where can I find good newbie information for lawn growers (other than here)?

Thanks in advance