Seeding In NE Florida – Recommendations?

GCSFlorida – posted 27 March 2006 01:49

I’m located about 25 miles south of Jacksonville, FL.

I have a landscape of about 1.7 acres that is in need of new grass. Sod for that area is not an option (cost!!), any solution is going to be expensive, so I would like to get it right first time.

There was 2 to 3 feet of good quality top soil placed on the entire lot when the house was built 5 years ago.

The entire area has a well driven sprinkler irrigation system.

Unfortunately the previous owners didn’t care for the grass (centipede) and it is now more weed than grass.

I’m planning to use a skid steer to re-grade, fill in a few low spots and remove the current weedy mess.

My question is after that what is your recommendation for achieving a reasonable lawn that can tolerate full FL sun for 90% of the day.

I like Bermuda, is this a good choice for this area? If so, which Bermuda flavor/mix is best?

Temperatures should be 85F high to 50F low for the next month. Is the next few weeks a good time to seed?

Long-term a lawn service is not practical for this area, therefore all maintenance has to be “self performed”. Ideally a grass that is very invasive (to weeds) would be ideal.

Thanks for any help & recommendations

[This message has been edited by GCSFlorida (edited 27 March 2006).]

jodyB – posted 29 March 2006 18:27

Have you thought about bahia? I grow sod just south of you,and quite often we recommend bahia for folks who want to seed .It is very drought tolerant,requires little fertilizer,can be a pretty sight if kept up.Some folks do not care for “seed heads” popping up during summer.Cheap,easy to grow,I seeded a yard last week with it.

wrangler – posted 30 March 2006 06:44

If you are looking for a bermudagrass seed condider Rivera. It is the top-rated seeded Bermudagrass in the NTEP trials. The comapany that sells it has an excellent establishment guide. http://www.johnstonseed.com/showEstGuides.do

Open this web-site and go the Riviera Establishment

Good Luck!