TarponDeb – posted 27 January 2011 11:43
We are in central west florida, near the gulf. Our lawn is full sun and is mostly crabgrass. Cannot afford to resod. Hoping to reseed. How much of our weedy lawn should be dug up before reseeding? Is it best to remove it all? Appreciate any tips for planting an attractive, fast growth variety of Bermuda or suggestions for another seed type. Prefer a darker green variety that tolerates drought and sandy soil. Do not mind if it requires additional maintenance as we just went from 54 acres to 1/4 acre! Thanks!
seed – posted 10 March 2011 22:41
The best turf-type seeded bermudagrass that I am aware of is Princess 77. Alternatively, you might do well to plug or sprig by hand a vegetative type such as Celebration or TifSport. These are all fairway quality. The main thing is to spray out with Roundup to kill all perennial grasses, multiple applications. Most of the weed seeds in the soil you cannot do anything about, except by good timing of planting and irrigation give your new lawn a headstart on the weeds. Especially for seed, make sure to have a clean level seedbed, slightly rough to accept the seed. The main reason for physically removing most of the existing grass is so that you can get down to the dirt, to provide good seed-soil contact for germination. And it helps in seedbed preparation not to have clumps of old grass. If you seed, hand spread a little wheat straw mulch for protection, preferably not hay, and no more than 2 tons per acre. Don’t mess with millet.