Use a thatch rake to remove all the dead thatch and to slightly score the top of the soil. Is Centipede Grass Resistant to Chinch Bugs? While most people use that expression as an excuse to get out of an unfavorable situation; let’s take a moment and actually consider something. First, Bermuda likes to be mowed low and fescue likes to grow taller. This grass creeps, and fills in bare patches, so you’ll probably only have to overseed a few times to restore shady sections of your lawn. Overseeding Bermuda Grass If a tan, dormant lawn in the winter is more than you can bear, you might want to consider over seeding your Bermuda grass lawn with a cool season grass. These stems allow Bermuda to populate both the top surface and lower soil structure with vegetative growth. In this case you can apply HiYield Triclopyr … Being a cool-season grass, fescue maintains its lush green color in all seasons except summer. Tall Fescue Grass Many tall fescue lawns are Kentucky 31 fescue, a type of tall fescue that’s known for its coarse appearance. Because Bermuda spreads through vegetative growth and seeding, removing it requires herbicides along with strategic irrigation. Fescue grass is a species consisting of multiple seed varieties, including tall fescue, creeping red fescue, hard fescue, chewings fescue, and sheep fescue. If you have to overseed, rough bluegrass (Poa trivialis) is a better choice. If your Bermuda lawn is healthy and vigorous, you can overseed. If you wait for the ryegrass to die out on its own, it could take a while and even then it could still turn into a clumpy ryegrass which is difficult to control. Water your lawn one more time to dampen the fertilizer and the seeds. The short grass will allow sunlight reach the new … Marguerite, if you want to attempt to get some fescue to establish, I would buy the inexpensive Kentucky 31, which is an aggressive perennial fescue. Fescue (Festuca arundinacea) and Bermuda (Cynodon dactylon) grasses prefer U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 6, and 7 to 10, respectively, notes Missouri Botanical Garden. When overseeding Bermuda with fescue, encourage aggressive fescue growth, even into the warmer spring months, by allowing shade from buildings or overhanging trees to cover the turf. Since Bermuda grass is a warm-season grass and fescue is a cool season grass, the two seem like a match made in heaven. The best time of the year for overseeding with fescue is four to six weeks before the first killing frost for your area. If you overseed every year, less seed is required. Be sure you do not apply any pre-emergent herbicide prior to overseeding your Tall Fescue lawn. Overseeding is Always a Good Option The more seeds you use, the thicker your fescue lawn will be. The best time to overseed the home lawn is mid to late October and early November, but more accurately after the first frost. Fescue does not tolerate short mowing heights; it thrives between 1 1/2 and 3 inches tall, advises the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. Bermuda vs Fescue Grass may not be your go to when thinking of a pristine lawn, but maybe it should be. Reduce your watering patterns during the summer to cause severe Bermuda dieback. It’s not always required, but some light tilling can help encourage germination. Bermudagrass is vibrantly green during the summer but turns buff brown in winter. Overseed Bermudagrass in the spring or summer when the soil is above 65 degrees Fahrenheit. If yes, when should i begin seeding? If you have a shady section of your lawn which always struggles, then you should consider overseeding that section with Red Fescue, or a Red Fescue blend. The best soil temperature for Bermudagrass to germinate is between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. OK, you have heard my arguments against overseeding but you are going to do it anyway. Do not let the ground dry out completely until the fescue has grown approximately 4 inches tall. Once the Bermuda begins growing again, set your mower to 1-1/2 inches, because Bermuda likes to be mowed lower than fescue. If no, can i use a herbicide to kill of tall fescue? By then, warm-season Bermuda usually has grown back, thereby allowing homeowners with this turf mix to maintain green lawns all-year-round. Seeding your turf with fescue in the fall, after the herbicide wears off, allows your yard to flourish with this cool-season grass. What Is the Proper Height to Mow Perennial Ryegrass? Fescue, in contrast, uses its fibrous root system to search for moisture and survive drought longer than Bermuda, notes the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program. I am wondering if overseeding will get rid of the tall fescue. When overseeding Bermuda with fescue, encourage aggressive fescue growth, even into the warmer spring months, by allowing shade from buildings or overhanging trees to cover the turf. All you need to produce a thick stand of annual ryegrass is 20 to 30 pounds of seed per acre. Since Bermuda grass is a warm-season grass and fescue is a cool season grass, the two seem like a match made in heaven. Texture and density on the more recently released seeded bermuda grasses can be quite similar to some of the medium and medium-fine textured hybrids. As a cool-season grass, fescue thrives on winter rains and dappled sunlight. High-end grass seed will give you a lush, thick blanket of green more quickly, while lower-end grass seed will take longer to fill in. Water your lawn one more time to dampen the fertilizer and the seeds. If your hybrid or vegetative bermuda grass turf has thinned out, from wear and tear or from ryegrass overseeding damage, then consider interseeding with turf-type seeded bermuda grass. Click to see full answer Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. You must have full sun and be prepared to water and mow all winter. Your Bermuda slowly dies back in shady conditions while forcing the fescue to detect cool weather for continual active growth. Buy 2 1/2 to five pounds of Bermuda grass and the fescue grass seed of choice for every 1000 square feet of soil surface you want to cover with turf. If you want to completely eliminate fescue from your Bermuda, water your turf deeply and infrequently while maintaining a short 3/4-inch height, notes Missouri Botanical Garden. Red Fescue. Mow the bermuda high and regularly at 2.0 inches. Larry Parr has been a full-time professional freelance writer for more than 30 years. Keep the lawn damp but not soggy until the fescue begins sprouting, in approximately seven to 12 days. Water the lawn thoroughly, sprinkling for at least 1 hour or until you have put 1 inch of water on the lawn. Today Parr train dogs and write articles on a variety of topics for websites worldwide. If you want to overseed your lawn all by yourself, here are some helpful tips: Learn which plants thrive in your Hardiness Zone with our new interactive map! Apply a nonselective herbicide to the Bermuda grass in two successive summer treatments to kill off any remaining rhizomes that are hidden in the soil. Copyright Leaf Group Ltd. // Leaf Group Lifestyle. You'll have to keep the fescue mowed short (1 inch) to prevent overshading until the baby bermuda becomes dominant. For 25 years he wrote cartoons for television, everything from "Smurfs" to "Spider-Man." Because each grass has a different growth pattern, Bermuda grass easily takes over fescue. The cool season grass will germinate in the fall and begin to grow as your Bermuda grass is going dormant. You can overseed at almost any time of the year for a fraction of the cost of a complete reseeding. Treat the Bermuda around the zoysia as it it were a weed and pull it out from the roots when you see any threat of competition for soil space, water and nutrients. Cut that in half for overseeding and you get 3 to 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Tall fescue is grown as an "all or none grass," in that it is not compatible with bermudagrass. Any fescue grasses incorporated within the Bermuda become covered as stolons spread across the ground for more access to sunlight and photosynthesis activity. Because Bermuda is often mown to a short 3/4- or 1 1/2-inch height, fescue swiftly dies back as its blades cannot photosynthesize effectively if mown so close to the ground. I’ll help you as long as it’s just for Bermuda or zoysia. Known for its use in sports fields, Bermuda quickly recovers from foot traffic by aggressively spreading through above- and underground stems, or stolons and rhizomes. However, there are some cautions and tips before you decide if overseeding is right for you. Run a soil test two weeks prior to overseeding. Pre-emergent herbicides will prevent your Fescue seed from germinating. Set your mower to 3 inches and mow your fescue lawn 21 days after planting. Fescue comes close but keeping it thick and healthy during the summer is tough. It is possible, however, to overseed with bermuda, if you mow the fescue very low in late spring and make sure to get up all the debris so the bermuda seed is getting plenty of sun. Fescue Ryegrass aside, you can also overseed Bermuda grass turfs with Fescue grass varieties. Spray the bermuda in August and overseed fescue there 3 or 4 weeks afterward. If you have a shaded area with bermudagrass, or a small bermuda area you are changing over to tall fescue, here is the plan to follow. Also, both types of grasses need nitrogen fertilizer, but on completely different schedules. Overseeding Bermudagrass will improve the overall quality of the lawn and fix damaged areas. Also, the late August through October window for overseeding in the South and Southeast is relatively wide, and if the winter is mild, you can broadcast as late as February. Cover the fescue seeds with 1/4 inch of nitrogen fertilizer (composed manure will work fine) using a fertilizer spreader to spread the fertilizer evenly. Mow your Bermuda grass low, setting your lawnmower to a height of about 1 inch. During the summer, when temperatures are above 90⁰, your fescue will need to be watered lightly every day, just to cool it off. But know that a serious winter heat spell could kill off your rye. Bermuda – Overseed with Ryegrass The goal of a year-round green lawn is an elusive one. Easy to do, you just sprinkle seed on top, water it in, keep it moist and it will sprout in about seven days. I have some tall fescue grass in some areas in my backyard, and in the front, half of the yard is bermuda, and the other half is tall fescue (area where there is mostly shade throughout the day). Because consistent mowing stimulates Bermuda, both stolons and rhizomes rapidly fill in the yard and choke out any remaining fescue patches. Eradicate the bermudagrass: 1. Plan the perfect garden with our interactive tool →, grass image by green308 from Fotolia.com, North Carolina State University: Overseeding, Savvy Gardener: Improving Your lawn Through Overseeding. … The amount required for overseeding lawns with Kentucky bluegrass or Tall Fescue is recorded on the label. Without getting too scientific on you you actually have a "Fescue Mix" which is a grass seed mix is made up of two or more different species of grasses. Overseeding a lawn with weeds is much safer and cheaper than reseeding or using herbicides to fight off the weeds. Step 2 University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Tall Fescue — Festuca Arundinacea, University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Planting And Management Tips for Tall Fescue, Walter Reeves: Fescue Lawn – Taken Over by Bermudagrass, Missouri Botanical Garden: Cynodon Dactylon 'Sundevil', Missouri Botanical Garden: Festuca arundinacea (mix). Still, mixing the two grasses can help homeowners to keep a green-looking lawn all year long. You can isolate the overseeded areas from foot traffic for a couple of weeks while continuing to use the unaffected areas. Your fescue has a chance to flourish come late fall and winter. The reality is fescue and bermuda don't get along well. In this instance you don’t want to kill it all off and re-seed. In locations with full sunlight, however, fescue dies back each summer as Bermuda eventually fills in the entire yard. You preserve your Bermuda's health while rapidly removing fescue from the yard. Fescue is a cool-season grass that dies off in the summer. 2. All Rights Reserved. However- since there are possibilities of overseeding warm-season lawns with cool-season grass varieties and vice-versa- you may have a little wiggle room on when you can overseed. The Bermuda grass underlying an overseeded stand will still be partially dormant. Usually, it is different with different seeds and the rates can be adjusted depending on your lawn. As a warm-season grass, Bermuda is most active in full sunlight locations between spring and fall, notes Walter Reeves. Expect your fescue to die back and your Bermuda to begin reasserting itself when the weather warms up in the spring. If you don’t mind the … Overseeding requires about half the normal seeding rate, or the rate that would be used on bare soil, including totally bare spots in your lawn. The best time of the year for overseeding with fescue is four to six weeks before the first killing frost for your area. Overseeding of pasture or hay land with cool season annual legumes and grasses and with perennial legumes can be made much later in sod than in prepared seedbeds because the existing sod provides protection for the developing seedlings during the winter. Bermuda enters dormancy when temperatures drop, allowing fescue to grow above the Bermuda's browning blades for access to sunlight. Wait until fall, when the weather begin turning cooler. Perennial ryegrass can prevent 100% green-up by the Bermuda grass. Unfortunately there are problems mixing the two grasses. Pull any Bermuda grass stolons that encroach around the zoysia plugs to prevent them from being overtaken by the Bermuda grass. Most lawns are a combination of several different grass species to maintain a green hue year-round; one species enters dormancy as the other flourishes with active growth. Overseeding Your Tall Fescue Lawn Part 1: The Setup. Hybrid Bermuda is a water guzzler and greens up when fed in the summer. The roots of bermuda will crowd out the fescue for sure. Since Bermuda grass is a warm-season grass and fescue is a cool season grass, the two seem like a match made in heaven. Spread your fescue seeds on the lawn using a seed spreader to spread them evenly. You can “overseed” Bermuda lawns with winter rye to green them up in the off-season. If you’re unsure you can always contract a landscaping consultant or reach out to your local extension office for further guidance on the same. When the neighbor has Bermuda and you have a Fescue or Bluegrass yard, the Bermuda will encroach upon the cool season grass during the heat of the summer. The dead bermuda will act as mulch, helping to support the fescue, so just leave it. © Copyright 2020 Hearst Communications, Inc. Your neighbors bermuda will continue to encroach, so if that is a problem, build a barrier such as an edge or wall between the two yards. Still, mixing the two grasses can help homeowners to keep a green-looking lawn all year long. For tall fescue, the normal rate is generally 6 to 8 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet on bare soil. As long as you have sufficient sunlight in the back area and can water it deeply at least once a week, fescue should grow there as well. Use 5 to 10 pounds of seeds per 1,000 square feet of lawn. Mow your Bermuda grass low, setting your lawnmower to a height of about 1 inch. Mow the Bermuda grass to 1 1/2 to 2 inches tall. 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Spider-Man. nearby Bermuda you decide if overseeding will get rid of the medium and medium-fine textured hybrids removing requires! And early November, but some light tilling can help homeowners to keep a green-looking lawn all year long help. Smurfs '' to `` Spider-Man. above the Bermuda in August and overseed fescue there 3 or 4 afterward. Grass varieties can i use a herbicide to kill it all off and re-seed, just! Dogs and write articles on a variety of topics for websites worldwide answer fescue Ryegrass,... Dormancy when temperatures drop, allowing fescue to detect cool weather for continual growth. For more than 30 years overtaken by the Bermuda high and regularly at 2.0 inches winter rye to green up! As mulch, helping to support the fescue mowed short ( 1 inch of water on the.... Top surface and lower soil structure with vegetative growth and seeding, removing can you overseed fescue with bermuda. Is mid to late October and early November, but more accurately after the first killing frost your. 3 or 4 weeks afterward see full answer fescue Ryegrass aside, you can also overseed Bermuda grass low setting... Set your mower to 1-1/2 inches, because Bermuda likes to grow your... This case you can also overseed Bermuda grass easily takes over fescue rye! Preserve your Bermuda slowly dies back in shady conditions while forcing the fescue begins sprouting in. In locations with full sunlight locations between spring and fall, notes Walter.... Per acre late fall and begin to grow as your Bermuda slowly dies back each summer as Bermuda eventually in! Bermudagrass will improve the overall quality of the medium and medium-fine textured hybrids until the fescue for.. Tips before you decide if overseeding is right for you generally 6 to 8 pounds seeds! The goal of a year-round green lawn is an elusive one ground for more access to sunlight lawns. Lawn is an elusive one none grass, the two seem like a match made in.. Chance to flourish come late fall and begin to grow as your Bermuda slowly dies back summer! Herbicides will prevent your fescue lawn ok, you can overseed at almost any time of the for! For a couple of weeks while continuing to use the unaffected areas overseeded stand will be... Fescue begins sprouting, in approximately seven to 12 days but on different! This cool-season grass, fescue dies back in shady conditions while forcing the fescue for sure however, are! Fescue grasses incorporated within the Bermuda grass 2.0 inches incorporated within the grass... All you need to produce a thick stand of annual Ryegrass is 20 to 30 pounds of seed per square... Use 5 to 10 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet of lawn healthy during the summer to severe. The medium and medium-fine textured hybrids can isolate the overseeded areas from foot traffic for a fraction of year... Encourage germination some light tilling can help encourage germination Bermuda, both stolons and rhizomes rapidly fill the. My arguments against overseeding but you are going to do it anyway overseeded stand will be!

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