It would be in your best interest to return that seed. From what I have seen most Vigoro brand seed is very low end. There is a reason it is the cheapest seed you can buy, you get what you pay for. The coating is supposed to lead to better germination, less water, etc. etc. It's basically just a gimmick to sell you 50% less seed for the same price. I am not a warm season guy however, so perhaps this is something that Bermuda requires, but I doubt it. Hopefully Texas Weed will post, he is or was a sod farmer and knows a lot about Bermuda. From some quick searches I did Palma is a Barenburg product that claims to be a cost effective seed (less expensive than most) that is better than common Bermuda. Transcontinental is an older cultivar (15 years) that performed well when it was tested by the NTEP. If you want to see how the latest seeded Bermuda grass trials are going then head over to www.ntep.org.

Thanks for the info. I'm dealing with a three acre yard that I know needs to be overseeded very soon. For me I'm trying to find the best deal for the right reasons.

The big box stores want to sell me a truckload seed that contains a lot of filler and has a nice profit margin. At the same time, places like seedland.com kill the deal because of the cost of shipping.

I just want quality seed at a good price. I personally could care less if it comes in a pretty container or has a special coating.

See if there is a Lesco nearby, and give them a call. They sell to the public and are often very reasonable with respect to price, and generally carry respectable cultivars. If not there are several seed sellers online other than seedland that might be more reasonable. Check out outsidepride.com, the hogan company: www.thehogancompany.us/index.html, and others.

Palma is a very low end Bermuda grass seed better used as pasture grass for hay production.

You are going to have to bit the bullet if you want a quality Bermuda grass seed or blend. A high quality blend will cost you around $16 to $20 per pound and needs an application rate of 2 to 3 pounds per 1000/ft2.

Ok, so let's calculate the seed cost for BryanAlff based on the information presented so far. We'll use averages of $18/lb. of seed and 2.5 lbs. seed/1000sq.ft. I can already see that this is going to be a very big number. Yes Granny, everything in Texas IS bigger.

2.5 x 43.56 = 108.90 lbs seed needed per Acre
108.90 x 3 Acres = 326.70 lbs. seed needed
326.70 x $18.00 = $5,880.60

That had better be some good viable grass seed.

3 Acres? I missed that part somewhere. Dude you do not want a 3 acre lawn of any type of grass, at least not 3 acres of quality turf grass. Not only will the seed be extremely expensive but mowing 2 to 3 times a week, water, and fertilizer will break the ole bank account and you aching back.

Hi Texas-weed,

Then what would you recommend? This house once was a part of a larger ranch. It has since been subdivided and now sits on approximately three acres of land. The house itself is awesome, but the original owners did not take good care of the yard. Originally many areas had grass stands that were almost 5-ft tall. Over the last year or so, the original grass has been brought under control and the weeds are now at a manageable level. (Herbicides, a hand shovel, and brute-force persistence can do wonders when controlling weeds.)

It's now getting to the point where I feel the yard needs to be over seeded, hence the need for a quality seed. Replacing the entire yard with tiffway is not a good option either. That too is also not a good option because sod, like seed is also expensive.

TW:

So I'm just gonna throw this out there for what its worth. This is strictly related to seed cost and size of area.

Sahara Bermudagrass seed: 50 lbs. = $150 (Southland)
Seeding rate is 2 lbs./1000

2 x 43.56 = 87.12 lbs. seed/Acre
3 x 87.12 = 261.36 lbs needed
261.36/50 = 5.22 bags needed
5 x $150 = $750.00

I know that Sahara is an improved variety of common bermuda, but thats about all I know of this grass. Just trying to help this guy reduce his cost.

Wow, how do you water all that area after seeding? Or do you? And yes, the grow-in cost will be substantial.

Hi NearAndWest,

The yard has a sprinkler system, plus it has a stock pond. Depending on the time of year I can pull water from either source.

The stock pond is nice because it never really empties. The pond itself sits on the water table so it will automatically rise and fall depending on the season. Over the years the kids have added their pet fish into it so now I have a nice collection of exotic wildlife swimming around. It also has hydrilla, but that's an easy fix by getting a permit to own grass carp.... but I digress.

For what it's worth, it usually takes me about 8hrs to mow the yard. I usually, break the tasks down into multi-day chores. One day will be on the lawn tractor. Another day is edging and trimming, etc.

Here is what I suggest. Divide and conquer. For the immediate area around the house either install a quality Bermuda sod or improved Bermuda seed mix. Keep that part well manicured and maintained.

As for the rest use a native mix of pasture grasses and wild flowers just like they use on highway right of ways. They do not require any fertilizer or water and only need mowed once a month or so to keep under control.

Mainaing 3 acres of turf quality lawn really takes a full time staff and a whole lot of expense. If you look around Dalls business section where all the corporations have large expanses of lawn you will notice people working every day round the clock on them. Not practical for a home owner IMO unless you have the money to hire someone to work full time.

Hi Texas-weed,

I shall take your advice to heart. I love this house and it's yard has a lot of potential. When I look out over the yard, it really does look like the house is sitting on the edge of an abandoned golf fairway. It sounds like I need to take a step back and evaluate what is resonable and what is not.

Thank you.

Convert large portion into a forest. Do you really need that much lawn?

You could put down bluebonnet when mixing with grass seed (where do you live?). Maybe low maintenance buffalo grass?. I'd go on the light side of amount to spread but they self-seed so eventually it'd be very full in a few years. It is an awesome sight. The fragrance from millions of bluebonnets is very nice too.
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Bryan I think you are on the right track now. In Tx at my hom eis on a farm with about 10 acres in front of the house to the road. Around the house is Bermuda that is maintained. I also had a golf green and a few tee boxes. Difference is I own a sod farm and have all the equipment and labor around to keep things nice, but not the whole 10 acres. The green is TifEagle, lawn and Tee boxes are Tif419, and th erest is just a mix of Bermuda grasses allowed to go wild which was only moved about every 10 days or so.

To keep Bermuda looking like a golf fairway takes a lot of work. So step back and see just how much time you really want to spend on things.

I can tell you this to have a really decent looking
Bermuda lawn you will need to mow at least twice a week, fertilize once per month, and during the hot dry summer water once or twice a week. Providing that kind of maintenance on say 5000 to 10,000/ft2 is one thing, maintaining 130,000/ft2 is another story.

Just maintaining a rather large 10,000/ft2 Bermuda lawn in DFW will cost you roughly $110 per year in fertilizer. Now scale that up to 130,000/ft2 = $1430.

Time needed to mow and edge a 10,000/ft2 Bermuda lawn around 3 hours twice a week for 6 hours per week. That is doable. Scale up to 130,000/ft2 and you have a full time job or close to it.

So give it some thought as you have a lot of time to think about it before it is time to act. My guess is you already have Bermuda around the house and only need to rework it to bring it back to life.

Please excuse me for a moment while I drool over Lou_Midlothian_Tx's photo.
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Not quite there yet.... still drooling.
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OK. I'm done now. Wow!! What a great photo. That to me is worth the time to see.

Thank you for sharing. :-)

Welcome to GardenWeb, Bryan. You are undoubtedly looking around the Internet for help with your situation. While you are looking, look for the Bermuda Bible written by Texas Weed. It is pamphlet length and really does have everything you'll need for a bermuda lawn.

I do have to agree about the vast expanse of grass. To me nothing is less interesting than an unbroken line of lawn. This topic used to come up often here. It came up so often that I compiled a list of suggestions for people who wanted to consider alternatives to grass in their landscape. Here's my list from 2006.

Decks, patios, privacy fences, accent fences, screens, formal and informal walkways, steps, spa/hot tub, barbecue/picnic area, retaining walls, arbors, overhead sunshades, screened rooms, gazebos, sun room, greenhouse, swimming pools, garden pools/ponds, tool shed, potting bench, dog run/kennel, accent lighting, parcours, storage units, statuary, benches, sports courts, jogging track, hedges, decorative gates, drives/parking areas, remote party room (for games, TV, pool table, etc.), shade trees, fruit orchard, accent trees, play yard, screen shrubs, accent shrubs, vines, ground covers, outdoor theater, ornamental grasses, and beds (perennials, annuals, bulbs, herbs, ferns, roses, hostas, container plants, rock, and fruits).