For the umteenth time.

Do NOT overseed sodded bermuda lawns!

This year has been unusually hot with people overseeding bermuda on bermuda. Are the seed people advertising more on the sports channels?

Bermuda is the most self sustaining turfgrass I know of. Once you have it, you can't get rid of it. The only thing you really need is a little patience when everyone else's lawns are greening up and the bermuda is not. Once it greens up, the bermuda is off like a rocket.

In addition to patience, you need a bag of fertilizer each month, time to mow frquently enough to prevent scalping, 1" of water a week.

doze, You did a good job and I'm sure the lawn will look much better for it. What your lawn needs now is sunlight and an increase in temperature. When the grass gets going be sure to mow often and try not to let it ever get too tall.
iforgotitsonevermind, You can quit your moronic flashing sign business about overseeding Bermuda. I know you guys think you are God's gift to humanity when it comes to Bermuda grass advice. I've been fooling around with the stuff for 50 plus years so I know a thing or two about it. There are times when overseeding Bermuda is just fine. Doze probably had some bare places and a few areas where it was extra thin. I have overseeded in a similar fashion many times with excellent results. I understand that you should not overseed a low growng hybrid with a different seed because of the big differences in the grass but doze was overseeding common Bermuda. By the way fertilizing the grass once a month is way too much sometimes and can lead to problems.

Well this is a lawn forum afterall. You're bound to find a few people that are into grass and don't recommend using unimproved, low ranking, high weed content seed from walmart.

There are many clues in the OP's text about things that are not right.

If the house was new 2.5 years ago and located in Austin, chances are the grass is not common bermuda.

Seeding bermuda in Austin needs to be done in late June, not April. The soil is not warm enough yet.

Watering every day in April will give you summer weeds.

Cutting the grass very low means that it has not been mowed low enough all along. There should not be any lower setting on the mower than the lowest mowing height. That's the one that makes bermuda the most dense.

Crabgrass has only now started to sprout in Austin. Whatever weeds he got rid of, crabgrass was not one of them. But since he has been watering every day, I would expect the only new stuff he sees will be crabgrass.

Read the Bermuda Bible.

rdaystrom, I don't think it is common Bermuda from the clues the OP gives. Sounds like a new build tract housing addtion. Maybe the OP can clarify? If it is new construction the default is Tifway.

Or what I call builder grade sod.

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iforgotitsonevermind , I think it's funny how everyone's grass (that isn't what you are into at the moment) is "lower ranking", cheap, "builder's grade", or described with some other condescending adjective. Doesn't it bother you that most of your posts are inaccurate, misleading, or just plain incorrect? You have to resort to using stroboscopic giant fonts to get attention.
Well the fact is many people want a nice looking yard and can only do just so much. In fact when you take a cross-section of average homeowners very few can devote much time at all to lawn improvement. The original post right here is trying to do some improvements and in my opinion has taken some steps in the right direction.

Geez! this was the first post I read and I must say, I'm not impressed by the tone used here. This web site is supposed to be for people to come, ask questions, get answers and learn. Not get chewed out for such. If the replys aren't going to be insightful, don't post them.

I see Doze hasn't been back, that's a shame and you should be ashamed of yourself.

I know! Geez!
I used a smileyface and everything!

Strange how you point out someone has builder grade appliances and builder grade cabinetry, they openly acknowledge that but tell them they have builder grade sod that is not suitable for their climate and they go bananas.

I'll use 2 smileys this time

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iforgotitsonevermind , You should be banned from this forum.

rdaystrom, why shoud iforgotitsonervermind be banned from this forum?

Maybe because I don't advise people to buy lawn seed that is ill-adapted to their climate from walmart.

Maybe 3 smilies will work?

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Nobody's advice is more perfect than anyone elses. I thought this was going fine until rdaystrom put on his forum police hat.

Maybe this will help spread the lawn forum love...

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Thanks to some for the feedback, I saw the bermuda bible a few weeks ago and got some useful info from it. For those who advised not to overseed I did because there were patches in the lawn that were very thin last summer when the rest was healthy then when the grass went dormant there was little to no grass in multiple areas.

For those curious about the grass type it was a new home in a new neighborhood but strangely enough I have seen the builders here either sod or seed depending on season and whether they build the whole block at the same time. The nicer homes in the neighborhood have a thicker denser grass with different looking blades than ours so I'm pretty sure they have a hybrid and mine is common bermuda. Either way I have no problem with a builders grade lawn I just want it to look nicer.

Yes the crabgrass hit hard last month but luckily the yard is fairly small and I've had some extra time lately to get rid of it by hand. I got rid of 3 or 4 different varieties of crabgrass or other wild grasses and every day I spend 10-15 minutes maintaining.

Somebody mentioned that the temp wasn't right for seeding but I checked my soil temp with a meat thermometer and it was above 65. We also had a week of 80+ air temps last week so I think I should be good because after mid April it will not get cold outside again in Austin until probably October. We also got rain this weekend and have more rain on the way so I should not have to worry much about water.

Regarding fertilizer I always thought seasonal was good enough but I grew up with St Aug grass in South Louisiana so it took very little to have a nice green lawn year round. Does Bermuda really need to be fed every month?

Does Bermuda really need to be fed every month?
Yes if you want it lush and green. Bermuda is a nitrogen hog, and almost impossible to over fertilize. It needs around 5 to 6 pounds of nitrogen annually which comes out to feeding on average every 30 days or so depending on your length of growing season.

As for watering Bermuda seed, it takes more than you might be thinkiing. The seed bed has to be kept moist continiously until germinated. To do that pretty much requires frequent light waterings every day.

Thanks texas-weed any brand recommendation for fertilizer, or are they all basically the same?

No they are not basically the same. I suugest Lesco slow release urea products for several reasons, but the main reason is multiple forumations that can be fine tuned for you needs. The down side to that is are they located in your area?

As an example if you use say Scotts brand you are basically stuck with one size fits all approach of something like 29-2-11 or something like that.

65 degree soil is about 15-20 degrees too cool for bermuda seed. That will happen in June.

Doze, Glad you responded and I hope your yard turns out like you want it. I feel like the Lone Ranger defending you against people who disagree with everything I say. The fact is that your yard will look nice soon because you did the right things to it. You do not have to have Lesco fertilizer. It's fine if you do but not necessary by any stretch of the imagination. Overseeding in the temperatures you mentioned will work just fine. 65 degrees being the low end as dchall pointed out. You should have a nice stand of Bermuda although it may not come out as quick as you want it to. Don't go look at the bare spots wondering where the seedlings are. There's a reason for the saying, "That's almost as slow as watching grass grow." Consistent mowing will be important because if you get behind and the grass gets too tall it will be yellow looking when you cut it back down although it will recover in a few days or weeks. Keeping the seeds moist right now helps the germination. Watering the Bermuda grass is dependent on how your lawn soil holds water. Watering 1" once a week is way too much in my yard at certain times of the year and not enough at others. I think the point of suggesting 1" of water per week is to suggest that you water deeply and less frequently as opposed to putting a sprinkler out everyday for 15 minutes as many people do.

Watering 1 inch per week is really a starting point. Some lawns need more, some less. It depends on your soil, humidity, wind, grass, shade, and probably something else I'm forgetting. Rather than trying to get too scientific in evaluating all that, it usually works to start with 1 inch and go up or down from there. Watch the grass and let it tell you. Whether it turns out to be 1 inch or something else, splitting the amount by 7 and watering daily is not a good approach. That's what you do if you want weed seeds to germinate.

rdaystrom, some days you're the dog and some days you're the hydrant. We've all been there and will be there again.

texas-weed thanks I will research Lesco other fertilizer brands a bit more to see what is available here at the best price. So far I used Scotts because its easy to find and a namebrand I trust like Kraft or GE

dchall I had a feeling it may have been a little bit early but I wanted to get the bulk of the work done before it got too hot outside

rdaystrom ...Thanks for the tips,I would like to see improvement by Memorial day so thats why I started mid-April. I know there are enthusiasts here but my main goal is to have a nicer looking lawn not a putting green and I think you got that. I enjoy grilling and outdoor activities and I think the outside of a house is a reflection of the people who live inside. I will definitely keep up the mowing on a regular schedule.

I had a feeling it may have been a little bit early but I wanted to get the bulk of the work done before it got too hot outside

One of the cardinal rules of gardening is to plant plants in the proper season. That's the one you violated. Similarly you can't plant cilantro seeds now and get them to grow. I'm not going to issue you a citation this time...only a warning...but watch your plant seasonality in the future. The next bermuda policeman might cite you for doing June bermuda seed in an April zone.

dchall ... I have read multiple accounts of people seeding in the fall so wouldn't seeding in the very early part of the season have similar results? Also a few of my neighbors hired lawn services who seeded last week too so I guess the bermuda police will be busy this month ;)

Fall seeding is for cool weather grasses and does not apply to warm season grasses like Bermuda. While 65 degree soil is less than optimum or borderline germination temps for Bermuda, you will get much better results waiting until it gets 70 and above. Otherwise the germination process will be slow and the majority of the seed will just sit there waiting for optimum temps.

When seeding normal watering practices goes out the window, a seed bed needs to remain moist until germination which means light watering a few times per day. This is true for about any kind of seedbed.Since Bermuda seed is so small and basically on the surface of the soil rather than planted say a 1/4 inch or more deep, the surface dries very quickly and therefore needs more frequent water than you might think.

For fertlizetr, rdstorm is right, you do not need Lescco, but they do make the best IMO and the price is competitive to the Kraft and GE brand you speak of. If you live in a city, chances are Lesco has a dealer or two. If not you really want to try to use a slow release urea formula. The problem I have with Scotts is the one size fits all approach. I have never seen a soil that needs 29-2-11 for every application. If not Lesco go to your local feed-seed-farm store and ask what they have. Country stores like that have very reasonable products.

Here is a tip for planting Bermuda seed.

Mix it in equal volume with corn grits, corn meal, or play sand. For overseeding use about 2 lbs of seed per 1000/ft2, and 3 to 4 lbs for new areas.

After 2 weeks I can already see some germination beginning in the bare spots. Luckily there was a lot of rain and some hot days last week so things are looking good so far.