Fescue Bermuda mix lawn pics

17 years ago

My solution to poor soil and the high and low temps of the transition zone is to mix fescue and bermuda. We had the hottest and dryest summer in history in middle Tennessee this year. 100 degrees 16 days in August and the dryest June-August in history. On the other hand, we've had lows in the 40's 10 of the last 20 days and it was 33 and 37 the last 2 nights. I hope these pic links work, this is my first time trying. These pics were taken on 10-29. My fescue is green, my bermuda is green and from the road you can't tell which is which. Of course if you walk out on the lawn you can tell but this solution has worked best for me. I did the same thing at my last house in the same area with the same kind of crappy clay rocky soil. I water enough to keep it alive thru the drought, but not overly so. I keep it mowed about 2.5 -3 inches. I posted in another thread last week that my bermuda has never creeped as aggresively as some people suggest. Where I have thick fescue it creeps little. Where the fescue is thin and will not do well it creeps more, which I want. I end up with green grass year round and my lawn looks like a country club golf course compared to others in my neighborhood. It was suggested to me that bermuda on rocky soil and hardpan would not work and I was not maintaining it well. I beg to differ.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/6379/003ry2.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7364/002rz0.jpg

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Comments (6)

larjoranj
Original Author
17 years ago
Well obviously my photo and computer IQ is not too high. I thought there would be a clickable link but if you paste the address you get the pic. The first pic is clear, the second not so much, but they give you the idea. I'll try to do better next time. Any suggestions to improve my pic posting please email me at fiveredsfans@aol.com.

Phillip
quirkyquercus
17 years ago
I think your pic posting is just fine.

And I think your tall lawn looks really nice too. Of course what we're seeing in the photo that looks so beautiful is the tall fescue because of the height. By the end of next summer, as much as I hate to be a pessimist, is probably going to be majority bermuda that we are seeing. Especially with that southern exposure. There is something you might like to try though and it's on the shelves of your local Lowes. It's Greenlight "Bermuda Killer". The price isn't too bad even for repeat applications. Wait until the summer to use it if you want.
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Billl
17 years ago
I wouldn't be too pessimistic. A bermuda and fescue mix is fairly common in the transition zone. Most people just don't do it on purpose! The bermuda sneaks in from down the street and just spreads. If you do the whole aerate and overseed routine every year, you can keep a fairly stable mix.

Note - in areas with longer growing seasons, that just isn't going to work. You need the temps to cooperate and give the fescue a fairly long cool season to stay competitive.
quirkyquercus
17 years ago
Yes that is true but when you're a pessimistic perfectionist, it is a problem :-) The fact is, it beats mud. Even though it will need to be redone every so often depending on the maintenance level in the warm season.
larjoranj
Original Author
17 years ago
It beats mud. That is a good point. In my area mud is not desired as a lawn surface.
rcnaylor
17 years ago
I'm in the transition zone at about the same latitude as Tenn. My experience has been the bermuda will crowd out the fescue in full sun if left to its own devices over time.

Like Bill and Quirky suggest, if you aearate heavily and overseed or use chemical control, you can keep a fairly uniform mix.

Its not a bad look at all and like any mix can help with extremes of temp and moisture. What one likes the other doesn't and vice versa. And trying to eradicate it where it where it is happy is a real battle.