Seeded Bermuda grass questions.

10 years ago

I live ib 8a-8b. I regraded my back yard this past winter and seeded it with annual ryegrass. It came in pretty well and covers about 70%-80% of the yard. About 8 days ago I scalped and aireated the yard and seeded with bermuda and some starter fertilizer. I have been watering it 2 to three times a day with a hand sprayer. It hasn't shown any germination yet but that is not my concern.

I just read that rye gives off some sort of chemical that inhibits other grass growth. Should I be concerned with this?

Also the rye is getting pretty long about 5-6in and I'm concerned that it is covering too much not allowing light to shine through. It makes it look like it covers 95%+ of the yard. Should I cut it or leave it be?

Thanks

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Comments (5)

reeljake
10 years ago
Rye probably is not helping, but it's just not hot enough for the Bermuda to germinate yet.
dchall_san_antonio
10 years ago
Agreed. Where do you live? There is a zone 8 in Oregon, but I'm guessing you don't live there. For most of the US, bermuda seed won't germinate until mid June.

Scalp the rye every chance you get. The bermuda will love seeing the sunlight and warming up. The only magic rye has is shade. It's the shade that keeps the bermuda from awakening. I've seen nice bermuda lawns, overseeded with rye, take a full season to recover from an unusually cloudy spring. Overseeding with rye isn't a good idea.

The only reason to reseed bermuda is...uh...ummm, there really isn't any reason to reseed. Maybe if you wanted more of a variety of bermuda varieties you could reseed. Bermuda is bermuda. It's going to take over no matter what you do. If it thins out that usually means it's in the shade. No amount of overseeding will help that situation.
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Derek Finley
Original Author
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
I live in central texas near waco, where last week we had about a week and a half of 80+ weather with night time lows of 60+. But of course this week a cool front pushed through and now we're sitting at 65 degree highs so go figure. The cost of sod was too much for me so i went with seed. The ground was bare top soil due to the regrading and was originally natural vegetation and I didn't do any care for it. There are spots further back on my property, I'm sitting on about 2 acres, that has bermuda that grows without care and it started running about 2 weeks ago so i figured it was time to seed next to the house. Ill try to mow tomorrow if the ground dries up enough from this mornings rains and keep it short. Then just wait and see. I still have half a bag of seed I'm saving incase it doesn't come in well.

Thank yall for your help.
Derek Finley
Original Author
10 years ago
I happy to report that I'm seeing some germination! It is coming up where it gets morning shade from the house and stays wet the longest. Farther out from the house away from the shade I do see some but not quite as much. I mowed yesterday and as I was watering this morning I noticed the grass coming up.
reeljake
10 years ago
Good news! Only need a few million more to sprout, but it's a good start! Keep the 'green mist' watered but not too wet & you should be solid. Once you get some nice mature spots, you can use them to plug the bare spots next season, like making your own sod plugs...