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dellonb

Tifsport Overseeded w/ Winter Rye - Next steps for Spring

dellonb
9 years ago

I over seeded my Tifsport this winter with annual Rye to have a green lawn. The lawn looks great but I am getting concerned about how the Tifsport will react come spring. I have read that I may want to find a chemical to apply early spring that will kill off the rye to help the Bermuda come out of dormancy. If this is true, what chemical would that be? Should I be apply fertilizer now to help the Bermuda come spring, if so, what? This will be the 3rd growing season for my Bermuda, I have never aerated, should I this year and if so, when? I typically apply 1 lb. of Nitrogen per 1,000 SF monthly during the growing season, should I do this while the Bermuda is dormant? Is there a good pre-emergent that I should apply this year, if so, what type?

Please don't reply to tell me that it was a bad idea to over seed with Rye, to late to change it now. The photo is my lawn last year in July. I look forward to any helpful replies.

Thanks

Comments (18)

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    What kind of mower do you have and at what height do you mow?

  • dellonb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have a rotary Toro 30" mower. I believe in this photo I had mowed at 1". I typically mow at 1 or 1.5 inches. I know this type of hybrid turf is meant to be mowed at much lower settings but I don't have a reel mower.

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    Just out of curiosity, why did you go with TifSport over something like TIfway?

    Anyway, to deal with your rye grass problem, you will most likely have to deal with it until it dies off in June or July and it may also thin out your Tifsport in the process. You could try to use a herbicide like Celsius which should work but I have no experience with it in your situation. Celsius does a good job of killing grassy weeds and come Spring time that is exactly what the rye you put down will become. It can be found online or at a John Deere Landscapes for around $85-100 a bottle that will last you forever and can also be used on weeds during the summer. The only other options are what golf courses use and they are WAY too expensive to "try" out. I would say if you could mow low that would help too but since you don't have a reel mower that isn't an option. You could also look at Lowe's and Home Depot to see what they have for use on grassy weeds, I think Image makes something that may work.

    As for fertilizing, right now is NOT a good time as you would be wasting it since the bermuda is dormant. Just wait till Spring time and once the bermuda starts showing signs of greening up start hitting it with 1 lb of Nitrogen a month until all the rye is gone.

    Is your soil compacted or do you have a lot of thatch built up? If you can answer yes to either of those questions then you should aerate but wait until June or July to do so, it won't really help with killing off the rye grass though.

    If there is something I didn't cover let me know or if you have any other questions.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Have you read this?

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    Here is another article that may be good reading too!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Removing Rye from Bermuda

  • grasshole
    9 years ago

    Revolver is one of those "too expensive to just try out" herbicides. If you don't plan on overseeding every year, I wouldn't bother with that cost. Just wait it out this year and take the best care of your grass that you can.

    Your grass may suffer a little this year from the overseed, but it'll be fine. This is hybrid bermuda we are talking about. You can't break it. It will recover in due time.

    So don't worry about hurting it. Bermuda is pretty dang easy to take care of and keep happy:

  • iriasj2009
    9 years ago

    I overseeded Last fall with PERENNIAL Rye grass. The transition took longer than I wished for. I live in Houston and are in the upper 80s by may. The Rye didn't conpletely die off until mid june. In my case, I kept the Rye grass mowed at 2 inches until mid may since it was looking good still and since I was out of town and I wasn't able to scalp it early march. ANNUAL rye will dye off much quicker than perennial tho. Once temps hit mid 80s, I would start my transition. Mow it as low as you can, and keep it short without water for about 10 days, then fertilize heavy and water it. Keep it short until the Rye dies out. As for using herbicides to help out, I would try the celcius.

    *To get rid of the Rye sooner, perform the scalp sooner than what I mentioned.

  • dellonb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Mightyquinn1 - I will give the Celsius a try, I will report back later this spring to let everyone know the results.

    There was no particular reason why I chose Tifsport over a standard 419. I'm a golf nut, and I know a few of the local courses had the Tifsport and it looked beautiful. When I visited the local sod farm, I saw the price difference to upgrade was not substantial so I gave it a try. I have loved it the first two years, great sod.

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    I will definitely be curious to see how the Celsius works on over seeded rye. I have been using it for the last 3 or 4 years on my Tifway 419 and haven't really found anything it couldn't kill, plus it is the only thing that you can spray on weeds when the temperatures are above 85ðF.

    I would have done the same thing as you did as I am a golf nut too. I try to maintain mine at less than a 1/2" to make it look like a fairway. If you love your grass now, you would be amazed at what mowing with a reel mower will do!!

    Here is a pic of mine about a year and a half ago.

  • dellonb
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I have lawn envy, great looking grass!

    When I purchased my sod I bought a new mower, it was a twin blade, 30" rotary Toro which cost me $1,300. Looking back, for what I spent I should have purchased a reel mower. I was scared to purchase a reel mower at the time because of some reading I had done regarding maintenance of the mowers, cost, etc. I'm not opposed to purchasing one now if it is reasonably priced. I have a large backyard which is fescue, so the Toro rotary would get plenty of use.

    If I was to purchase a reel mower, what should I be looking at? Is a McLean a decent model? I know a Toro reel is out of the question because of the cost. I have heard horror story's about people buying used reel mowers and spending more money to get them back into good shape than what it would have cost to buy one new. I understand that the bed knives need to be kept sharp, what other maintenance comes with a reel? If you had it to do over again, would you still purchase a reel? What brand/ model do you own?

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    I bought a 25" TruCut 10 blade mower about 4 years ago. It has been a great mower but I just recently purchased a Baroness LM 56 greens mower off ebay, it was brand new and they were asking $2000 for it and it normally goes for $8,000-10,000. So needless to say I couldn't pass it up. I haven't really been able to mow with it since it was September when I got it and the lawn was about to go into dormancy.

    From my experience is that if you plan on mowing your lawn at 1/2" or below, I would go with a greens mower with a groomer or brush attachment. If you do a little searching you can find used ones in good shape for what a brand new TruCut or McClane would cost. If you want to mow between 1/2"-1 1/2" a TruCut or McClane will do a great job. I have heard that McClanes aren't built as solid as a TruCut and have more issues with them.

    As far as maintenance goes on reel mowers, there really isn't that much you have to do. The one thing you will need to learn is how to backlap the reel to the bedknife. It is a fairly easy procedure to do, just takes some trial and error to figure it out. You also need to find a shop/golf course that will be able to grind the reel for you which should be done every year or two. As long as you are capable of doing basic maintenance it isn't too bad. I have had to replace the drive chains once on my mower but that is real easy to do.

    The quality of cut can't be beat from a sharp reel mower over a rotary mower. It's amazing at the difference between the two. I am sure I forgot to mention something so if you have any other questions just let me know.

  • dchall_san_antonio
    9 years ago

    dellonb do you know why your lawn looked blotchy in the picture?

    And are you still using that tripod sprinkler? How often do you use that?

  • neilaz
    9 years ago

    Well i lost my long msg due to internet going down so this one will be brief. I say yes to fertilizing now and every month until Bermuda comes back but only if you can find Calcium or Potassium nitrate. Calcium being the best. You will have to look long and hard to find one of these as the big box stores do not carry it. And yes i use Revolver for the transition. It was like $175 but will last me 15+ years. That is if the product as not lost its potency by then.

  • grasshole
    9 years ago

    What does the calcium or potassium nitrate do, Neil?

    Thanks!

  • neilaz
    9 years ago

    Calcium/potasium nitrates are absorbed by plants in cooler weather where ammonium will not break down to a usable form when cooler. In the past i have had a hard time finding Calcium but just did a search and found a few sources. Therefore just ordered 25lb from where else, Amazon.

  • neilaz
    9 years ago

    Calcium/potasium nitrates are absorbed by plants in cooler weather where ammonium will not break down to a usable form when cooler. In the past i have had a hard time finding Calcium but just did a search and found a few sources. Therefore just ordered 25lb from where else, Amazon.

  • mightyquinnaty
    9 years ago

    I guess it all depends on if you want to feed the rye grass or not.

  • dellonb
    Original Author
    8 years ago

    Follow up to overseeding my TifSport with Rye. The Bermuda has really struggled this year. I didn't use any chemicals to kill the Rye. I mowed it down in April/ May and let it burn out. I am attaching pics of the lawn this year (brown spots all over) and last year, when it looked much healthier. Not sure what to do to get it looking better this year? I put down Nitrigen yesterday to try and get it to green up. I mow it every forth day at 1" or 1.5". I scalped it 10 days ago hoping to get it to fill in the spots that looked bare. I don't water, no irrigation systems. Past years, it did fine with only receiving rain water. Any ideas?


  • dchall_san_antonio
    8 years ago

    Keep doing what you're doing. The only other thing you could do for it is water. My favorite system is a Craftsman 3/4-inch hose with any turbo oscillator type sprinkler. I had an underground system with 4 zones at my last house. I never used it once. But I did have 4 hoses and 4 oscillators I could turn on at any time.