Its been around 6 weeks now, and the grass has come in pretty well. The leafs of the grass are still a kind of narrow, but its growing in pretty densely. I've watered the heck out of it, and applied the starter fertilizer right a 4 weeks, pretty much following the directions.

The thing is, I've got a lot of weeds, mostly because I didn't have new topsoil brought in before hydroseeding. My mistake. Anyway, I've got clover, dandelion, some crabgrass (I think), and a weed with a pretty little yellow flower.

So, my question is twofold. Is it too early to apply broadleaf herbicide to get rid of the weeds? When is it "safe" to do that? I don't want to mess up the grass that is coming in.

Also, is it worth it to get a lawn service like Scots to come in and do a weed service on it? Do they have more targeted/better chemicals for this?

The product you want is Weed-B-Gone Chickweed, Clover, and Oxalis. That is the name. All of the different mixtures of WBG say they will kill chickweed, clover, and oxalis in the fine print, but this one is stronger. It is that one that really does the job. That should handle the weeds that are not grassy. For crabgrass, you could be doomed until fall when it dies out anyway. Spot spray only the weeds. You only need to moisten the leaves of the weed. Drenching the soil is a waste of herbicide and not good for your lawn environment. I'd wait until I mowed the new grass (not weeds) for the second time. You have all summer to get to this.

Don't kick yourself about not bringing in more topsoil. Bringing in unnecessary topsoil creates a whole new set of problems. You are much better off using the soil you started with. Plus we are practically inundated here with people getting weedy topsoil. You did exactly the right thing.

For your weed with the little flower, look up horse herb.

Find the Bermuda Bible on the Internet and memorize it. Also after you have mowed for the second time, you can water the heck out of it a lot less. It is much better to water more deeply and less often than to water daily for 10 minutes. I have watered my lawn in San Antonio once this year. Yes, we have some luck with rain but a lot of neighbors are watering a lot already.

I'm going to stop by the local Lowe's on my way home tonight and get some Weed B Gone Max.

I'm about to do my 4th mow tonight. And I'm pretty sure the temperatures are about right in the morning here (Austin, TX), but I'll know for sure when I read the label.

How soon do you recommend reapplying for any surviving weeds? Is once a week until they're all gone too often?

Really though, read them (better than I do).

In the meantime mow rigorously 2 to 3 times a week to keep it short. This will help get a handle on weed control. Once the grass is acclimated, deep rooted, and the weather cools off a bit then you can start with herbicides. Come late August you may find you do not need herbicides.

What happens if I apply it when it is over the recommended temp? Is it just less effective, or a total loss? If its just weaker, it might make sense to try it...at least its less likely to do harm.

Also, I hadn't thought about keeping it short so the weeds are at a disadvantage. That totally makes sense. I don't know if I can mow two or three times per week, but I can at least try to keep it up as long as I can. With the starter fertilizer, it about needs mowing that often anyway.

Or, I might have the mower set too high. I've got it at 3", and I've been bagging the clippings because I don't want to be spreading weed seeds. Is that correct?

It has not been spring since April. Welcome to Texas.

What happens if I apply it when it is over the recommended temp? Is it just less effective, or a total loss? If its just weaker, it might make sense to try it...at least its less likely to do harm.

If you apply when it is too hot, the grass dies.

Also, I hadn't thought about keeping it short so the weeds are at a disadvantage. That totally makes sense. I don't know if I can mow two or three times per week, but I can at least try to keep it up as long as I can. With the starter fertilizer, it about needs mowing that often anyway.

This could be your biggest problem. 2x to 3x per week is normal for a good looking bermuda lawn. If you mow less often it will be shaggy with seed heads before the week is up.

Or, I might have the mower set too high. I've got it at 3", and I've been bagging the clippings because I don't want to be spreading weed seeds. Is that correct?

You did not find the Bermuda Bible and memorize it, did you!? As you lower the mowing height you will find the lawn getting a scalped, stemmy look. That is normal. In fact when you get down to your mower's lowest setting, you might want to rent a mower that goes down even lower and get it down to 3/4 inch for at least one mowing/scalping. If you could take this to the limit and mow at about 1/4 inch, you would find the bermuda stems start to grow horizontally and you get a bunch of blades growing off the stem. That is nirvana for bermuda. You need a reel mower for that and you need to mow 2x to 3x per week. Also no need to bag clippings.

The way this thread is going it doesn't sound like you have the huevos to really do the right thing with bermuda. It is a demanding grass to grow if you wan it to look nice. It needs deep weekly waterings, 2x weekly mowing and monthly feeding with a high nitrogen fertilizer. No other turf grass needs that much work. It looks good on the golf course and other sports venues but they can pay their employees to keep it up. If you want to deviate from that script, you can have an okay lawn but you will have poor color, poor density (and associated weeds), and a shaggy look.

Can you post pictures of your weeds? I'm thinking your clover is not clover but oxalis or black medic. I'm thinking your crabgrass is St Augustine. And there are a couple possibilities for the weed with the little yellow flower but most popular is horse herb.

I did find the Bermuda Bible...but I haven't memorized it, yet. My impression of it was that it is for more established grasses that don't have a ton of weeds (hence i wasn't sure about the mulching). It said from June onward to mow from 1.5 to 2 inches, which isn't too far off from the 3 inches that the seeding guides have said to set the mower to while trying to get the yard established.

I feel like I'm in this no-man's land in-bwetween where the seeds have sprouted, but the grass is still very young.

I have a self-propelled rotary mower. How much harder is it to push a reel mower around? I've got a fairly sloped front yard. Not so sloped that the mower can self-propel up it, but if I let go of it on the downhill side, it would definitely roll down the hill.

I'll start lowering the height on the mower. I should be able to get it to 1" by the middle of next week. How long do I want to keep mowing to that height, given that the BB says to start raising it up by now?

I've taken some pictures, I've got to find a place to host them so I can post a link. I'll put them up soon.!!

http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/skpatel73/Grass/

The rotary mower is having some severe problems cutting that low. The bermuda is thick enough that it is clogging my cheap Toro. Would a reel mower be easier? I don't mind some extra work of pushing it, but the constant restarting of the mower is highly annoying!! What is a good reel mower for Bermuda? The web seems to point to the Fiskar's Momentum as the kind of the hill, but the reviews seem to indicate that that's not a good mower for Bermuda.