Anyone?

Bump for help

1. Wait until July.
2. July
3. You don't really have to remove everything. Eventually the last few fescue plants will die out due to the change in maintenance you'll have to switch to. Probably the easiest way to prepare is to take normal care of it until June. Fertilize with an organic fertilizer on Memorial Day. Why organic? Because it will not be affected by anything else that happens in the process. If you use chemical fertilizer, you will essentially be wasting it. Also it takes a good three weeks for organic fertilizer to kick in, so do it on Memorial Day. You can even over apply at 30 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Then nuke the lawn with RoundUp...twice...10 to 14 days apart. Water it well between the two RU apps to encourage new growth of anything that is alive. Second app will take out everything that you missed the first time.
4a. Couple days to start and couple weeks to germinate to 80% or more.
4b. Not hardly!!! You'll have a dense lawn in a month. Let it grow up to about 2 inches and start to mow it back down. Mow only 1/3 of the height at a time. Eventually you'll mow it all at 1 inch high on a weekly or twice weekly basis.
5. Can't help you with that. Texas Weed is the real bermuda expert. Everything I think I know about it I have learned from him. He'll be around here. He's recently retired from sod farming, remarried, changed regions of the country, and has a new job as a greens keeper at a golf course. If he has not visited, or missed your message, by January, bump your topic again. He'll key in on bermuda in your title. In the mean time, search the Internet for The Bermuda Bible. Download it and read it. Texas Weed wrote it to help solve the problems of the many who want to have a nice bermuda lawn.

If you look back through the archives of any lawn forum for the springtime posts, you'll see that many people try to seed bermuda in the spring. They write in here complaining about poor germination, flooding, seed washing away, etc. If you can just hold your horses until late June or July, the HOT season bermuda seed will germinate just fine for you. It needs hot air and hot soil to germinate the best.

If you are tempted by anyone or any magazine to rototill your soil in preparation for seeding, please resist that urge, too. You NEVER need to rototill the soil in prep for grass. That is a shortcut to a bumpy lawn. I don't care how poor your soil is now, fixing it from the top down is always the best solution.

I think Yukon is an improved common. In any case it stays greener longer and greens sooner than common. Grass blades will be softer than common.

As a homeowner in Tennessee, I beg you to reconsider. I have spent many hours of my life trying to eradicate all the bermuda I see and can legally kill because it is evil incarnate. Depending on what part of South Carolina you are in, you are between 150 and 400 miles away from me. That means if you seed bermuda next July, your bermuda and its evil runners will reach my yard no later than Labor Day.

I beg you: don't give in to evil just because it is easier.

/RANT

:-)

1. Wait until at least late May or early June. Day time temps have to be above 80, and night lows 60 and above. The soil temp has to be above 55 or the seed will not germinate.

2. See #1

3. You do not have to remove it but you want to nuke it. About 1 to 2 weeks before planting fertilize your existing lawn with a good starter fertilizer and water it in real good to get it growing rapidly. Wait a day or two to respond then nuke it with Round Up Pro made with the granules. Wait a week for the existing grass to die, then scalp mow it and bag up all the clippings and debris.

To enure high germination rates rent a vertical mower aka power rake and go over the area a couple of times to loosen up the surface soil and rake up any debris it might rake up.

Sow the seed, roll it down with a rented water roller.

4. 4 to 10 days. You should have good coverage in 4 weeks.

5. I suggest a blend of both Yukon and Riviera both developed by Oklahoma State University. There big advantage, they are both improved common types, is their cold tolerance. They were both specifically developed for the transition zone where cold and freezing weather occur. They will survive winter kill better than any other common type, not hybrids, green up sooner in the spring, and stay green longer in the fall.

Find, print, and read the Bermuda Bible

Thanks!
I appreciate all the input. Hopefully I can get my hands on Yukon or Riviera. I don't know if they are sold in upstate SC. We pretty much have Princess or improved commoon. Why the blend? What is the advantage of the blend v. either Yukon or Riviera. Also, if I do go with a blend, what % for each type of seed?

50/50. Use mail order now.

As a added thought the only way I know to get either Yukon or Riviera is to order it. I do not know of any retail outlets that carry them specifically. So it does not matter where you live, all that matters is you get your order in before everyone else does because supplies are limited and there is never enough to go around.

So take that warning and act now for spring delivery. Couple of places I know of to order are:

http://www.bermudagrass.com/

http://www.hancockseed.com/

http://www.outsidepride.com/seed/grass-seed/bermuda-grass-seed/

http://www.jeinc.com/seed

Hope that helps

Great info! I'm going to start a brand new lawn with Yukon. The area is now free of weeds and grass. In addition to the excellent advice given is there something I should do regarding covering the seed to keep it moist? Peat moss, mulch, etc?
Thanks

I have used peat moss and regular top soil with success. Just need a light dusting, then keep the area moist.

All you need to do is roll or stamp it down to make good contact with the soil. If you want to spend more money for covering, make it as light a dusting as possible. It's practically impossible to make it light enough. I'd just roll it down.

Follow up: It's been almost 4 weeks since I planted the Yukon seed. It's coming in good, however, there's a lot of clover growing as well. Any advice as to how I can eliminate the clover without hurting the Yukon? Thanks

i'm no expert, but i don't think you're supposed to put herbicides on grass that new. i think you're reduced to pulling them by hand until your lawn is a certain age.

you should post some pics. i'm interested to see what it looks like