Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Bermuda, St. Augustine, Zoysia, Centipede, Bahia, Paspalum, etc
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weigojmi
Posts: 507
Joined: March 31st, 2011, 7:34 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Grass Type: TTTF...with way too much Bermuda!
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Post by weigojmi » April 1st, 2019, 9:27 pm

Hola, so I live just north of Charlotte. My lawn has deteriorated last couple years for a few reasons including, but not limited to, a lack of irrigation system and time. I have a neighbor who had a similar looking lawn to mine and then bam, this spring it looks uniform and dark green. I haven't spoken to him yet but I heard through the grapevine that he over-seeded with rye last fall. Perennial or annual I'm not sure. He does not have irrigation and I've never seen him water so I doubt he changed his tune now.

So I'm thinking this might be worth a shot but looking for some advice. My lawn used to be all fescue. Years ago I also lost the battle with (wild?) Bermuda and now its in about 40% of my lawn. The rest doesn't look that hot tbh and there are many bare spots where the fescue died off or the Bermuda is really struggling.

My initial thoughts are to mow the Bermuda down low and throw a generous amount of Rye (perennial or annual?) on to that and the bare spots, water what I can and see how it goes. I expect there's a good chance by next summer all/most of the Rye will be dead but if I can make it through the winter and spring looking much better I don't mind doing this every fall. I tried over-seeding Fescue for years in the same areas but have not been very successful.

Am I missing some glaring weakness in my plan? Basically, I'm trying to get the fastest germination with the least amount of effort/water while improving my lawn's look for most of the year. Additionally, most of the bare spots I mentioned are in the back yard where the dog roams and tracks in dirt and mud. So even if I can just accomplish some decent looking ground covering it would be a win. At this point I'd be happy with anything above average so my sights are not set too high.

kg70041
Posts: 30
Joined: May 2nd, 2017, 12:18 pm
Location: Fort Mill, SC
Grass Type: Bermuda Tif 419
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Experienced

Re: Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Post by kg70041 » April 2nd, 2019, 8:30 am

You'll get some fast germination with the rye but it'll be short lived once the temps pick up. We went from 50's to 80's last year overnight it felt like. Right now a lot of the cool-season lawns in our area look tip-top because we've had near perfect growing conditions for the past few weeks. Would it be worth trying to kill off the Bermuda and renovate the areas that got taken over? This is probably more work than you'd want to take on. I have neighbors that like to overseed their Bermuda with rye in the fall to have color through the winter but it's not really that important to me. Plus I like the fact that the Bermuda doesn't have anything to compete with during green-up in the spring.

Might need to ride out one more summer and then go full send on the fescue/rye in the fall to get everything established without the threat of burning everything up in the heat in a few months. Maybe you could use the summer months to fully kill off the Bermuda so you can have a good base for seeding in the fall?

OR...are those bare spots somewhere you could hardscape/landscape? I've got a few spots in my yard where the Bermuda has thinned considerably due to standing water/dog walking that I'll probably mulch in the coming years.

weigojmi
Posts: 507
Joined: March 31st, 2011, 7:34 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Grass Type: TTTF...with way too much Bermuda!
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Post by weigojmi » April 3rd, 2019, 6:55 am

Hey, I tried to kill off the Bermuda when it was much less prominent and lost the battle each time. So I'm stuck with it.

Plan would be to wait until fall and hit it hard with Rye and hope I get better germination in the Bermuda and bare spots with less watering. I'm really just trying to get the best look with anything for the most time of the year. But I've had very little luck with the fall fescue over-seeding in it and the bare spots so thought I'd try something new especially since I saw my neighbor's success.

By the way I did speak with him yesterday. Last fall he high volume over-seeded with Lesco Double Eagle perennial rye and didn't water once. I'm nothing short of shocked with the germination he got from it. The interesting thing will be to see how it looks in a couple months when the heat kicks in. My understanding is the perennial at least has a fighting chance vs. annual...

kg70041
Posts: 30
Joined: May 2nd, 2017, 12:18 pm
Location: Fort Mill, SC
Grass Type: Bermuda Tif 419
Lawn Size: 5000-10000
Level: Experienced

Re: Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Post by kg70041 » April 3rd, 2019, 8:53 am

We definitely had a mild and excessively rainy winter, so I'm not surprised his rye did really well. Other than some poa triv issues, my dads fescue lawn looks top notch right now in the Belmont area. The Bermuda will always be the tough bit, but you might be able to suppress/control it in the summer with a cool-season herbicide that's detrimental to Bermuda. I'm no expert on rye grass but I'd imagine the perennial, if properly established, would have a more extensive root structure and would be able to handle the heat a bit better than the annual. At least you'd be able to keep some good color into the summer months before we all melt.

Proper soil prep and appropriate seeding (lb/sft) would be a huge benefit if you give this a go in the fall, maybe you'd get some better germination assuming your conditions (sun/rain) are good. Maybe these bare areas need a little extra loving to get everything rolling. I won't be going the overseed route myself but I'd be interested to see how it comes out since I have neighbors who are looking to do the same thing.

weigojmi
Posts: 507
Joined: March 31st, 2011, 7:34 pm
Location: Mooresville, NC
Grass Type: TTTF...with way too much Bermuda!
Lawn Size: Not Specified
Level: Not Specified

Re: Overseed rye in to Fescue/Bermuda lawn?

Post by weigojmi » April 3rd, 2019, 8:50 pm

Yep, will post any updates here. Thanks.

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