Too early to overseed? (Home Depot, garden, yard)

[Reedus]

Due to a ton of shade from my mature Ash trees, my Bermuda on my front lawn never came in this summer. It looked awful😔 With high eighties in the forecast, I bit the bullet and put down the perennial rye last night. Crossing my fingers I didn't jump the gun. Thoughts?

[PhureeKeeper]

You may have jumped the gun by two weeks or so, but water it for short periods of time at least 4 times a day until it comes in. You may have to sprinkle down a bit more seed to fill in the bare spots in another month.

[hikernut]

We have the same issue, a very shady yard. The Bermuda is mostly gone.


A guy in the garden department at Home Depot suggested tall fescue, which I am going to try seeding this year. The hope is that it will be a year-round grass. It takes more water than Bermuda, though, which is a negative. I hope to get it seeded this weekend, as it's supposed to go in a couple of weeks before the usual time for winter rye.

You might be okay with the rye seed, as we're getting a bit of a cold snap right now (well, yeah, whatever you want to call it!).

[Reedus]

Originally Posted by hikernut

We have the same issue, a very shady yard. The Bermuda is mostly gone.


A guy in the garden department at Home Depot suggested tall fescue, which I am going to try seeding this year. The hope is that it will be a year-round grass. It takes more water than Bermuda, though, which is a negative. I hope to get it seeded this weekend, as it's supposed to go in a couple of weeks before the usual time for winter rye.

You might be okay with the rye seed, as we're getting a bit of a cold snap right now (well, yeah, whatever you want to call it!).

Last year I had my rye in the 1st of October and it didn't seem to get out of the 90s all month. Rye survived just fine

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by Reedus

Last year I had my rye in the 1st of October and it didn't seem to get out of the 90s all month. Rye survived just fine

It'll probably be okay. I've always read that the overnight lows are more important that the highs, with a target in the 60's F, if I remember correctly.

[phx1205]

The general rule of thumb I have always followed is when the nighttime temps are consistently around 65, it's time to overseed. Usually 1st week of October. Golf courses have already started over seeding so you can probably get away with it now. Just keep the seed wet especially next week when temps will be in upper 90's.

[DougStark]

If your bermuda is thinning out and dying due to shade, consider replacing the entire lawn with one of the zoysia varieties. It tolerates shade better than bermuda (but no easy task killing one species and replacing it with another one.)

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by DougStark

If your bermuda is thinning out and dying due to shade, consider replacing the entire lawn with one of the zoysia varieties. It tolerates shade better than bermuda (but no easy task killing one species and replacing it with another one.)

We have precious little Bermuda left. I've been killing the dichondera and weeds that filled in this summer. We've just been keeping it mowed and didn't get any complaint letters yet.


Is the zoyisa applied as seed? sod? plugs?


Thanks...