# Overseeding Bermuda Lawn for winter



## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

Hey all,

I redid my lawn this years after purchasing a house in January and when the weather warmed up realizing that the past owner had killed a majority of the yard. That being said, I put down Tiftuf across the whole yard and it has been doing well. I recently came across the idea of overseeding with a cool season grass to keep it green year round and alleviate my dogs potentially tearing up the back too bad while the Bermuda is dormant. I'm looking for some recommendations if I should even attempt this with a newer yard and if so what type of grass should I overseed with? My yard is mostly sun from morning to night minus a few spots out front that are shaded by a big tree but the Bermuda seems to be doing well there regardless.

Is this project worth it and what should I expect if I were to do this as far as needs of the grass water wise and HOC recommendations.

Thanks for the help!


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## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

Think most folks will agree not to overseed the first year. However of you are worried about the dogs then you can probably get away with it in the backyard. Look for the 2021 PRG overseed thread for all kinds of info.


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## dbowles1975 (Sep 3, 2021)

I've always heard / read that you shouldn't overseed unless the turf is well established. I've also heard that it's a huge pain in the butt and just creates more work come spring. Hopefully, someone that has actually done it will chime in. Most people use annual or perennial rye. Annual would obviously be more forgiving.


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## CLT49er (Jun 19, 2020)

Heres that thread. 
https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31217

Again. I wouldnt if it were me. I only have a small dog but have kids that play pretty heavy on it. No issues when dormant.


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## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

CLT49er said:


> Heres that thread.
> https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31217
> 
> Again. I wouldnt if it were me. I only have a small dog but have kids that play pretty heavy on it. No issues when dormant.


Thanks for the info on the PRG 2021 post, I did some quick digging and didn't see anything from my search so I just created this thread.

What makes you not want to do it? And I feel like the tiftuf will survive the winter but with all the work I put in this year to get it going I'm worrying too much about keeping it ok for next season.


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## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

dbowles1975 said:


> I've always heard / read that you shouldn't overseed unless the turf is well established. I've also heard that it's a huge pain in the butt and just creates more work come spring. Hopefully, someone that has actually done it will chime in. Most people use annual or perennial rye. Annual would obviously be more forgiving.


The little reading I've done so far says the same thing, make sure the turf is established before going this route which worries me with how new mine is. Granted it's had all year to grow and establish strong roots but probably me worrying too much lol.


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## dbowles1975 (Sep 3, 2021)

Erichnagle said:


> dbowles1975 said:
> 
> 
> > I've always heard / read that you shouldn't overseed unless the turf is well established. I've also heard that it's a huge pain in the butt and just creates more work come spring. Hopefully, someone that has actually done it will chime in. Most people use annual or perennial rye. Annual would obviously be more forgiving.
> ...


I think the biggest problem is that the rye doesn't always die back at the same time the bermuda comes out of dormancy. So what you end up with is two grasses competing with each other.

If it were me I'd focus on preparing the bermuda for dormancy this year with a final fert app high in potassium. See how it responds next spring and then decide if you want to try overseeding next fall.


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## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

dbowles1975 said:


> Erichnagle said:
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> 
> > dbowles1975 said:
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Ahh yeah that sounds like more of a problem I don't need. If you don't see any issues with the grass surviving decent use while dormant than I'm not too worried about it. I'll be starting a new job in 2 weeks so the added stress of figuring out a new grass and then trying to kill it off come next season is stress I don't need.


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## AZBermuda (Jan 20, 2021)

Other than cost, the main problem is the stuff you have to do to overseed can be harmful to the Bermuda grass. To create decent seed germination you generally have to scalp the Bermuda, which late in the season may be harmful. Also, as said previously, you will have 2 competing grasses in the spring and if you don't take steps to stress or kill the rye/cool season grass it can outcompete and severely harm the Bermuda. There are steps you can take near the transition point that help, but most of the time there is significant stress to the Bermuda. I have done it before when I had a smaller yard, but currently do not think it is worth it as with proper care where I live you can have a decent Bermuda yard from mid March to mid November and it is not worth the risk to me for 4 months of rye grass.


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## dbowles1975 (Sep 3, 2021)

Erichnagle said:


> dbowles1975 said:
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> > Erichnagle said:
> ...


It should be fine. Just add some potassium and put down a pre-m. The pre-m will help prevent weeds if it thins out at all as it goes into dormancy.

https://www.uky.edu/Ag/ukturf/traffic%20dormant%20bermuda.pdf


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## Redtwin (Feb 9, 2019)

PRG is very allelopathic and will ding your bermuda just as it is coming out of dormancy. If you spray it out at the perfect time in the spring, you can minimize the effects but it will still get dinged a little. That's why they recommend not doing it unless your turf is well established and has room to take a hit or two coming out of dormancy. If you time it wrong, it will cause serious damage to your bermuda.


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## Hapa512 (Mar 22, 2020)

Erichnagle said:


> Hey all,
> 
> I redid my lawn this years after purchasing a house in January and when the weather warmed up realizing that the past owner had killed a majority of the yard. That being said, I put down Tiftuf across the whole yard and it has been doing well. I recently came across the idea of overseeding with a cool season grass to keep it green year round and alleviate my dogs potentially tearing up the back too bad while the Bermuda is dormant. I'm looking for some recommendations if I should even attempt this with a newer yard and if so what type of grass should I overseed with? My yard is mostly sun from morning to night minus a few spots out front that are shaded by a big tree but the Bermuda seems to be doing well there regardless.
> 
> ...


Did you use seed or sod when you put down Tiftuf? I'm just asking because if it were sod it might be okay to over seed with Rye Grass as long as you maintained with spoon feeding with fertilizer and mowing etc...


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

I over seeded my 2 year old lawn last year and had bad results. Luckily the damage to my Bermuda was not bad. I will not be doing it again this year or maybe ever. Go check out GCI Turf on Youtube. That dude destroyed a newly seeded Bermuda lawn by not killing off the Rye properly. Yeah the rye looked awesome all winter but he ended up laying sod this year cause the damage was so bad.


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## Hapa512 (Mar 22, 2020)

gonefishn2010 said:


> I over seeded my 2 year old lawn last year and had bad results. Luckily the damage to my Bermuda was not bad. I will not be doing it again this year or maybe ever. Go check out GCI Turf on Youtube. That dude destroyed a newly seeded Bermuda lawn by not killing off the Rye properly. Yeah the rye looked awesome all winter but he ended up laying sod this year cause the damage was so bad.


I was pretty surprised by what he did, he knows a lot but he owned it that he made a mistake. I would not have over seeded a newly seeded Bermuda lawn. Last year I over seeded my lawn for the first time using Champion GQ, came out awesome and look forward to doing it again this year. I could have sprayed it out earlier but waited a few weeks longer. Bermuda came out of dormancy fine. Sprayed it out with one application of MSM..That herbicide is amazing..lol


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## gonefishn2010 (Jun 15, 2020)

Hapa512 said:


> gonefishn2010 said:
> 
> 
> > I over seeded my 2 year old lawn last year and had bad results. Luckily the damage to my Bermuda was not bad. I will not be doing it again this year or maybe ever. Go check out GCI Turf on Youtube. That dude destroyed a newly seeded Bermuda lawn by not killing off the Rye properly. Yeah the rye looked awesome all winter but he ended up laying sod this year cause the damage was so bad.
> ...


I used a seed from big box store so maybe that was the reason my over seed was bad. It came out looking like leopard spots. I also used MSM to kill it off and it worked good for me also. I did notice my Bermuda didn't green up as quick tho. Some guys do it no problem and seem to get great results. I guess I am gun shy now.


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## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

Hapa512 said:


> Erichnagle said:
> 
> 
> > Hey all,
> ...


I put sod down. Based on everything I've been told and read it seems like more of a head ache than anything. I'd love a green yard year round but just can't afford the headache with the new job at the moment. Maybe in a year or two when I have more free time.


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## needtoknow (Oct 3, 2020)

The traditional route is rye -- and it's a lot of work every year.

The other option, if you're in the transition zone (Charleston is?), would be Bluemuda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EJwuDtr8kg

I plan to do this with TifTuf at my next house. I'd love to see the thick TifTuf with bluegrass. You don't have to reseed/kill every year, you fertilize less, chokes weeds better. It's a cool thing for someone who is interested.


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## Erichnagle (Jan 17, 2021)

needtoknow said:


> The traditional route is rye -- and it's a lot of work every year.
> 
> The other option, if you're in the transition zone (Charleston is?), would be Bluemuda:
> 
> ...


The blue miss looks legit!! And from what I've watched in the video so far it seems like they really help each other. I'm all for the long haul and having it look better and be less work over the long run than instant gratification. I'd have to see if it would grow well here in Charleston though, I think we're in a weird spot where we may be transition zone but may also be warm zone.

Do you know anyone on here who's done bkuemuda?


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