# Fescue to Tiff Tuff bermuda



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)

Ok so I am starting my adventure to convert my new Fescue yard to bermuda Tiff Tuff. I mow currently with a Toro Prostipe 560 that I am really pleased with. I will be selling my tru-cut reel to save for an allett later. Any advise for this conversion. Im in NC so in summer this yard will die and I want a drought resistant and shade tolerant lawn.


----------



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)




----------



## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Are you sodding it all? Budget? What are your questions?


----------



## HarryZoysia (Aug 27, 2019)

If that's what you have now, I'd keep it. Mow it tall in the summer and keep it watered. It's beautiful


----------



## soonersfan4512 (Jan 21, 2019)

No way dude! Your lawn looks great!


----------



## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Why do you want to switch? Are you sure as Tiftuf is going to work for your requirement? Expect to cut a lot more with Bermuda.


----------



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)

I came from a bermuda lawn and I liked having a golf course looking lawn. Fescue In NC will die or go brown in the summer. I want green. Also it takes less water than fescue in the summer to keep green. So while my neighbors are watering their yard everyday I can water once or twice a week. Also Im saving for a new allett or Swardman during this conversion. I got the toro 560 prostipe as a compromise as it can mow low and high. I could care less about the blotches in winter. I just want to enjoy my fall/winters eventully with no mowing. Eventualy long term I want to put a putting green in the backyard.


----------



## ENC_Lawn (Sep 9, 2018)

NClawnnut78 said:


> I came from a bermuda lawn and I liked having a golf course looking lawn. Fescue In NC will die or go brown in the summer. I want green. Also it takes less water than fescue in the summer to keep green. So while my neighbors are watering their yard everyday I can water once or twice a week. Also Im saving for a new allett or Swardman during this conversion. I got the toro 560 prostipe as a compromise as it can mow low and high. I could care less about the blotches in winter. I just want to enjoy my fall/winters eventully with no mowing. Eventualy long term I want to put a putting green in the backyard.


@NClawnnut78 Hey...if you don't mind sharing....what dealership where you able to purchase the prostripe from?

They look like a nice alternative to Reel Mowing.


----------



## Topcat (Mar 21, 2017)

I killed off a common Bermuda mixed with some other type of Bermuda last year and put TifTuf down. My neighbors thought I was nuts, the wife just shook her head, and no one understood that the lighter shade of green in the middle of the lawn was making me even more nuts than they thought I was... So far it was the best lawn decision I've made. The TifTuf is everything I wanted... Once the weather cooled off, around mid October, the growth pretty much slowed to a crawl, but it stayed green thru mid-Nov. TifTuf Has a nice dark shade, thin blades, and like other Bermuda grass is very agressive growing during the warm seasons. I did not get to level and get to the HOC I wanted last year due to an injury, but that is the first order of business this year. 
Before the TifTuf


After the TifTuf (from last year)


I scalped/verticut three weeks ago and it is nearly all filled in. I do my first level in 2 weeks.


----------



## southernbuckeye (Sep 29, 2019)

Fescue gets obliterated in the Carolinas in the summer, especially the last couple of years. You're making a good move--we did the same thing. We don't have irrigation and between that and having to constantly overseed and baby the fescue the TifTuff is a lot less work. The ability of Bermuda to "self-heal" compared to Fescue is huge as well.


----------



## Tellycoleman (May 10, 2017)

I assume you have a sprinkler system.
Is it true on lawn size that you have almost a half acre of grass to mow or is that size include your home and flower beds and sidewalk and driveway?
My main question to you is. Why are you focused on getting a allett mower? A used toro greensmaster will run circles around an allett in quality. The only advantage the the allett has is interchangeable cartridges. I think you can also get a 36inch one. Not sure how much that is going to cost you. Also examine what your choice in what you really want in your back yard. Can your allett cut at or below a 1/4 inch. I dont think it can. (Maybe wrong). To have a putting green in your back yard you need to cut your back yard every day. Even with growth regulators. I know because i did it last summer with about 1/2 acre lawn. (22k sq feet) When cutting at that height , during the heat of summer, I would cut in the morning and see that i needed to cut in the afternoon. It was Crazy. 
Also cutting at greens height requires more water. More maintenance with verticutting. And most putting greens are not as green as the rest of your lawn.
It was a good dream i had last summer and i did it. It can be done just buy a lot of sunscreen.

If you truly have .45 acre lot you will save a ton of money by sprigging instead of laying sod. With the added advantage of not having to sand level in between the sod lines.

Not encouraging or discouraging i love bermuda. Just letting you know what's up


----------



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)

So I saw some questions on here I wanted to follow up and answer
1) yes I have started my conversion will show the pictures after this post.
2) 10,000 square feet total grass 5,000 I am doing on my own but weed control company will take it over with just fert and weed control. The rest is on me.
3) When the house was built the builder did not prep the area they just leveled and put sod on top. No top soil at all. I found a mesh net under dead sod guess to preventing it from washing. 
4) Reason I want the Allett reel is because I have a tree in the back yard that drops leaves and large Nuts and the wildlife love to tear the shells off. The allett has a yard rake so it will have two purposes rake before mowing and getting the crap up off the lawn before the reel mow.(greens mowers just mow I want a tool that does multiple things) just me everyone is different.


----------



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)

So I thought to follow up on my post. Here is the back yard in sept 2020 after a cleanup and sod install done by me ill never do that again it was 98 degrees that day and two full pallets of sod the sod in the very back was just thrown on top of the ground i was so tired when i finished. I have a new respect for landscapers and lawn companies.


----------



## NClawnnut78 (May 23, 2018)

This is the back yard This month in 2021 yes all the yellow is bermuda except where the leaves are in heavy concentration. 
I did help it out this year with a bit of overloading lesco carbon pro g. I am loving where this is going. And yes the bermuda by mowing it has crept into the fescue and choked it out.


----------

