# Lawn journal-Switching from bermuda to fescue without Reno



## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

I always wanted a good looking lawn because of Hank Hill and i purchased my first home 6 years ago, but just getting around to starting my lawn seriously.

My main goal wil be to have a respectable lawn but not perfect. My front lawn is 75 percent bermuda, 25% weeds. 1 percent fescue.

My backyard is 45 percent bermuda, 35 percent fescue, 20 percent weeds.

I am going to try my best to switch from bermuda to fescue without a full renovation, just time and persistence. This season i planned on doing a pylex and triclopylr treatment to knock back some of the bermuda but my pylex was on backorder for awhile and i wanted to get seed down, so i seeded with SS1000 mix last Monday with peat moss without rolling and plan to let it grow until mid October before i apply 1 pylex and triclopylr treatment since it finally arrived, maybe 2 if it stays warm to knock back even more of the bermuda before the spring. Today is 6 days after seeding and i have good germination everywhere in my backyard and im really excited. I will get some pics up tommorow. If anyone thinks i should hold off on the triclopylr and pylex until next season to allow the grass to mature first, please tell me to not apply it. I plan to only spot spray it this year and blanket spray next fall.

My backyard germination has exceeded my expectations, but the front yard is not having a good time with germination with how thick the bermuda is and im debating on just counting my losses on the seed and applying a pylex/triclopyr treatment now and reseeding again in a month while i still have time. Our first frost is normally Mid November.


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Your Bermuda is not going to die & go away with pylex, especially if it's established. It'll take years and years to eradicate it... if even. Sorry to say it but it's always better to rip the band-aid off by sacrificing one summer to do the deed and then planting the fescue in the fall. Even then you'll have some Bermuda pop up here & there and that's when you use those herbicides you mentioned.


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

corneliani said:


> Your Bermuda is not going to die & go away with pylex, especially if it's established. It'll take years and years to eradicate it... if even. Sorry to say it but it's always better to rip the band-aid off by sacrificing one summer to do the deed and then planting the fescue in the fall. Even then you'll have some Bermuda pop up here & there and that's when you use those herbicides you mentioned.


Thanks, noted. only reason im shying away from killing yard is wife but i think in front yard, its gonna require a full kill and reseed, backyard i think is manageable by herbicides.


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

Decided too gly the front yard on Sep 30. 
Oct 2- second round of gly. dethatched
Oct 3- Spot sprayed gly along edges. scalped and dethatched.
Oct 4- Seed down, rolled with top soil topdressing
Oct 7- Scotts starter with tenacity
Oct 10- realized the lawn soil i used had scotts starter in it and started to freak out but decided to wait and see what happens. Also finally germination!
Oct 15- last day to reseed so decided to throw down more seed in bade areas and stepped on it to bury it with no top dressing
Oct 22- second germination of reseed

While no bermuda has returned and temps have been in the 80s and 70s since i began, i suspect the bermuda will return next year but i have pylex ready for it. Overall im happy i didnt decide to wait another year of having a weedy yard. Also i dont know why but i have absoutely no weed pressure at all, none even grew to be bleached by tenacity throughout this whole process.


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)




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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

The low spot along edge of lawn where nothing grew puddles water so im ordering some perennial rye grass tonight and seeding it wednesday after adding top soil just so i wont have a bare area next year as i really want to put down a pre emergent in spring to avoid weeds taking over again.


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

How long can i spoon feed grass if temps in my area will have daytime highs near 60 well into december, but 40s and close to freezing some nights


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## corneliani (Apr 2, 2019)

Bybcous said:


> How long can i spoon feed grass if temps in my area will have daytime highs near 60 well into december, but 40s and close to freezing some nights


What are you spoon feeding with currently, and how often? As a general answer, grass roots stop absorbing nutrients once soil temps start getting into the 40s (around Thanksgiving in my area) so the last granular application (the 'winterizer') is made 3 weeks before then to allow for a last feeding & carbohydrate storage. With you seeding late in the season your turf will do most of the growing in the spring so not sure how much if carb storage your plants will have ... so be prepared to spoon feed again come late winter/early spring to get that turf some deeper roots in time for summer heat stress.


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

corneliani said:


> Bybcous said:
> 
> 
> > How long can i spoon feed grass if temps in my area will have daytime highs near 60 well into december, but 40s and close to freezing some nights
> ...


i have scotts 34-0-4 with 15 % urea, i wont even start dropping it for another two weeks as this is only week 3 and i came home today to a really dark lawn, im loving this. in my back yard i was doing .25lbs weekly


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## Bybcous (Aug 29, 2020)

just a update before 3rd mow, things are filling in even better, i gpt busy with work and did not water fpr 3 days and gave up on new grass seed germinating a week ago, but temps hit 80s yesterday and the bare spots are germinating without watering.

pic from yesterday then today


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