A family member sent me a post on my facebook account this afternoon asking me this question. I wrote him a response (he lives in TN, so my answer was geared to southern climates) and thought I would share it here since many of you may be wondering the same thing. He specifically wanted to know if he should over-seed with tall fescue, a staple of southern yards.
Tall fescue is a cool season grass, so it does well in spring and fall, and holds up pretty well late in the winter. But come summer it will brown off quickly in our hot drought conditions.
Bermuda is another common grass in this area. It does very well late spring to very early fall and is green all summer but it is nasty brown from Oct-about May. Plus, if you like to go barefoot in the spring, forget about it. The rhizomes this stuff uses to reproduce get hard when they brown off and hurt tender feet. But, you will have a nice lawn for summer BBQ’s. It looks really nice, it will get good and thick and it leaves a nice edge if you like to edge your lawn. It will also hold up to wear and tear from kids and pets.
Bermuda problems part two. You can’t get rid of the stuff. Since it reproduces with rhizomes (runners) and seed heads, it will eventually choke out everything else and it will get places you would rather it did not. It will come up through weed barriers and it will invade gardens.
Here’s what I do. I seed mainly fescue, then over-seed in the early spring with Bermuda. It will eventually take over, but until that happens it gives me year round color and keeps weeds at bay. Once it does take over, tear up the yard, rake as much of the bermuda out as you can, sow fescue in the fall then lightly sow bermuda the following spring and repeat the process in another five years. It’s a hassle but it works
BTW..one last note on bermuda, DO NOT Compost with it or Mulch with it. The seeds are very hardy and they will germinate in your flower beds.
If you don’t like the downside of bermuda, and you don’t mind brown grass in the summer or high water bills. Then go with a rye/fescue/bluegrass mix for the yard and Saint Augustine (thick bladed, shade loving grass) in heavily shaded areas or around trees. I hope this helps.
If you have other thoughts or recommendations, feel free to share them in the comment section. I would love to hear your suggestions on southern lawns.
