[Arid_gardener] Re: New Common Bermudagrass Lawn After Winter Rye

[Olin Miller]

Usually one establishes the Bermuda lawn first in the spring, then overseeds
with rye in the fall.  In your case I would reverse the sequence, e.g., kill
off the ryegrass in the spring the same way you would do it to Bermuda in
the fall, then prepare the new lawn for Bermuda the same way you did it for
rye.

But I would not plant common Bermuda.  It is bad for allergies and is
invasive in your and your neighbors' landscape, vegetable garden, and flower
beds.  If you don't want to spend the money for hybrid Bermuda sod, just buy
a few rolls and plant plugs.  It is not encouraged by the people that sell
sod and it is more work initially but that is how I did it 25 years ago and
it is still a nice lawn.

Or forget about the Bermuda lawn.  Perennial rye persists well into the
summer until the weather gets too warm for it.  Then you would not have a
lawn during a few hot, high water use summer months.but would still have a
nice perennial rye grass most of the year in the lower water use months.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer
U of A Cooperative Extension, Maricopa County AZ
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----- Original Message ----- From: <samspot at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 4:01 PM
> Sam,  85234
> I have nothing but dirt right now, and I'm about to plant perennial rye
> seed.  What will I need to do when summer comes and I want to plant
> Bermuda?  Will I need to rototill again, or something similar?  I've found
> a lot of wonderful information about overseeding, and about bermuda sod
> that is already overseeded with rye.  I'd really appreciate tips on going
> 100% seed since I have a really low budget!