Overseeding Bermuda Grass For Winter

The cool season grass will germinate in the fall and begin to grow as your bermuda grass is going dormant.

Overseeding bermuda grass for winter.

Overseeding is not generally recommended on immature turf less than 6 to 8 months of age or first fall after planting. Adding grass to existing bermuda turf. If a tan dormant lawn in the winter is more than you can bear you might want to consider over seeding your bermuda grass lawn with a cool season grass. After mowing rake the lawn to help loosen the top layer of soil and remove any dead grass and debris.

To solve this problem many turf managers choose to overseed the hardy bermuda with winter grasses to keep lawns green and looking good through the winter. First if the lawn is patchy or thin. How to overseed a lawn 1. It is simply seeding over an area that has or had existing grass that is performing poorly.

Winter overseeding of dormant bermudagrass may be done for year round green color. Before overseeding your thin lawn cut your grass shorter than normal and bag the clippings. In the spring the rye competes with bermuda and customers often withhold water to transition from winter to summer grass. Overseeding with ryegrass provides year round green turf surface.

As spring arrives your bermuda grass will begin to green as normal. Overseeding makes the grass more attractive and use able during the winter months. On the other hand winter grasses like annual and perennial ryegrass cannot take the heat and dry of our summers. There are two main reasons to overseed your lawn.

The safest practice would be to wait until second year fall winter after your bermuda is established. Since bermuda is a warm season grass variety you can avoid having to live with a landscaping eyesore during winter by overseeding your bermuda lawn with a cool season grass species including annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass. Turfgrass managers in the southern united states generally plan and budget each year to add additional bermuda grass seed or sprigs to. In the fall scalping the summer grass before dormancy doesn t allow for adequate storage of energy in the roots.

Give your bermuda a break overseeding can be stressful for your bermuda grass. Secondly if you are growing a warm season grass that goes dormant and brown in winter you can overseed with a cool season turf seed so you have year around green grass. If you want winter color in your bermuda grass lawn you ll need to overseed with a cool season grass seed typically perennial rye grass lolium perrene which grows in usda zones 2. Many golf and sports turf managers as well as home owners and sports field managers are faced with drastic reductions in survival and re establishment of their permanent bermuda bases after winter ryegrass overseeding.

This will give the grass seed easy access to the soil so it can root more easily after germinating.