I have become increasing unsatisfied with my current fescue lawn over the past few years and am considering switching to bermuda this spring/summer.

I am located in far Western Kentucky about 30 miles south east of where the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers meet. I worked at a golf course here for almost 10 years throughout high school and college thus I have experience in the care and maintenance of bermuda. In addition, I have contacted a supplier for the course concerning the seeds available. I would like your input on 2 topics:

1) Is there anything I should be doing now to prepare for seeding when soil temps warm up? Soil tests were taken last fall. Lime and Fertilizer recommendations were followed. I know I will need more fert at seeding.
2) Of the following varieties, which would you consider the best performing for my area?

Mirage
Majestic
Princess 77
Pyramid
Riveria
Savannah
Southern Star
Sun Devil
Yukon
primo Blend
COmmon.

At this point, I am leaning toward yukon based on what I have read, but I am interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,
Josh

The Baron of Bermuda has been summoned to this thread (translation: I pinged TW)

Why are you not considering Kentucky bluegrass? Have you looked at the Bestlawn Showcase on the home page?

A1. Really nothing to do but wait. Only exception is maybe another PH test and apply lime if needed. But other than tat not much else to do.

Question back at you, how do you plan on preparing the seed bed?

A2. As for seed selection you are going to want to use the most cold tolerant variety you can gets. So that eliminates all but 2 of the choices of Yukon and Riviera. Both Yukon and Riviera were developed by Oklahoma State University to optimize cold weather tolerance. Of the improved common types, Yukon and Riviera have the highest cold weather tolerance.

I always recommend a blend to increase your chances of success as one will dominate and adapt better than the other. So I recommend you buy equal amounts of both Yukon and Riviera.

Before you plant, make darn sure the soil temps are 60 or higher. In your area that may be as late as June, so be patient and wait. Otherwise the seed may sit there on the ground and rot waiting for warm enough conditions to germinate.

Last bit of advice. ORDER SEED NOW. Demand is high for these two varieties and supplies are limited. Wait too long and you will likely be SOL because supplies are gone.

andy10917 wrote:The Baron of Bermuda has been summoned to this thread (translation: I pinged TW)

Thanks. I was going to pm him but decided to wait for his arrival. I thought he would show.

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Dchall_San_Antonio wrote:Why are you not considering Kentucky bluegrass? Have you looked at the Bestlawn Showcase on the home page?

I have not considered bluegrass. While the name might lead one to believe that bluegrass would be good for Kentucky it is just to hot and humid on the western end of the state for it to survive. The eastern end probably has better luck considering higher elevations and a more northern location

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Question back at you, how do you plan on preparing the seed


Thanks for responding. You gave the answer that I figured I would get

As far as seed bed prep goes burn down, remove old material plow, seed fertilize, harrow, and water? Down that sound about right?

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joshfcb wrote:As far as seed bed prep goes burn down, remove old material plow, seed fertilize, harrow, and water? Down that sound about right?

Not sure I understand but I'll comment anyway. If you are going to burn the existing lawn with fire, then there will not be any old material to remove. Plow? If this is a pasture then it won't matter but if this is a lawn you don't want to plow. Instead just surface the burned soil to move the high spots to the low spots. Then seed but don't fertilize yet. Fertilizer only works when there are roots to take up the fertilizer. You won't have viable roots for a month after seeding. Then instead of harrowing, roll the seed down to get good contact with the soil. Rent a water-fillable roller for that. When watering do it for 10 minutes, 3x per day, every day until you see 80% of the seed sprouted. The idea is to keep the seed moist so it will sprout. After the seed sprouts, you can back off on watering until you are watering once a month in the winter and once a week in the summer. After you have mowed the new grass for the second time, then you can fertilize.