How to Overseed Bermuda Grass- Learn the Easy Process

Bermuda grass is known as durva grass, ethana grass, dog’s tooth grass, etc. The scientific name is ‘ Cynodon dactylon. It’s a warm-season grass. It requires full sun and a good drainage system to grow and spread properly. It’s suitable for southern lawns from coast to coast. High maintenance and nutrients also in their requirements.

Before you decided on overseeding your lawn, You need to know how to overseed Bermuda grass. You’ve to know about the varieties of Bermuda grass. Which seed should be used if you decide to oversee. >When you find that, your beautiful lawn grass is becoming thin in certain areas.

Then, you have to overseed to fill the bare spot. But which time will be right for this? The best time to overseed your lawn is during spring. This is the perfect time for most turfgrasses. It’s the best time for the growth of grass seed due to this soil temperature.

To know each and every detail about overseeding Bermuda, read the entire discussion attentively.

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How To Overseed Bermuda Grass

Let’s talk about how to overseed Bermuda grass in detail.

Step 1:

So, first of all to plant new seeds on an existing Bermuda lawn, first, you need to prepare the lawn area by coring before some weeks. After preparing the lawn, then you can broadcast the seeds in multiple directions using a rotary spreader.

Now, set the spreader to release a few seeds at a time, when you move through the lawn. This allows for a uniform spread, which is especially important if you overseed your lawn with a ryegrass variety since ryegrass lacks lateral shoots to facilitate spreading into bare spots in your lawn.

If you are keeping an eye on lawn areas at risk of heavy foot traffic, it is advisable to add a sand mix topdressing to expedite turf placement for newly planted seeds. After that, you can pull the seeds to the soil level using a rake.

Step 2: (When to Overseed On your Lawn)

The best time of the year to overseen your lawn is from spring (early summer). This time is usually the peak growing season for Bermuda grass and other warm-season grass.

In this spring season, soil temperatures are usually warm enough to facilitate Bermuda seeds. The absence of freeze and frost at this time of the year is the perfect time for planting your seeds. Frosty conditions can be harmful to Bermuda seeds.

For example, Bermuda grass seeds planted in mid-spring. Under the perfect conditions, it will take less than a week to germinate. But when planted in unsuitable conditions – Bermuda seeds may take up to three weeks to germinate or even longer than.

Don’t overseed into a new Bermuda lawn unless it’s been established for at least 90-days. This is the minimum duration needed for the Bermuda grass lawn to fully mature.

Step 3:(What Grass Seed to Overseed With)

You can use a similar type of Bermuda grass seed if you want to keep things uniform. However, for a dense and green lawn all-year-round, you might want to consider a grass mix to help complement the shortcomings of this grass variety.

But what types of seed can you overseed with? Here are the grass options

1. Annual and perennial ryegrass

Since Bermuda is a warm-season grass, So, you can avoid having to live with a landscaping eyesore during winter by overseeding your Bermuda lawn with cool-season grass, including annual ryegrass and perennial ryegrass.

While annual ryegrass seeds are cheaper, this species has poor heat-resistance and dies out in the mid-summer. Perennial ryegrass seed is pretty expensive but will stay green all-year-round unless summer heat conditions become too extreme.

Perennial ryegrass also has an advantage over annual ryegrass. Its finer leaf structure is regarded as more beautiful, compared to its tall-growing sister species.

However, if you’re looking to overseed your Bermuda lawn with a grass that will grow quickly and make your lawn looking great within just a few weeks, go for the annual ryegrass, which grows fast. As a reminder, if the cold season is over and the ryegrass that was seeded over Bermuda is no longer needed.

Now, you can eliminate the ryegrass to prevent it from competing for nutrients with the desirable plants.

2. Fescue seeds

Also, you can use Bermuda grass turfs with Fescue grass species. As a cool-season grass, fescue maintains its pure green color in all seasons without summer. Then, warm-season Bermuda usually has grown back, Allowing homeowners to use this turf mix to maintain green lawns all year round.

Step 4: (Mowing and caring after Overseeding)

Mowing

We recommend mowing your Bermuda lawn about a month after overseeding. However, if the growth rate is too fast, you may need to mow after a fortnight. After the first mowing, you can schedule a mowing session within three or four days. You can follow my guidelines on the correct mowing height and schedule for the Bermuda lawns.

The perfect mowing height for Bermuda grass is about half-an-inch. Mowing any lower needs to increase the frequency of mowing, as well as grab a more detailed maintenance routine of fertilization and watering.

There is some hybrid Bermuda grass that can be mowed at low heights, about one-inch but they still maintain their beautiful appearance.

Step 5: (Fertilisation)

Fertilization should be stopped for the first three weeks, after overseeding. Because the fertilizer will accelerate the growth rate of the existing Bermuda grass plants on the lawn, they will grow tall and shade the newly planted seeds. The shade prevents the seeds from receiving daily sunlight, which is harmful to root development and growth.

The appropriate time to begin fertilization for a newly over-seeded Bermuda grass lawn is when the roots of the new seedlings are fully come out. So, this is about three or four weeks after overseeding.

Actually, Bermuda grass seems exceptional for its heat tolerance power. And this combination of grass is very popular with the lawn owners. Hope these guidelines will be helpful to beginners.