Any yard experts here?

[Inspector Vol]

Will it do me any good to sow grass seed now or will I need to wait til spring?

I just don't want to waste any time or money.

[VinnieVOL]

I'm no expert, but yes... If you sow grass now you will get some germination and will have a good head start on a root base come springtime. 

3 years ago when I was sowing my yard (with the help of experts here like Clockwork) I believe I was sowing grass into the month of December and had great results come springtime.

[Stogie Vol]

Ignore Vinnie....wait for Clockwork.

[VinnieVOL]

Lol

[Clockwork Orange]

Will it do me any good to sow grass seed now or will I need to wait til spring?

I just don't want to waste any time or money.

I'm assuming you want to do Fescue . . . if you are doing Bermuda then none of what I'm about to say applies.

If the choices are now or Spring, definitely now. Spring seeding of cool season grasses like fescue and bluegrass rarely works out as it's not mature enough to handle the summer heat.

You will get some germination now-- the soil is probably warm enough-- but you won't get much  top growth of the new grass at these temperatures (when the soil temp gets below about 40-45 degrees, top growth all but ceases and you get only root growth . . . then at 33-35 degrees that stops as well). You'll probably continue to get some germination as we go through warm and cool spells in the winter. Then in Spring you'll likely get a lot more from the seed that didn't germinate before. That spring germination will have a tough time with the heat of summer, but any grass that germinates before then will have some root growth under its belt. Do you have any intention of watering, now or in the summer?

If it's an option, waiting until next Fall-- mid September to late October is primetime-- would be your best bet. If that's not an option, your best bet is to do it now. It's not ideal, but you'll get some results, as Vinnie did. The only risk is not being ready for Summer.

If you're planning for Bermuda, 2 things: (1) wait until the heat of summer to drop seed, and (2) never speak to me again. I won't forgive you for perpetuating the Devil's Grass. 

[EmerilVOL]

If you're planning for Bermuda, 2 things: (1) wait until the heat of summer to drop seed, and (2) never speak to me again. I won't forgive you for perpetuating the Devil's Grass. 

If he is planting Bermuda Grass I will come over and scrape all his dirt into the street and then declare it a superfund cleanup site and get the EPA to come over and remove the dirt as a technological disaster.

[Inspector Vol]

Thanks for the advice. Sowing rye right now.......haven't decided on fescue or bermuda yet. May be a mixture since I have mostly sun and the summer heat is a killer on fescue. Whatever I discover is the most trouble free is what I will use.

[Hollerboy]

Bermuda is the Devil's grass.    It is also called "creeping doom"  because it will creep into every flower bed, every garden, into your neighbors yard, it is truly difficult to ever, EVER get rid of.  If you have a bermuda lawn and love it, then please ignore my comments...they are intended for the...the....good people    We are supposed to have a la nina winter which means warm and mild in the SE...I would do like clock said and plant fescue at about 3:30 this afternoon.  JMO

[ReVOLver]

Luckily my bermuda in my old yard didn't take... but at my current house, somebody had already laid Bermuda sod so I'm pretty much stuck with it in the front of my house. Bermuda would be fine if it didn't spread everywhere. It's really only good for golf courses.

At some point I am going to go steal some of my dad's zoysia and put in some plugs in my backyard in bare spots, then begin to overseed with fescue in the fall.

[VinnieVOL]

I will say I was very fortunate.. I sowed my yard in Nov-Dec of '08 and we had a very rainy Spring in '09.  I did a mix of rye and fescue... I also added fertilizer and lime in the fall of '09.  But I still did quite a bit of watering that summer.

[Clockwork Orange]

Thanks for the advice. Sowing rye right now.......haven't decided on fescue or bermuda yet. May be a mixture since I have mostly sun and the summer heat is a killer on fescue. Whatever I discover is the most trouble free is what I will use.

The same things I said about fescue should apply to annual rye as well, only there's no expectation for it to last once it gets hot next year. That would provide you groundcover for the winter and Spring, anyway, and then next fall you can spend a little more for a decent fescue to put down and expect success.

Fescue and bermuda won't play well together. They have different nutritional, water, and maintenance needs, so at least one of them will eventually succumb to the other . . . it's about 99.9% that the bermuda will win, especially if you don't water.

If you're only concerned about it being green and alive in the summer, common or improved bermuda will do that. As others have said, it will also invade beds, driveways, small children, and pets if allowed to do so. It will also be brown for about 3 months during the winter, and look pretty ragged year-round because common bermuda is ugly.

Fescue is hard in Tennessee. If you don't have the time or will to baby it, it's not going to stay pretty. Most of my neighbors have given up and just let the bermuda do what it wants, which is why I had a painful renovation to do this Fall. I killed the entire front yard, which was 90% common bermuda, and planted a high quality blend of tall fescue. Below are a few photos.

Bermuda up close:



Bermuda lawn:



Day of seeding:



About 5 weeks after seeding:




I think it's easy to see why I prefer the fescue despite the work involved. 

[BanditVol]

I love my Bermuda lawn but I hate maintenance also.

[Oldvol75]

PLEASE fulfill my dream!!! Dig it all up and concrete the whole thing!!!!!