Question
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
I live in Huntsville, AL and have a bermuda lawn. If I over seed that with creeping red fescue will the fescue choke out the bermuda or do I need to kill the bermuda then seed with the fescue and if I do need to kill the bermuda then seed with fescue do I need to cultivate the soil or can I just broadcast the fescue into the dead bermuda?
Answer -
Hi Billy Smith,


Only Use plants and grasses rated for your climate-zone.
HORT ZONES from ZIP CODES:
http://www.arborday.org/trees/whatzone.html


Fescues of all categories are best classified as 'cool-climate' grass types for northern zones.

Because they can sometimes be the only grasses that can tolerate so much shade,...they are now being planted in all parts of the USA with varying levels of success.  They need a moisture retentive soil during the summer months. In the warmer states, they can give you a beautiful lawn all winter long.

Fescues will NOT choke-out a Bermuda grass lawn. The Bermuda will eventually dominate and wherever summer temperatures may rise above 85 degrees F., Fescues will become heat-stressed and will weaken or die during droughts so the heat-tolerant Bermuda will take over (if there is enough water). Again,... Fescues do better in cool climates and will usually have to be re-seeded every fall in the warmer horticulture zones. So, if your goal is a total fescue lawn in Alabama, there may be some problems when the summer heat arrives. It will help most if you have an irrigation system and good soil.

To have any thing other than Bermuda grass for your lawn in Alabama will require treating Bermuda grass as a weed in the stand of the other grass. And when Bermuda grass is a considered a weed,...it is one of the worst weeds in the world to control.  So, you may want to re-consider your plans to use an alternative grass-type where Bermuda grasses are the best choice for the climate.

 The most heat, disease and drought tolerant cultivar of a fescue on the market these days is 'Rembrandt' or 'Plantation' or 'SR 8600' TALL FESCUE.  And in hort-zones 6+, we generally recommend these fescues only for the partial shade areas of a lawn that is mainly planted with Bermuda grass or one of the other warm-climate grasses.
---
Other Warm Climate turf-grass hybrids:

http://www.turfmerchants.com/
---
With a good fertile-loamy well draining top-soil, best quality hybrid grass type(s), 1-3 inches of water per week, plenty of sun-light, ...almost anyone can have an excellent lawn with a minimum maintenance effort.
--------
I Hope this has answered your question(s)!
Have a fantastic Summer!

Visit my Lawn & Gardens webpage for more Lawn and Garden Tips, Facts and Links:
http://hometown.aol.com/eilatlog/lawnol.html

Your Questions and Comments are welcome at ALLEXPERTS.com

___ Jim Gibbs,
    
Thanks for the advice Jim. However I still would like to change my lawn from bermuda to something different, mainly because it is so late in the season when bermuda turns green and starts to actively grow here in northern Alabama. What do you think of the idea of plugging my lawn with "zoysia"? Or can one purchase zoysia seed (I've never seen them at any garden centers in my area)? Would it eventually choke out the bermuda?  

Answer
Hi again Billy Smith,

All of the warm-climate turf grasses will go dormant in the winter months, including Zoysia:

Zoysia grass has the technical name "Zoysia japonica"; use this name in search engines to find out more about it.

This grass-type, like Bermuda, also goes dormant and turns brown dead in the cold and it has to 'wake-up' in the spring.

A species name "Zoysia joponica var. tonuifolia" or just  "Zoysia  tonuifolia"   is well popular in Florida and is said to never need mowing, and this may be cultivated as far north as Alabama. Some of the Zoysias are slow to start from seed and are more commonly plugged.

Plant warm-season grasses ?grasses that grow in the hot months of the year and spread by runners; establish them by seed, plugs, sprigs or sod.

Berumda will probably NOT be choked-out by any other grass-type, however there is not much information about this known since most people just grow one type or another and do not experiment with warm-climate grass mixes or publish such information anywhere that I know of.

To keep a longer season green coverage, I think the best you can do is to keep a fine Bermuda stand and encourage a TALL FESCUE cultivar over-seeding starting in the fall.  This should give a green Fescue lawn all winter and on to late spring when the Bermuda can start to dominate.  This is now a typical method in zones 6-8.  Realize this means that you will have to mow and may have to water the lawn during the winter months,...something Bermuda alone gives you a vacation from.

Good Luck!

__ Jim