Just a suggestion....skip the seeds and sprig bermuda in the back yard instead. Establishment will be faster and get you to a great lawn quicker. Plus depending on Sqft to cover its really not that expensive compared to quality bermuda seed cost.

 

Yes, I think your plan will work perfectly. I've done basically what you are proposing. I planted Monaco this year and have used a Fiskars at anywhere from 1" to 1.5" -- the higher because of the absurd drought that hit after I planted. I'm still very happy with it and it's clearly better than the common bermuda yards around here, even the weed-free ones that are maintained by the professional companies. The higher-quality variety of seed and the use of a reel mower makes a huge difference.

This isn't an all-or-nothing endeavor -- you can put as much effort and money and time into it as you want. Even what some would consider a "halfway" effort will look great compared to the average lawn.

 

I can say that most reviewers put the Earthwise 7 blade ahead of the Fiskars reel when it came to bermuda grass. I have one myself. More blades is better for lower grass, and it helps that it is cheaper too. It also has a roller on the back instead of just wheels so less likely to scalp. The other equipment you should spend the money on is a backpack sprayer. Trust me, no one has ever gone from a hand can to a backpack sprayer and then been like - well, that's not any better. It is night and day difference. I read a zillion reviews (I overthink things) and got the Rural King 4 gallon and love it more than my children some days. Such a difference. Oh, and get a spreader, but you can find those for cheap on facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc. I have a drop spreader I got for $15 that is normally $50. And it works way better than the new one I bought that was $40 - that one I returned.

And let me say, i hear you on the under achiever lawn thing, lol! That said, honestly, IF you can spring for some chemicals up front they aren't that expensive over time. PGR you can buy in smaller quantities in the marketplace here on this forum, and it REALLY does great things for the grass - not just less mowing but studies show it makes the grass healthier and more drought tolerant. I let mine come out of regulation and ever since I've been dealing with drought stress and fungus - I really regret missing that application! So I'd try to budget for a bottle of that - just a split from someone on the forum.

Weed control again you can get split bottles here - Celsius is worth it, especially in the heat. I did play fast and loose and go with Dismiss instead of Certainty, despite the heat, and did okay. I'd HIGHLY suggest getting some Quicksilver for that backyard - you can use it very early on after seeding/sprigging - sooner than other things - and weed pressure is no joke when seeding summer lawns. i tried to go without it and I am STILL regretting it months later. I have major bare spots I'm filling in now because they got taken over by weeds and crowded out the grass. By the time I finally sprayed and killed the darned weeds the bare spots were gigantic. Had I done it right away I could have avoided that. You can buy small amounts of quicksilver on amazon as it is pricey in the normal quantities.

Fertilizer is easy to go cheap on. Generic is fine. Do invest in a soil test (probably less than $20 at your state university or county extension office) so you know what the soil needs, then find something cheap and easy. I did spring for some XGRN 8-1-8 but may alternate that with a generic local 15-0-15 (I have high phosphorous already but need lots of potassium). The 15-0-15 is cheap and will work fine for my needs. Or when I seeded I again went with a cheap, all purpose 10-10-10 on greendoc's advice. Or if you want cheap per application but are okay with an up front cost you can get bags of urea or ammonium sulfate (depending on soil ph, etc) and potash and triple phosphate and mix your own custom fertilizer as needed. A 50 lb bag of 21-0-0 was $20 and will last me a long time, for instance. But as a newbie, if you are not looking to become a lawn geek mixing up stuff in the lawn and are not prone to way overthinking things like I am, just grab a bag of generic granular that fits what your soil test says you need. I will say the one brand name thing that is worth the price is FEature - it is a micronutrient supplement with chelated iron (only one that doesn't stain concrete)and that stuff will make your yard the greenest on the block and the micros will help balance out that generic bag of granular. Pick up a $10 or less paint mixer attachment for your drill and a 5 gallon bucket at the same time (for mixing it)

So my advice is, go cheap on the fertilizer, get the cheaper reel mower (earth wise), a mid range backpack sprayer, and then spend on the good herbicides, but look for smaller splits to get you going.

So needs:
Water
Fertilizer (cheap generic is fine and probably better than some pricey snake oil stuff *cough* super juice *cough*)
Mower
Backpack sprayer
edger/trimmer (I use a $30 manual rotary edge and a pair of long handled lawn shears but you can find gas ones on craigslist)
spreader
quicksilver for the seeded back yard (trust me - I can show you scary pictures of weeds in a seeded yard)
Celsius (split bottle)
Quinclorac (maybe?) split bottle or regular one - low annual limit so split is probably better idea if small yard
Herbicide for sedges - I use Dismiss because I have globe sedge, but there are other options including big box store depending on what you have
PreEmergent for front yard once it is rooted down, for backyard after filled in.Can get generic granular at big box store for cheap up front or look for a split of liquid on marketplace on this forum

Wants:
FEature
Kelp/Humic/etc

 

Oh, and get good seed. I went with a highly rated one but no one had heard of it, and the company I bought it from - Outside Pride - never returns my emails/questions about it, etc. I regret that and wish I'd gotten a better known one from a better known company. Hancock is here in Florida and advised blackjack, local university advised Arden 15, either would have been better for me I think.

 

@ktgrok, Wow, thank you for all of that! This may be tricky and I may decide against it, but I intend to take an organic approach to soil development and fertilization. I also mean to use herbicides sparingly, but I don't oppose their use. So I will try to be strategic in what I use, when, and where. I may have to figure some of that out as I go!

I just looked into the Earthwise 7 blade and it does look like some cost savings may be in order! Would a 7 blade still be okay at 1", or would more blades be needed at that height?

@Chocolate Lab, thanks for the words of encouragement! I hope this time next year I'll have made a ton of progress. Every house will have a new lawn, so I won't be playing catch-up.

@HungrySoutherner, I thought about just asking the builder not to to seed unless it's the same bermuda as the front (I have no idea what either will be). Then I could sod/seed/sprig at a later date. I do want a usable back yard next Spring, though . . . how long would sprigging take to establish?

 

So the builder would be seeding the back? Not sure I'd like that as I'm guessing he'll use the cheapest common seed possible... or maybe you could let him do it and pay a little extra for the seed you want. (Maybe a better idea anyway to let him do the work.)

I will stand up for seeding, though. I had a nice looking lawn that was getting compliments in about five weeks, and that's with almost zero rain (maybe 0.2" total in six weeks). You're in a much wetter area so I think it would do even better there. I read where some say seeding is so difficult, but that hasn't been my experience. The hardest part is the initial ground prep (which you'd have to do anyway for sprigging, right?) and making sure your irrigation is automated so you don't accidentally let things get dry. But then you pretty much let nature take its course.

BTW -- I'm with you on going as organic as possible and keeping the chemicals to a minimum. That's what I've done, too.

 

So the builder would be seeding the back? Not sure I'd like that as I'm guessing he'll use the cheapest common seed possible... or maybe you could let him do it and pay a little extra for the seed you want. (Maybe a better idea anyway to let him do the work.)

I will stand up for seeding, though. I had a nice looking lawn that was getting compliments in about five weeks, and that's with almost zero rain (maybe 0.2" total in six weeks). You're in a much wetter area so I think it would do even better there. I read where some say seeding is so difficult, but that hasn't been my experience. The hardest part is the initial ground prep (which you'd have to do anyway for sprigging, right?) and making sure your irrigation is automated so you don't accidentally let things get dry. But then you pretty much let nature take its course.

BTW -- I'm with you on going as organic as possible and keeping the chemicals to a minimum. That's what I've done, too.

I have seeded new lawns a few times before (TTTF, though) and don't mind the process at all. So that part doesn't concern me. I'm more concerned about timing (house will be complete in December, so the back will be bare!) and what is seeded in the back vs sodded in the front. I'm just not sure I want common bermuda in the back if I have a hybrid in the front. I'd rather them leave it to me if that's the plan. When the time gets closer I will talk to the builder about it and find out what they intend to install.

As for organic-- I may be picking your brain on that in the future. I have to figure out what's even available around here first.

 

@ktgrok, Wow, thank you for all of that! This may be tricky and I may decide against it, but I intend to take an organic approach to soil development and fertilization. I also mean to use herbicides sparingly, but I don't oppose their use. So I will try to be strategic in what I use, when, and where. I may have to figure some of that out as I go!

I just looked into the Earthwise 7 blade and it does look like some cost savings may be in order! Would a 7 blade still be okay at 1", or would more blades be needed at that height?

@Chocolate Lab, thanks for the words of encouragement! I hope this time next year I'll have made a ton of progress. Every house will have a new lawn, so I won't be playing catch-up.

@HungrySoutherner, I thought about just asking the builder not to to seed unless it's the same bermuda as the front (I have no idea what either will be). Then I could sod/seed/sprig at a later date. I do want a usable back yard next Spring, though . . . how long would sprigging take to establish?

Depending on conditions and the amount of sprigs you put out you'll be mowing in 27-30 days, if you do the correct prep work you'll have a complete lawn in ~50 days. The amount of water for sprigs and seed are about the same, so if you can't irrigate for seed, you can't for sprigs. The difference is coverage....you'll have a fuller/dense lawn faster with sprigs vs seed, and won't have all the issues that comes from trying to seed bermuda. Plus it will match the bermuda so you have in the front so you don't have to worry about growing together 2 types of bermuda. @movingshrub has a great thread on sprigging

 

So the builder would be seeding the back? Not sure I'd like that as I'm guessing he'll use the cheapest common seed possible... or maybe you could let him do it and pay a little extra for the seed you want. (Maybe a better idea anyway to let him do the work.)

I will stand up for seeding, though. I had a nice looking lawn that was getting compliments in about five weeks, and that's with almost zero rain (maybe 0.2" total in six weeks). You're in a much wetter area so I think it would do even better there. I read where some say seeding is so difficult, but that hasn't been my experience. The hardest part is the initial ground prep (which you'd have to do anyway for sprigging, right?) and making sure your irrigation is automated so you don't accidentally let things get dry. But then you pretty much let nature take its course.

BTW -- I'm with you on going as organic as possible and keeping the chemicals to a minimum. That's what I've done, too.

I do think that weed pressure is the biggest issue with seeding. And that can really vary. I was seeding a yard that hadn't been much else but weeds for 10 years, and a few feet away was the neighbor's yard, with no fence or driveway in between, that is 90 percent weeds year round. Weeds that they let go to seed on the regular, and those seeds were constantly blowing into my yard. Some of them grew way way way faster than the grass and crowded it out, blocking the sun and sucking up the water. On the other side of my house where I have a fence between me and the neighbor and they take a bit better care of the yard I had way less issues and it looked great in about a month.

 

Gotcha. I think organic fertilizer is great, just more expensive per pound of nitrogen. But a great choice. Also, for insects Spinosad is organic and very safe and worked wonders on my armyworms. It is nice because it kills the armyworms but not the things like spiders that eat armyworms. There are also biological fungicides that you can use as a preventative, but may not be enough if you need a curative application.

 

Gotcha. I think organic fertilizer is great, just more expensive per pound of nitrogen. But a great choice. Also, for insects Spinosad is organic and very safe and worked wonders on my armyworms. It is nice because it kills the armyworms but not the things like spiders that eat armyworms. There are also biological fungicides that you can use as a preventative, but may not be enough if you need a curative application.

I'll not get too deeply into the merits of organic lawncare, as there is another forum for that, but I will say that doing things that way makes you change the whole way you think about fertilizing. For example, I never really think about "pounds of nitrogen" and focus more on the health of the soil and its inhabitants. Which was great for TTTF and worked beautifully . . . and I hope that's still the case for bermuda. I do know that it's a hungry beast!

Depending on conditions and the amount of sprigs you put out you'll be mowing in 27-30 days, if you do the correct prep work you'll have a complete lawn in ~50 days. The amount of water for sprigs and seed are about the same, so if you can't irrigate for seed, you can't for sprigs. The difference is coverage....you'll have a fuller/dense lawn faster with sprigs vs seed, and won't have all the issues that comes from trying to seed bermuda. Plus it will match the bermuda so you have in the front so you don't have to worry about growing together 2 types of bermuda. @movingshrub has a great thread on sprigging

Interesting. I'll do more reading about that and see if it becomes a good option once I know what kind of sod I'm getting.

 

So the builder would be seeding the back? Not sure I'd like that as I'm guessing he'll use the cheapest common seed possible... or maybe you could let him do it and pay a little extra for the seed you want. (Maybe a better idea anyway to let him do the work.)

I will stand up for seeding, though. I had a nice looking lawn that was getting compliments in about five weeks, and that's with almost zero rain (maybe 0.2" total in six weeks). You're in a much wetter area so I think it would do even better there. I read where some say seeding is so difficult, but that hasn't been my experience. The hardest part is the initial ground prep (which you'd have to do anyway for sprigging, right?) and making sure your irrigation is automated so you don't accidentally let things get dry. But then you pretty much let nature take its course.

BTW -- I'm with you on going as organic as possible and keeping the chemicals to a minimum. That's what I've done, too.

I have seeded new lawns a few times before (TTTF, though) and don't mind the process at all. So that part doesn't concern me. I'm more concerned about timing (house will be complete in December, so the back will be bare!) and what is seeded in the back vs sodded in the front. I'm just not sure I want common bermuda in the back if I have a hybrid in the front. I'd rather them leave it to me if that's the plan. When the time gets closer I will talk to the builder about it and find out what they intend to install.

As for organic-- I may be picking your brain on that in the future. I have to figure out what's even available around here first.

Just keep in mind that seeding bermuda is not like seeding TTTF, the germination is much slower, and then there is a growth stall usually with bermuda seed where it sits and does absolutely nothing before it takes off. Your seeding window is much different for bermuda too. You need it to be hot for the plant to come up and take off so most people are doing seeding end of May - July when the bermuda is in peak season. Which means you will need lots of water to keep it from drying out. How big is the back yard area you will be working with?

 

Here's my 2 cents. A lot of this is how I actually do lawn care. Have fun!

Spend money up front for nice grass. That will be very difficult and expensive to change later unless you're intrigued by a complete renovation. Most everything else can be bought incrementally as you realize a need for it. You will have to mow every 3 days for a B+ lawn, there's no real way around that without PGR and a nice sprayer.

Immediate Cheap Needs:
- Manual Reel Mower
- Gas String Trimmer (can suffice as an edger)
- Electric Blower
- Cheap Scott's broadcast spreader
- Cheap fertilizer
- 1 gallon hand can for spot spraying with cheap weed-b-gon or image herbicides (as needed).
- Pro-plugger?

Fertilizer is granular. You can get granular pre-emergent. You can get granular fungicides. Grub control is granular. You can even get granular herbicides for blanket applications. You do not need an expensive sprayer or spreader to get started. Buy one when you decide your current setup is too limiting. Do all the granulars work as well? Meh, but you just want a B+ for now, you can upgrade later. There's also some hose end stuff that works until you have better equipment.

Upgrades when you feel like your current setup is limiting. You really don't need any of this to get started. It's taken me 2 years to start to want some of this stuff.

- Good sprayer (My next upgrade)
- Liquid fungicides (My next endeavor)
- Liquid Iron (I'll probably try this with the new sprayer)
- PGR (If you want to constantly spray stuff instead of mow all the time in the summer)
- Humic / Kelp / other snake oils (I use Kelp4Less for now)
- Better trimmer, real edger, and better a blower. Would be nice! $$$
- Liquid pre-emergent (I still use granular with decent weed suppression)
- Celcius / certainty (I still use the cheap stuff)
- Better spreader (Meh, my Scotts is fine for 8k)

 

Just keep in mind that seeding bermuda is not like seeding TTTF, the germination is much slower, and then there is a growth stall usually with bermuda seed where it sits and does absolutely nothing before it takes off. Your seeding window is much different for bermuda too. You need it to be hot for the plant to come up and take off so most people are doing seeding end of May - July when the bermuda is in peak season. Which means you will need lots of water to keep it from drying out. How big is the back yard area you will be working with?

Only about 2,000 sq ft, maybe less, and nearly a square. I think it'd be pretty easy to keep it wet. I always seeded TTTF earlier than most (labor day or so) and it was still very hot and dry, so I'm hoping it wouldn't be too much harder.

But the timing is tough. I'll have a toddler running around and I'd love to have a back yard for him, but if May is the earliest for seeding then we'd go pretty much the whole spring and summer without a back yard. It's making me think I might be better off cutting plugs from sod and letting it fill in. That might be a lot more expensive but hopefully it would be a faster way to get a yard.

 

Just keep in mind that seeding bermuda is not like seeding TTTF, the germination is much slower, and then there is a growth stall usually with bermuda seed where it sits and does absolutely nothing before it takes off. Your seeding window is much different for bermuda too. You need it to be hot for the plant to come up and take off so most people are doing seeding end of May - July when the bermuda is in peak season. Which means you will need lots of water to keep it from drying out. How big is the back yard area you will be working with?

Only about 2,000 sq ft, maybe less, and nearly a square. I think it'd be pretty easy to keep it wet. I always seeded TTTF earlier than most (labor day or so) and it was still very hot and dry, so I'm hoping it wouldn't be too much harder.

But the timing is tough. I'll have a toddler running around and I'd love to have a back yard for him, but if May is the earliest for seeding then we'd go pretty much the whole spring and summer without a back yard. It's making me think I might be better off cutting plugs from sod and letting it fill in. That might be a lot more expensive but hopefully it would be a faster way to get a yard.

Sprigs are faster than plugs....You'd need about 4 pallets of sod maybe 4.5 to cover the whole area and depending on your sod prices, the going rate for Tifway 419 $100 - $150 a pallet...very likely what the builder will install in your front yard be about $500 to do the whole back yard. If you're worried about spending the summer without a backyard just sod it. Instant lawn

 

I had nearly a full lawn in 5 weeks from seed.

 

I had nearly a full lawn in 5 weeks from seed.

How much foot traffic were you comfortable with at that point? That would put us around mid-June.

 

I had nearly a full lawn in 5 weeks from seed.

How much foot traffic were you comfortable with at that point? That would put us around mid-June.

My kids played on it quite a bit. I was still careful about adults stomping around in boots or what not.

 

I had nearly a full lawn in 5 weeks from seed.

How much foot traffic were you comfortable with at that point? That would put us around mid-June.

Just keep in mind @ktgrok is in Florida and you're in TN.

 

I had nearly a full lawn in 5 weeks from seed.

How much foot traffic were you comfortable with at that point? That would put us around mid-June.

Just keep in mind @ktgrok is in Florida and you're in TN.

Very good point. Probably much much hotter here. I also went with a fast germinating/establishing variety, based on NTEP tests. Some of the ones with better overall scores are the slowest to germinate.

 

Just keep in mind @ktgrok is in Florida and you're in TN.

:thumbup: Just exploring my options. Appreciate all the info!

 

Just keep in mind @ktgrok is in Florida and you're in TN.

:thumbup: Just exploring my options. Appreciate all the info!

Also there is the cost factor. 10lb of Arden-15 Bermuda seed is $200 to $150 for 10lb of Yukon, then add in whatever the cost of water is during germination. Sprigs should be the same or cheaper, but quicker. Sod will cost more but not significantly more all in if you lay it yourself. I think for smaller projects the cost vs time is often overlooked.

 

I just got confirmation that the sod will be 419. My question: if I were to seed the back with an improved/modified common variety, such as Arden/Blackjack/etc., how different should I expect the appearance to be?

Just wondering how much of a problem it is if one creeps into the other in that scenario.

 

I just got confirmation that the sod will be 419. My question: if I were to seed the back with an improved/modified common variety, such as Arden/Blackjack/etc., how different should I expect the appearance to be?

Just wondering how much of a problem it is if one creeps into the other in that scenario.

You can check out my Lawn Journal, but I can tell you from my experience seeded common is not going to match in color or texture and will compete for space and infect each other where they meet. I've spent this summer trying different techniques to remove common from my hybrid 419 and it aint easy or fun. Blackjack bermuda won't even be close in texture or color its very lime green. You will also have to deal with the fact that the common will grow at a different rate than the hybrid. If you ever play with growth regulating your bermuda it will only amplify that.

 

I just got confirmation that the sod will be 419. My question: if I were to seed the back with an improved/modified common variety, such as Arden/Blackjack/etc., how different should I expect the appearance to be?

Just wondering how much of a problem it is if one creeps into the other in that scenario.

I've read Arden 15/Princess 77 is supposed to be the closest visual match for Tifway...and is supposed to be at least as good. No idea how correct that info is. I have near full coverage with my Arden 15 at 30 days from seed. I don't think sprigs will be any faster. It still needs probably another month to fully thicken up but it's sending stolons like crazy so it may be sooner. I went with A15 because of the scores and the quick germination (4 days).