Hi @Aznab . You mention watering "6-8 minutes, 4 times daily ". How is your lawn watered?

 

Watered with an irrigation sprinkler system.

 

@Aznab ok. Have you done a "sprinkler catch cup" test (or tuna can test) to accurately know how much you actually watering ? This is actually more important after you have sprouted grass. ... so hold that thought.

When you seed the bermuda, is your winter rye still growing? Have you used any weed control products with the rye grass?

 

I have never quantified the amount of water I’m using, probably a good idea. Generally I have just observed and figured out how long to soak but not pool.
I held water as the temperatures were rising in April and let the rye die back, then tilled the whole thing. I did not apply any weed control or pre-emergent products.

 

The following is what I'd do (have done) if I were set on seed. ... sprigging some hybrid would probably be my "go-to" these days, unless a smallish area and then I'd just do sod.
..........
So you've loosened the soil and fertilized. As long as the seed isn't old/dried out you should be good to go. Maybe remove a chunk of the weed base first.

I like to give the dirt a nice soak the night before so there is good moisture in the soil, also a good time to water in some starter fertilizer.

The next morning a nice even seed layer. Lightly rake in if you want, seed doesn't need to be more than surface to 1/4" deep max.

Give it a light watering to set the seed. I like short 1 or 2 minute cycles at the top of every hour during daylight. Shouldn't need to water at night. Seed should not be wet, nor dry. If the soil has moisture then the bottom of the seed should also. Try and keep damp. I've seen mention of germination blankets, I've never used one but find them interesting.

When you see a decent green haze from sprouts, you can slowly ease/change the watering to less frequent. i.e. go from 1 min cycle each hour to maybe 2 min cycle a couple hours apart. At this point the sprouts are fairly fragile though. So you don't want them to dry out, but don't drown them either. You'll kind of need to feel it out, but slowly keep adding more time between waterings while adding time to the cycles as the sprouts turn to blades of grass. Over watering just as bad under watering ... no soggy soil.

I'd let the grass develop/grow/root in good to 2-1/2 -3" before cutting. I'd probably do the first cut in the morning before the first watering that day. I'd leave the grass a little bit on the taller side until it matures/stiffens up a bit. Once it matures some, I'd keep it near 1" and develop a good root base. At this point the watering should be 1 or maybe 2 times a day. Then after a few cuts, watering once a day. Then several cuts later, watering every other day. I'd probably stay every other day for few weeks. And then test/feel out going 3 days apart and finish the bermuda season that way.

Ultimately the watering frequency (around many parts of HOT Az) should be no less than every 3rd day and weekly watering totals usong 1" a week as a baseline and more or less as needed depending on how the grass is doing and what it needs. This can get real nerdy if you want it to be.

So this has worked for me here in the Phoenix metro area. I know there are a couple others here on tlf that did actual journals the past couple years of their grass growing sagas, good info in those as well.

 

and I should probably also say, it's already pretty warm for seed germination and sprout happiness with regular 100° highs. 3 to 4 weeks ago would have been better.

 

and sorry, I just read back through your original post and ask. There are many possible variables as to why the seed hasn't taken successfully before.

Ultimately I'm a firm believer in keeping it simple. Don't get caught up in the "perfect" this or that. Temps, sunlight, decent watering practices and at least twice a week mowing/cutting will go a long ways in growing some nice grass.

 

Thanks PhxHeat for your insights. I have reached a similar conclusion. I plan to give this bermuda 4-6 more weeks to show me something, then move on to the next plan which would be to roll sod. Do they sod in the heat of our summers if we can give ample water? I can’t help but think there is something with my soil that is inhospitable for the bermuda seed, considering I get nice rye lawns, and I even have bermuda growing in my pavers and around my pool crevices from errant seed.

 

@Aznab you can get sod all summer. I regularly snoop several of the local growers web/sales pages to check and see what new varieties they might have. Some varieties drop off, some stay constant, some are new (to Az) and at times some aren't ready yet.

Bermuda will grow in some seriously bad soil and locations. I have some growing in the middle of a small gap in the concrete between the driveway and sidewalk. It is (guesstimating) 8ft or so from the nearest yard space and watering. It's crazy and I need to find a way to pop it out and fill my yard with it.

I have found that getting my watering better dialed in has made huge improvements in my grass quality. 2nd for me has been cutting the grass at least twice a week and then switching to reel cutting. I use a basic granual fertilizer based on my soil test and spoon feed it every 2-2.5 weeks to keep the "food" consistent and minimize growth spurts. I like ammonium sulfate fertilizer for my "N". I mostly skip fertilizer with "P" as for my dirt it isn't needed, and a low level "K" helps with plant/grass cell structure that very much benefits our harsh environment. Anything else I do is fairly minimal and based off my soil test.

Once you get some bermuda that roots in good and find its happy spot watering amount, it'll thrive.

 

I think the best thing you can do at this point, unless you're going to buy sod, is to buy a few squares of celebration and throw them down randomly around the yard. Then till them into the dirt, thus sprigging your yard with celebration. Water and fertilize, and it will take over.

My experience in phoenix includes HOA busy-body nazis with nothing better to do than to report your dirt yard to the association and you start getting fined. You may need to sod the front yard, if that is what you are dealing with.

 

My thoughts, shortened because I accidentally deleted my previous text!

I think you're doing fine. Yukon can look great and it is establishing, so it's not all bad. I definitely would not tear it up and sod everything.

IIRC Yukon is slower to germinate and really get going than most varieties. Plus, in my experience doing this a few times, it takes several days longer, even as much as a full week, doing this in mid-May as opposed to June. (I'm in north Texas and using Monaco.) So be patient a little longer.

Normally I'd recommend quinclorac for the crabgrass, but Yukon is one that does not like it, so don't do that. I'm sure there are other herbicides you can apply for the broadleafs soon, but I'm not the expert on that.

I would mow low and often to keep the crab from shading out the young Yukon. You want to cut as low as you can without cutting the young Yukon. You just want to keep the crab in check and let the Yukon get sunlight while it's getting going.

It will probably be next year when you can apply a pre-emergent for the crab before the lawn looks great. But it should and will at that point. Crabgrass sucks, but at least it's only an annual. It's ahead of the bermuda right now, but at about the 3-4 week mark, it will really take off and start spreading and looking like a lawn.

Is Telly still around? I don't know his username. He had/has a Yukon lawn that was cut very low and looks great.

 

Fantastic stuff Phx, Darth and Choco, much appreciated.
I have still been watering on my germination schedule in hopes of getting some more seed to sprout. Any advice on when I should transition to a normal watering regimen?

 

It's hard to say on the watering .... but if you have decent coverage and it's wanting to grow, then it should be ok to modify the watering schedule.

The bermuda will go gang busters if you get the water in the ballpark, you can dial it in better as time goes on. Winter weeds are on the way out, but you may have some summer ones before long. No worries though, once the bermuda takes off it will choke out a good amount.

 

It sounds like you have old seed, at least this time around. If rye germinates just fine then it's either your seed or some steps that you are missing. For all the work, time and money you have spent on this you would be better off with sod. Our Santa Ana here in Glendale is 22 years old and was sodded when we bought the house. I used to keep it super short with my McLane and now it's left high and I use my TruCut push mower to do that. This gives us a more dependable green than we ever got with the McLane because I could never mow twice during the monsoon season when it grew the fastet. Always had yellow areas during that season. The water I put on it is MWF for 14-22 minutes per zone depending on our known dry spots and I follow this through the summer (I used to run it 5-6 days per week but 3 times works very well.) We sometimes supplement the dry spots after mowing on the weekend especially when the temps are over 105. We use Hunter MP Rotators which replaced our fan sprays 4 years ago to cut down on water usage. The amount of water you're using is too little at this time of year.