Check out TN Hawkeye's lawn journal. It's a TTTF to bermuda transition. It's a geat read! He has fescue in the shaded areas and let the bermuda take over elsewhere.

TN Hawkeye's Bermuda Adventure

We bought this house in August 2017 and the yard was terrible. It was previously scalped and neglected (see photo below). As winter gave way to spring I was super excited to start rejuvenating the TTTF into something as close to Pete's at GCI Turf as I could get it. Here's where it was when we...

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I'm in the transition zone but my weather still slightly favors the fescue year round over bermuda so I'm staying cool season.

Though, I really like bermuda because it's an easy grass to have when it comes to leveling your lawn. I'd be concerned about my fescue stressing/dying with an inch of soil tossed on top of it. Maybe I'd have to lightly reseed some areas. With bermuda, I could care less. I'd be leveling all of the time with complete disregard during it's peak growing period.

 

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out that lawn journal.
Basically, the two neighbors that I share the largest border with along my backyard fence have decided to say "screw it" and just let their lawns for the past 2~ years.
What that means for me is that the bermuda that's infested their yards is now spreading into mine and it feels like an endless battle.
That's why I'm entertaining the idea of scalping the crap out of my yard now and planting a bunch of Tahoma 31 plugs and letting it take off.

 

I’m near Knoxville, so probably not too far from you. My lawn started with fescue, but was invaded by common Bermuda. I spoke with several lawn care guys and the consensus was that I had two options: 1) remove the top 12” of topsoil, replace it, and lay fescue sod (and expect the Bermuda to return), 2) convert to Bermuda. I took option 2.

It’s taken three years, and the lawn is starting to look pretty good. Had I found this website at the outset I’m sure I would have progressed faster.

During the first two weeks of September I scarify, verticut, overseed with perennial rye grass, and top dress with peat moss. The PRG looks pretty nice all winter long. I let it burn out when the hot weather arrives.

By the way, I found a great source for top dressing sand: Short Mountain Silica in Bean Station. Two tons cost $93. Enterprise had a dump truck for $120/day. Fuel cost me another $50. It was a good savings over what I would have paid Claiborne or one of the other sand haulers and I got manufactured sand, not river sand.

 

I read through TN Hawkeye's journal and that's pretty much the idea I had as far as strategy to transition to a Bermuda lawn.

I'm gonna go through the yard and spot spray the common Bermuda I see, spray along the fence line primarily where it's mostly coming through from th neighbors yard. Wait a few days for it to start to hit the common Bermuda, then hit the lawn with a lower height of cut mow and collect the clippings. This should help stunt the cool season grasses given that it's summer. Next would be to begin to transplant the Tahoma 31 plugs throughout the yard and work to get them established. Eventually I'll hit the lawn with Celsius and the like.

I don't see this as a single season project, more like a two year project. I'll be propagating and making my own plugs & sprigs and just continue transplanting them into the yard and spot spraying any more common Bermuda that comes up.

NIt expecting it to be a 100% monostrand lawn, but make it overwhelmingly Tahoma 31.

 

I've gone the opposite direction, Bermuda to TTF, only because I've gotten much more shade in my lawn with oak trees maturing over the past 5 years. Now I get about 3 hours of direct sunlight on my lawn in mid-summer. Less as the sun lowers in the sky Fall and Winter. So the shade was stressing the Bermuda and it began to look bad. I'm in Chattanooga.

Bermuda is much easier to maintain than a cool-season lawn. And it's not even close. If I were still in a mostly sunny lawn I would still have Bermuda. I could keep it green up 'till Thanksgiving and then make it pop back alive in mid-April.

Yea. I like your plan to sprig the Bermuda with the variety you want. Feed it. Water it. Mow it. Repeat.

 

From my posts with some warm season guys, they say common tends to outcompete the elite cultivars. You may have to spray/kill it periodically, especially since your neighbors have it. Keep that in mind.

My neighbors have common, if I ever decide to switch, then I'm sticking with that but I'd make it look prettier.

 

I sprayed the the common bermuda spots throughout the lawn. I also sprayed along the fence line to kill any bermuda that's trying to invade from the neighbors yard.
I'll probably wait a few days before mowing with a low HOC, which should stun the fescue a good bit. Then the plan is to plant/install the plugs throughout the yard and ensure they get established. After the T31 plugs get established and show some spreading out, I'll hit the lawn again with another low HOC mowing to stun the fescue again. Hopefully the T31 takes off nicely.
Thereafter I think a good spraying of Celsius is in order for the fescue.
I'll also be growing plugs for myself come spring 2024, at which point I'll be plugging those into the lawn as well when temps get right. Hopefully next summer I can start pushing the Tahoma 31 bermuda. Regardless, we'll see what unfolds!