[TN Hawkeye]

Hello warm season grass people. I feel a little out of place. I live in East Tennessee in the TTTF area. However I hav come to realize that I have a lot more Bermuda in my yard than I originally thought. I am on the fence about killing of the fescue and moving towards bermuda. I have no issue with a brown lan 5 months out of the year but I was curious if anyone else on here is in my neck of the woods. What kind of battles am I going to face moving to a Bermuda lawn in the transition zone? Is it something I shouldn't tackle. Here is a shot of my lawn 2 days ago.

 

[Greendoc]

It is different mowing Bermuda vs a cool season grass. For one thing, a reel mower is highly recommended. Secondly, if Bermuda is what you want, height of cut is less than an inch. Other difference is the type of weed killers you may use. What the Tall Fescue tolerates burns up Bermuda and visa versa. Lastly, to keep Bermuda healthy, it needs some fertilizer during the growing season unlike Tall Fescue, which should not be fertilized during the hot months.

 

[jayhawk]

Seeded bermuda we'll assume given the sq ft? You could expand your query to NJ, PA ...MO - they get snow much more frequently.

Looks good now, maybe not in Aug or JAn? (Calico lawn?)

Bermuda (there are hybrid exceptions) - full sun only applies

 

[Reel Low Dad]

Myself @thegrassfactor and @Thor865 are all in Knoxville and all have bermuda. Thor is rockin tifgrand and a JD220e. I just have a McLane. I did a front renovation last year and currently in mid renovation of my back yard. I used Yukon for the back and my front is SR9554 and LaPaloma.

 

[Movingshrub]

UT extension has a map showing different parts of the state and which grasses are apt to be successful.
Knoxville, Chattanooga, Nashville, and so forth don't all have the same climate or soil.

 

[RandyMan]

I live in north georgia and grow my bermuda high.I am currently mowing mine at 3 1 / 2 inches,Mowed yesterday evening and it looked really nice..There is people who mow bermuda low and it looks great,But they spend alot of money on reel mowers , leveling, etc. Plus the time since you have to mow more frequent..I mow once every 7 days...By august I will have my mower blade all the way up at 4 inches and keep it like this until early spring when I will start the scalp it down.Having it this high I do have alot of scalping/clippings in early spring.In early august I will mow once every 8-9 days at the 4 inch height.Most people in my area mow their bermuda under 2 inches and it looks terrible after they mow.Lots of scalped areas, especially in late summer when its very hot and dry..I never have scalped areas and I have a alot of bumps in my yard. I tried this as an experiment 3 yrs ago and VERY pleased with the results,I will never go back to mowing my bermuda low.

 

[RandyMan]

Sorry I posted that above because someone said you have to mow bermuda low which isnt true

I see a big tree/shadow in your picture..The bermuda will not grow at the base of it..It loves sunshine..The one thing I hate about Bermuda is the dormancy period.This year with the crazy weather we had it felt like it was dormant 6 months.

 

[TN Hawkeye]

I live in north georgia and grow my bermuda high.I am currently mowing mine at 3 1 / 2 inches,Mowed yesterday evening and it looked really nice..There is people who mow bermuda low and it looks great,But they spend alot of money on reel mowers , leveling, etc. Plus the time since you have to mow more frequent..I mow once every 7 days...By august I will have my mower blade all the way up at 4 inches and keep it like this until early spring when I will start the scalp it down.Having it this high I do have alot of scalping/clippings in early spring.In early august I will mow once every 8-9 days at the 4 inch height.Most people in my area mow their bermuda under 2 inches and it looks terrible after they mow.Lots of scalped areas, especially in late summer when its very hot and dry..I never have scalped areas and I have a alot of bumps in my yard. I tried this as an experiment 3 yrs ago and VERY pleased with the results,I will never go back to mowing my bermuda low.

Does the Bermuda get "leggy" as the call it? I have a patch in my backyard that I mow at 4" and it looks great. But this is my first summer in the house so I don't know how it will look during the hot summer months.

 

[RandyMan]

I live in north georgia and grow my bermuda high.I am currently mowing mine at 3 1 / 2 inches,Mowed yesterday evening and it looked really nice..There is people who mow bermuda low and it looks great,But they spend alot of money on reel mowers , leveling, etc. Plus the time since you have to mow more frequent..I mow once every 7 days...By august I will have my mower blade all the way up at 4 inches and keep it like this until early spring when I will start the scalp it down.Having it this high I do have alot of scalping/clippings in early spring.In early august I will mow once every 8-9 days at the 4 inch height.Most people in my area mow their bermuda under 2 inches and it looks terrible after they mow.Lots of scalped areas, especially in late summer when its very hot and dry..I never have scalped areas and I have a alot of bumps in my yard. I tried this as an experiment 3 yrs ago and VERY pleased with the results,I will never go back to mowing my bermuda low.

Does the Bermuda get "leggy" as the call it? I have a patch in my backyard that I mow at 4" and it looks great. But this is my first summer in the house so I don't know how it will look during the hot summer months.

Not at all.I never have leggy problems..

In the winter when its dormant I did notice it will lay down when you have alot of foot traffic.It does that in the summer when I mow real high but qulicky stands back up.In the winter since its dormant it will stay down..Only in high traffic areas though.

 

[RandyMan]

I will try and get some pics this evening

 

[RandyMan]

Mowed at 3 1/2 inches

 

[TN Hawkeye]

So what are my first steps to move towards Bermuda? Should I wait till winter and try to get rid of the fescue? Should I fertilize this summer when we get rain to keep the Bermuda healthy? I don't have irrigation so I'm at the mercy of Mother Nature. The Bermuda is throwing up seed heads like crazy right now so I assume it's doing ok.