[Virginiagal]

The words "slope" and "tree roots" make me wonder if grass is going to be successful here. Bermuda needs full sun. If these tree roots are on top of the ground, you need to avoid them with a mower. Seed that is slow to establish can be washed down a slope. Maybe post something in the warm season forum about your backyard (with pictures) and see what they say. Rye, by the way, is a temporary grass in the south, sometimes overseeded in the fall among the Bermuda so there is some green color until the Bermuda greens up in the spring. It will die in the summer.