Yes it is cause for celebration when we drop down to the low 90s...in late October. The big thing you have going for you in Sacramento is the unfettered sea breeze. The fact that you were able to do it once and have it look that nice says it can be done...unless that was right after you seeded. New seed is pretty resilient until the heat kicks in. Bermuda is like a predator and will continue to invade. There is simply no getting around that. If you can kill it, please report back with specifics. I forgot to respond to your watering plan for this year. I would not rely on soil moisture sensors. They may be better than I think, but what really works is visually inspecting the grass. When the grass looks wilty, it needs water. I have been doing an experiment in my lawn since Oct of 2011. That is when I stopped mowing. The idea is to see how long it can go without water. This lawn is on the edge of the Texas desert where temps run just over/under 100 degrees for several months. There is still one shady spot in my lawn where I have not provided supplemental water for 16 months. I'm not sure how deep the roots go there, but the surface soil has to be dry as a bone. Still the grass looks pretty good (for 30-inch tall grass). The point is you need to watch the grass, not the soil. Deep watering and tall grass promotes deep rooting. Deep roots can draw moisture from deeper in the soil for a longer time. Thus deep watering on an infrequent basis is the mantra.

Don't know much about it, but I have been fighting the same crap for many years. I usually just R-U the small patches right before I get ready to re-seed in late August (yes, it's been that frequent through the years), but if there's any hope I may be interested. As I recall, there have been previous threads on it, but can't remember what came out of it.

I have tall fescue lawn. Had lawn aerated and overseeded last fall. Looked just fine with a little bermuda here and there. Well the story changes. This summer we have had hardly any rain with 106 degree temperatures. My grass was looking very bad so I had a sprinkler sytem installed July 3rd but it was too late. Where the new grass died bermuda took over and especially in the places that were trenched for the sprinkler. Also crabgrass galore. So bad I fired the company that had been keeping up my lawn. Found out they were useing too week of a chemical solution for the square footage so it did not control crabgrass. I am completely killing out my lawn with roundup and reseeding. I know that roundup will kill the existing bermuda but will not do a permenant job. I saw a product at Lowes called Bermudagrass and crabgrass killer by BAYER Chemical. It says that you can use in on fescue and bluegrass but not bermuda, or other bermuda grass type grasses such as centepede or st. augustine. It is not suppose to hurt ornamental plants or other plants except Junipers at a few other types. It says that it will control bermuda and to completely kill it you will have to apply it monthly starting when bermuda greens and 1 or 2 seasons it will KILL it out. It is applied by hooking the container to a water hose so this would be easy. Has anyone tried this? I don't think it has been on the market for too long because at one time Bayer said they did not have anything that would kill it. Advise. Thanks

>How big of an area are you talking about?Rather small, actually. It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'. >I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well, but that's really not an ideal suggestion for my fescue lawn or garden beds growing alongside it. I can't understand anyone who *chooses* to grow Bermuda grass. It's invasive to every other part of your landscape, ugly (compared to fescue anyway) and turns a lovely shade of brownish gray in the winter. :( Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy. But I appreciate the suggestions.