Yeah I have to agree with Texas-weed. A shorter summer means the Bermuda has less time to recover before going dormant again so it is definitely more risky to overseed with rye the shorter your warm season is. Now, back to leveling. I would like some more opinions about the soil I should use. Sharp sand vs rich mix. I looked up what the rich mix has and it is 47% topsoil, 30% "clean sand", 12% compost/manure and 3% gypsum. That doesn't add to 100 but it's close. I have used this stuff before in garden beds so I know that the consistency is good, screened well, etc. I would love to use it for nutrients it would provide vs sand but I dont want so much o it to decompose that in a couple of years it's like I didnt put anything down. So with that lets hear some more opinions. Oh, I also purchased a used tru cut 20" reel today with 4 hp Honda engine. The shop is sharpening/adjusting it and then it's ready to go! Anyone ever tried to make a homemade roller bar to replace the front casters? 200 bucks for a roller on a 550 dollar used tru cut seems a little much. Just curious...

maidinmontana said, Can someone please tell me if there is a forum where someone can go to get some ADVISE on lawn care, and in the meantime those of you who want to argue can take it elsewhere, you aren't offering any help/advise to those who post here. (Notice the original poster hasn't been back) Sorry maidin but there is no Arguing About Lawns Forum. When people want to discuss this stuff, this is where they take it. It happens in all forums. Other places to not look if you don't like arguing are the food and plumbing forums! One of the things you learn in public forums is how to filter out the stuff that doesn't matter. It takes some time to learn that. The OP's questions were answered in a day or two. Now the forum is open to the nuances of climatology flavored with beer, other Internet sites, and TV images of the Master's Tournament. Actually I was learning a bit about bermuda - that is until texas-weed left to avoid getting tangled in the rope. Personally I don't care about the micro idiosyncrasies of Atlanta's climate/lot size versus Dallas or anywhere else, but if y'all can relate that topic to growing grass, then go for it. This thread has reminded me of just a few short years ago when Tif 419 was The Holy Grail of hybrid bermuda grass. It also reminded me of the just a few short years ago when any kind of bermuda was the Anti Christ. Oh, wait a minute, it still is. It also reminded me of all the 'discussions' I participated in defending organic lawn care before the Organic Lawn Care forum was started. [sigh] Good times [/sigh] For the record, I have never learned anything listening to myself. I learned 90% of what I know about lawn care from listening to discussions just like this one. I know this is snippy, maidin, but I can't resist. Maybe I could ADVICE you on a spell checker. For those of you who are counting my messages, I don't want to disappoint you: deeply and infrequently!

Ok letÂs see if we can get you straightened out with terminology and grass types. Tiff is a very generic term for hybrid grasses developed by the University of Georgia in TIFTON GA. Any hybrid Bermuda grass is only vegetative propagated meaning wither by sod, sprigs or plugs only. There is no seed for hybrid Bermuda grass because the seed is sterile. Then there are common and improved common Bermuda grass varieties. These can be seeded in addition to sod, sprigs, and plugs. But letÂs get back to Tiff, in particular Tifway. There are two varieties of Tifway; Tifway-I (aka Tif-419), and Tifway-II and improved Tifway-I (Tif-419). There are at least another dozen of so Tif varieties like TifSport, TifEagle, TifGreen, TifDwarf, etc I think you are referring to Tiway-I aka Tif-419 as it is the most dominant variety on the market for home owners. If that is the case you can only get it from sod, sprig, or plugs period. In Arizona it is quite common practice to over seed Bermuda lawns with rye or a cool season mix in October. You can get away with it there as the winter dormant season is so short there the Bermuda grass has ample time to recover during the growing season. So is that what you are asking about? Over seeding your Bermuda lawn with Rye this fall?

quirky, don't lose faith yet. About 1/8th of my current lawn was common bermuda grass 2 years ago that spread from my neighbor's lawn. It's all bluegrass today, and since the roundup attack of 2 years ago, not one bermuda has returned. The lawn was sprayed by a Landscaping company, then after it died, I completely destroyed the roots system with a roto tiller. I wish I would have taken pictures of it them, because I know that seeing is believing. Having said that, I constantly have to patrol the areas adjacent to my neighbor's bermuda lawn. To matters worst, my neighbor is the type of guy that will let his bermuda grow to about 4 inches tall, seeds out like son of gun because it's a commong type, then chops it down to an inch leaving bermuda sticks and dirt. Then a couple of weeks later the cycle repeats. I have a plan, next spring when the bermuda starts to come out of dormancy, I'm going to spray Turflon at night to make sure stays a sleep a little longer:-)