Depending on just how low you cut the established parts the clippings shouldn't bother the new grass coming in. But to that, why not cut it a little higher so that the new grass isn't cut too soon. You can always re-cut it when the new grass might be cut at the same time. I am doing exactly the same thing to my front lawn where I removed a dying blue spruce. It was 40 ft high and with it not being there it does change the look...I have to get used to having a lawn there now and I'm waiting for newly seeded grass to come in.

Congratulations you deserve and award for getting a bahia lawn started from seed. I tried doing that once and failed and swore it off. I took my truck and got 1/2 pallet of sod a couple of times and that was pretty inexpensive. The worst part was putting it down...a darn dirty job! Yep my blade needs to be sharpened too. I've been putting that off. I used the milorganite this spring but for me personally I would have my pH checked before putting down any lime. Good luck with your backyard.

The eco-lawn Fleur De Lawn comes in very very slowly. But it does come in, and if you water it with sprinklers every day the first year (when it isn't raining) the clover will definitely establish! The strawberry clover is very pretty. But the smarter thing to do is buy their erosion control 702 which is the same as Fleur De Lawn minus the flowers at a very inexpensive price. The flowers get devoured by slugs immediately anyway. The perennial rye dwarf grass is beautiful. The horsetails are the worst possible weed and the only way to get rid of them is pull them the minute they show for 3 years to deprive the root system of nutrients. If your neighbors don't pull them you're sunk. Groundcovers we've had good luck with: vinca minor, creeping jenny, baby blue eyes, heather, miniature ivies (can hear the screaming now), red thyme, mazus reptans purple, and strawberry lipstick ornamental. We put groundcovers in our raised beds for variety. Of course the birds poop all the other seeds there too so it's constant weeding through the establishing groundcover. Using Scotch & Irish moss & chocolate ajuga but those aren't as vigorous. Also phlox and different exotic grass mounds in some beds which are pretty but get overtaken by clover easily. Got buttercup coming in along streamlets, very pretty, glad to see something able to grow in all that water, may change my mind and start battling it if it displaces something I prefer. Some sort of wild sweet pea weedy thing coming up in stream too, also pretty. Gotta take pictures and start a weed ID thread since lots of stuff not in my 2 weed books. Variety is fun. Try groundcovers instead of lawn wherever you can.

certainly a fall planting is the best time to plant natives. but heck, if you have bare soil, spring is the second best time to plant. go for it! lots of native plantings are planted in the spring... my brother plants prairies for a living and he plants hundreds of acres in the spring. if you dont get the natives planted, do plant a cover crop (annual rye is often used) - whatever you do dont let that soil sit bare waiting to plant your natives in the fall. actually your seed mix may contain annual rye or spring oats to get some quick green cover to fill the voids until the slow growing natives fill in. plugs are generally for those people (like me) who cant wait to see some growth. generally plugs are used for small flower bed type situations and not large acre size plantings. patience is required for native plantings. its going to take a year or two before you will see any flowers and such. you can prep your soil and seed it like normal grass, except dont fertilize. feel free to water it for help. you may have heard that natives dont need watering - well generally its true but mainly no watering is required after the natives are established. but the first year, while working to get them growing, in a yard area, if practicle, watering will increase your germination rate. keep your planting mowed the first year to prevent weeds from going to seed. it wont hurt the natives... check out www.for-wild.org tons of information available about native plantings there. i have also included a link to the prairie nursery website that has some good reading about site preperation and maintenance for native plantings. Here is a link that might be useful: prairie establishment guide from prairie nursery