Yes you can overseed St. Augustine with Rye. I am planning an experiment with it this fall on my own lawn. Here is a place to start:

http://aggie-turf.tamu.edu/lawns/overseeding.html

 

Here in Florida people overseed with rye all the time. I have never seen any one scalp it though. Just do a good mow and then seed. I really don't understand why it is done here because you can keep it green all winter unless the temperature is severe. I don't know what your weather is like in TX but thought it was similar to FL

Good luck

 

Lee:

The St. Augustine in our area (Houston) goes dormant in the winter. It is not uncommon to have 2-3 freezes at night each winter. I do not know about further south in the Rio Grande valley, but here it goes dormant. So a lot of model homes in new subdivisions will overseed with rye to keep the grounds appealing for prospective new home buyers.

 

Yes, you can overseed it. I'd only recommend a perrenial rye. It has a nicer color and doesn't grow as crazy. You risk inconsistant coverage since St. Augustine has alot of thatch. It would be difficult to have a good seed/soil contact. Good luck.

 

I used Rye on a couple of yards last year. I SWORE I'd never do it again!!!! Maybe the perinnal rye was where I went wrong.

 

Originally posted by TotalLawn
I used Rye on a couple of yards last year. I SWORE I'd never do it again!!!! Maybe the perinnal rye was where I went wrong.

Are you saying the perrenial rye was the problem? Usually it's annual rye that causes such thoughts.

 

I will be overseeding tomorrow the first lawn ever. I am going to cut the St. Augustine short and then overseed with rye right aftet that. Then water it I guess.

Thanks, Jason

 

I would not scalp st. Aug. In fact this time of year I raise the deck to allow photosynthesis. St, Aug spreads by above ground runners, thus scalping may kill it. The only warm season turf I would overseed would be Bermuda.

if you do overseed you better have a plan for the transition in spring or the turf will look bad.

 

I went wrong by using annual rye.
The transition in the spring was NOT good at all. The only good part was I was mowing at Christmas!!!

 

The rye will rob the soil of nutrients and moisture in the spring when St. Aug. needs those things to get going. It will also shade the new St. Aug. that is trying to grow. All three of these problems will set back the growth of the St. Aug. in the spring, and can weaken it enough that it will die out. At least that is what I have found over the years here in North Texas.