[Premo Services]

I have a potential customer that has a tall fescue lawn and bermuda is taking it over in spots.
He wants to put a landscape bed in one area where the bermuda is growing and then finish off the area with new fescue.

I have read the lable for ornamec and it says to apply in the spring and fall.

Can I get control if I apply ornamec in the fall?

On the lable it does not say how long to wait to reseed lawn, or to put plants in.
Where can I find this info out?

 

[ITRY]

I had this same problem in my own yard last year. Darn golf course! I just sprayed roundup on the bermuda and reseeded with falcon fescue. Did great, no return of the burmuda. Of course, you would want to do this in the fall.

 

[TMarch]

See if you can get some information on a product called Fusilade. I know it will help take bermuda out of bentgrass greens (slowly) but I'm not real sure on timing or if it's available for residental use. Lets hear some more info on this.

 

[Bryn]

Try this link below. It talks about your problem, and it also gives information about Turflon and Acclaim Extra.

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=87732

Best Regards

 

[donal]

They contain the same active ingredient, however the Fuilade label gives more info about selective spraying out of bermuda and Kikuyu in Tall Fescue

 

[ThreeWide]

Fusilade is labeled for use on Fescue.

It will supress Bermuda as long as the turf is actively growing, which it should be this time of year. It might take multiple apps, and it may cause some yellowing of the Fescue.

 

[cemars]

I had this same problem in my own yard last year. Darn golf course! I just sprayed roundup on the bermuda and reseeded with falcon fescue. Did great, no return of the burmuda. Of course, you would want to do this in the fall.

Hopefully you have gotten rid of it, but you may well still have some bermuda come back. I have done similar jobs with round-up that looked good the first year only to have it reappear the next season. Fusilade mixed w/ round-up is usually more successful than round-up only or fusilade only.

 

[lilmarvin4064]

I agree with Bryn. I've used Acclaim extra (fenoxaprop-p-ethyl ?) + Turflon (triclopyr ester) + Hawkeye (spreader sticker/surfactant) with great success. It is expensive but it works. You really need to do it at least 3 times a year, preferable once a month as long as weather conditions allow, for 2 years. Fusilade (fluazifop-p-butyl) or what ever it is called ornamec, etc, works good and is a versatle chemical (over-the-top apps) but is more lilely to be phytotoxic to fescue than acclaim. Apply dinitroanalin pre-emergents in the spring (dithiopyr, pendimethalin), to keep runners from tacking down; not sure about prodiamine though. Physically remove the bermuda in the fall if there is any still on the surface and reseed with fescue, repeat next year.
It's not cheap or easy but if you do all this, it should work.

I've never tried using round-up, so I don't know how well that would work. But I would think you would have a narrower window with that product, and would kill more fescue than you would need to.

 

[heybruck34]

Here's what I did. I had an area in the back corner of my lot with lots of sun where the Bermuda had creeped in from the neighbor behind and next door.

YEAR 1 Spring - I used Fusilade II and sprayed the label rate for control in turfgrass and it defnitely weekened the Bermuda and all but killed the fescue.
After seeing the spread of the Bermuda that summer I knew I had to do something before it doubled in size again.

YEAR 1 Fall- I applied the full label rate of Fusilade II to the desired area and followed that up with another round 2 weeks later. A week after that, I hit the same area with full strength glysophate (Prosecuter). A week after that, I rototilled the entire area, raked the thatch out, seeded, starter fert and mulch mat.

YEAR 2 Early Spring- The new turf is actively growing and thickening. Bermuda in neighbors yard is still dormant. Everyhting's fine.

YEAR 2 Late Spring- The Bermuda has come out of dormancy and I can see some spots in the new fescue where it has taken hold. Knowing that I can't apply Fusilade to the fescue when it is under stress (Year 1 taught me that!) I decide to hit it NOW with a 1/2 to 3/4 the Fusilade II label rate dose for control in desirable turfgrass. My experience was the fescue was severly stunted along with the Bermuda and only careful fertilization and PLENTY of water helped the fescue live through the summer. During the summer I resorted to HAND PULLING the Bermuda I saw growing in this area. Do this in early morning when the dew is still wet- it shows up quite differently on Bermuda than fescue.

YEAR 2 Fall- Aerate, Seed Fert entire lawn

YEAR 3 Spring - Area is well established and cannot be differentiated from the rest of the established lawn. I still have not seen any Bermuda intrusion but maintain a DEAD ZONE along both fences with the neighbors and any Bermuda runners are immediately Round-uped.

My personal feelings, having done this type of "renovation" a couple times since then is this:

- Fusilade works but so does chemotherapy. It does it's job but takes a significant toll on the good stuff along with the bad (poor analogy- no offense intended to anyone)
- Using Fusilade on a fescue lawn not under stress at the label rate will still damage the turf
- Using Fusilade on fescue under stress will totally kill it even if you use the label rate
- Bermuda is very tough and will constantly come back and complete eradication takes a couple years of diligent watch.

Every time I have done this type of renovation (3 so far), the first year immediately following results in some Bermuda growth. However, these are spot treated and covered with sod. I think the worst mistake would be to let the Bermuda grow through the summer unchecked and attempt to deal with it later...

Hope this helps.

 

[Lawn Sharks]

Consider Vantage. I think it is rated to work on Centipede and tall fescue lawns.

http://www.dowagro.com/ca/prod/vantage.htm

 

[donal]

What type of fescue were you spraying on, Tall Fescue or one of the Fine Fescues such as Red or Chewings Fescue?

Here's what I did. I had an area in the back corner of my lot with lots of sun where the Bermuda had creeped in from the neighbor behind and next door.

YEAR 1 Spring - I used Fusilade II and sprayed the label rate for control in turfgrass and it defnitely weekened the Bermuda and all but killed the fescue.
After seeing the spread of the Bermuda that summer I knew I had to do something before it doubled in size again.

YEAR 1 Fall- I applied the full label rate of Fusilade II to the desired area and followed that up with another round 2 weeks later. A week after that, I hit the same area with full strength glysophate (Prosecuter). A week after that, I rototilled the entire area, raked the thatch out, seeded, starter fert and mulch mat.

YEAR 2 Early Spring- The new turf is actively growing and thickening. Bermuda in neighbors yard is still dormant. Everyhting's fine.

YEAR 2 Late Spring- The Bermuda has come out of dormancy and I can see some spots in the new fescue where it has taken hold. Knowing that I can't apply Fusilade to the fescue when it is under stress (Year 1 taught me that!) I decide to hit it NOW with a 1/2 to 3/4 the Fusilade II label rate dose for control in desirable turfgrass. My experience was the fescue was severly stunted along with the Bermuda and only careful fertilization and PLENTY of water helped the fescue live through the summer. During the summer I resorted to HAND PULLING the Bermuda I saw growing in this area. Do this in early morning when the dew is still wet- it shows up quite differently on Bermuda than fescue.

YEAR 2 Fall- Aerate, Seed Fert entire lawn

YEAR 3 Spring - Area is well established and cannot be differentiated from the rest of the established lawn. I still have not seen any Bermuda intrusion but maintain a DEAD ZONE along both fences with the neighbors and any Bermuda runners are immediately Round-uped.

My personal feelings, having done this type of "renovation" a couple times since then is this:

- Fusilade works but so does chemotherapy. It does it's job but takes a significant toll on the good stuff along with the bad (poor analogy- no offense intended to anyone)
- Using Fusilade on a fescue lawn not under stress at the label rate will still damage the turf
- Using Fusilade on fescue under stress will totally kill it even if you use the label rate
- Bermuda is very tough and will constantly come back and complete eradication takes a couple years of diligent watch.

Every time I have done this type of renovation (3 so far), the first year immediately following results in some Bermuda growth. However, these are spot treated and covered with sod. I think the worst mistake would be to let the Bermuda grow through the summer unchecked and attempt to deal with it later...

Hope this helps.

 

[Williams Services]

The vantage label (for turf lawns) states that you can treat fescue, but to not treat tall fescue, as injury may result. This sounds like cya language, because they state that for tree farms, etc. that the tttf must be at least a year old, or damage may occur.

 

[heybruck34]

I put it on tall fescue. Not sure what blend the homeowners before me had but I have been using Lesco TriGold for the last 3 years.

I'm in Charlotte NC.