First off, I know St. Augustine is a horrible weed and I should be hung from my toes for having it in the backyard. Until that happens it's what's back there and I'm not changing it unless I have to.

I have two dogs that are pretty active and I was thinking of over seeding the backyard with Rye. My fear is the St. Augustine being worn to nothing over the winter. I'm not so worried about the green aspect as much as I am having St. Augustine come April/May of next year. I know the Rye will make the St. Augustine slower to develop next Spring but I'm okay with that as I'm worried about having nothing.

Will the Rye help keep the St. Augustine from being completely worn away or will it just be a waste of time and money to seed it?

First, I have bermuda and would change it to St. A in a heart beat if I could, great grass.

Second, St. Augustine doesn't handle overseeding all that well... I wouldn't mess with it. It might make it worse because come spring when the ST. A is trying to come out of dormancy the Rye will compete with it for nutrition and water.

[This message has been edited by AggieGunslinger (edited 10/6/2008 8:02a).]

I look forward to my "last mowing" in the fall. The crazy thing about rye is you have to mow it when you could be taking your winter nap.

St. Augustine is one of the best grasses there is. I don't understand why you think it's a terrible weed.

I have bermuda as well and like St. Augustine better.

quote:

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St. Augustine is one of the best grasses there is. I don't understand why you think it's a terrible weed.

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I couldn't agree more, Love my St Augustine

I know that here in Dallas, when they overseed with Rye, they first scalp the lawn. I also know that this is a terrible idea to scalp St. Augustine.



I.Y.A.C.Y.A.S. '91

I overseeded my St. Aug with rye one year. Besides the fact that it needed mowing about every 8 hours (ok, that's a little exaggerated), it didn't look all that good because I didn't get a very thick stand, and it was hard to get rid of in the spring when I wanted my St. Aug back, it was fine.

Also, I had sparse patches of bright green rye still popping up in June the following year.

Unless your really have a thing for working your yard in the winter, I don't recommend it.

There are some people that absolutely abhor St. Augustine because it can't be grown from a seed. I compare it to Joe T. Garcia's for any of you that frequent the Metroplex board. 80% of the people have no issues with it but the 20% of the people that have an issue with it absolutely hate it and can't focus on the question.

I personally don't have a problem with it as it's pretty maintenance free for me other than watering during the hot summer months.

Thanks for the feedback on over seeding. I scalped what grass (crabgrass mainly I think) was back there last year and wound up with dirt thanks to the dogs so I definitely won't do any scalping again.

I was leaning against doing it mainly because of the battle that will take place in May between the Rye and St. Augustine. Sounds like I'm just better off hoping the dogs don't destroy it too bad.