Winter Rye Time in Tucson

The Bermuda Grass is going dormant for the winter. This leaves me with a choice. Either I leave it brown and wait for summer to return, or I put in a perennial rye grass as an over seed to the Bermuda and enjoy a green lawn all winter long. I like green.

But it isn’t easy being green. I have to cut the Bermuda down to 1 inch in height (that’s as low as my mower will go). However, I noticed that as the grass began to turn brown it also became more and more like a wire brush. I thought my mower was going dull. I bought a new mower with more ump. However, it turns out that even with a new sharp mower I had to drop the blade 1/2″ at a pass and only cut about 3 inch swaths at a time. Take a look.

Once the Bermuda is down to 1 inch I can put down the starter fertilizer, over seed with the winter rye, add 1/4 inch of topper soil with fertilizer and roll. Then it is water, water, water, for a week till the seed germinates and takes root. In about 4 weeks I should have a healthy green lawn again.

Then I can start mowing a couple of times a week. (Huh, I have to mow all winter too . . . was this a good idea?)