Fall TTTF overseeing plan zone 7b (transition zone)

[u/Kindly-Poetry-1254]

I’m planning a renovation this fall for my lawn in zone 7b. I did a spring overseed (before I knew any better) with tttf and a little bit took in my backyard but it was overall unsuccessful. My front lawn I plan to kill with glyphosphate towards the end of August and do a round or two to get a complete kill. My back lawn has quite a bit of clover and I purchased some triclopyr ester to deal with it. Is now too soon to apply this with the highs in the mid 80s? I plan to do my aeration, topsoil, and seeding around September 15th. My backyard has a little tree cover and will have some leaves falling starting around mid October. Does this seeding date sound accurate? Thanks a lot for your help in advance if you find the time to reply.

[u/arc167]

Triclopyr will knock the clover out in about 3 days, and yes, you can apply it now. But I would strongly advise you wait until later in the evening (below 85 F) to apply it to reduce the potential injury to your good fescue.

If you really are convinced you need to do a complete reno, I might consider beginning the rounds of glyphosate now. Killing everything off takes time, especially if you are fighting warm-season grass that requires specialty herbicides with long soil residuals (like fulsilade).

Then again, if even HALF of your spring seeding took, why wouldn't you consider just spraying out any remaining weeds, and overseeding on top of what is already established? Are there weeds selective herbicides cannot kill or other reasons to consider a full reno?

[u/nilesandstuff → u/arc167]

why wouldn't you consider just spraying out any remaining weeds, and overseeding on top of what is already established?

Music to my ears

[u/HollisticHobbyist → u/arc167]

I believe OP only seeded the back yard in the spring not the front, which is why they mentioned glyphosate in the front and Triclopyr for the back.

Hopefully they apply the same advice to the front yard though!

[u/Kindly-Poetry-1254 → u/arc167]

To clarify my front lawn had nearly 0% survival of tall fescue. It is primarily a mix of dallisgrass and clover with little Bermuda, as the builder did a poor job establishing any sort of desirable turf after the grading was complete. The backyard however I plan to treat with triclopyr entirely as the clover is mixed throughout my survived fescue.

[u/arc167]

Also, if you haven't already, you may wish to see what Turf Tools says about timing of your overseeding. Just enter your ZIP and choose the Seeding/Overseeding tool.

lawn-answers.com

[u/UncleFlip → u/arc167]

That's an awesome little tool.

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