"W.D." wdanis at NO SPAM dot yahoo dot com wrote in message
...
My front lawn is 90% crabgrass and I'd like to start a new lawn this Fall
with either a heat resistant fescue or a heartier variety like Bermuda or
St. Aug (I live in Atlanta & get almost full sun). Two questions:

1. should I just use Round-up to kill everything off first or is a
weed-killer a better choice?
2. Can either Bermuda or St. Augustine be started from seed and what are
the pros/cons of these varieties?

Thanks,

W.D.

Roundup is a fine choice for killing off your old lawn. You need to wait at
least a week before re-seeding.

That said, it is very late in the season to re-seed Bermuda in Atlanta (I'm
on the northside myself). I'd wait until late next spring to seed Bermuda.
I don't think St Augustine comes in a seeded variety, but I could be wrong.

If you're thinking Fescue, go ahead and do the roundup thing, wait a week,
till (or rake, or dethatch, or do something to disturb the soil for seed),
smooth, and seed. Keep the area damp and you'll have grass in a week or two.
Next spring, you'll have a nice lawn.

Personally, I've always found it very hard to keep a decent fescue lawn
here. If you use enough pre-emergents to prevent crabgrass and other weeds
from taking over, you'll have germination problems when you overseed with
fescue, which you need to do every year. Also, fescue is a very fragile
grass in this climate. Almost any post-emergent crabgrass product you can
name will cause serious injury to Fescue. It's a real catch-22. That's why
I'm transitioning to zoysia.

Speaking of which, if you're the patient type, you could seed with Zenith
zoysia late next spring. One of my in-laws has it, and it looks very nice.

I'm a fan of sod myself...

KB