can I still overseed in Atlanta?

I successfully turned my weed-choked front lot into a healthy (though temporary) lawn last Fall via RoundUp followed by seeding with a winter rye, which took nicely. Knew the rye would die in the Atlanta summer heat so overseeded at the end of April with Scott's new blend of tall fescue & heat tolerant Kentucky Bluegrass. Unfortunately, I was traveling for most of May so couldn't tend the lawn properly and, despite lots of rain, the heat-resistent fescue never germinated properly.

Should I try to overseed one more time w/the heat resistant fescue/bluegrass blend? Should I try something else (if so what)? Or should I wait until September again and start over? I would prefer not to have to seed every year so I'd like to get something down that stays and is well-suited to full sun. Thanks for any suggestions!

W.D.

I live in Atlanta and speak from experience. ;-) I've had Fescue, Bermuda sod, Zoysia sod (El Toro and Emerald), and have just converted the back yard at my new house from Fescue to Emerald. In shady locations, I'm a fan of Fescue, and in the sun, I like Zoysia because it needs less frequent mowing and isn't as invasive as Bermuda.

To answer your question, unless our current run of rainy weather continues all summer, any Fescue you sew between now and about the middle of September will germinate if you keep it moist, but will never survive to maturity. It'll die one hot, dry day this summer.

If you want Fescue, aerate your soil in mid-September, overseed, and water until the grass establishes. Unless you have excellent soil to promote deep roots, Fescue will never be very summer-hardy, and you'll end up overseeding almost every fall.

If you really want something that handles the sun, you could aerate then seed with one of the improved Bermudas. With proper watering, it would dominate your yard by the end of the Summer, although it probably wouldn't choke out the Fescue for a couple of years. There are also some nice Zoysia's that can be grown from seed, Zenith comes to mind. However, it is a slow grower, and it would probably be 6-8 weeks of TLC to get the seeds to sprout and become somewhat drought tolerant.

I'm sure you're aware that both Bermuda and Zoysia are dormant in the Winter...