The Road Back to Bermuda David M. Kopec, Ph.D. University or Arizona Late spring means transition time for overseeded areas. At this time in Yuma, the transition is near completion and in Phoenix the cool season grasses are off color and the bermuda is showing up in patches. In Tucson the bermuda is about two weeks behind that of Phoenix and in Green Valley the overseed is still in its prime. The transition back to bermuda is a major concern on tees and greens and of lesser importance on fairways and roughs. Transition is a combination of the condition of the underlying bermudagrass, the condition of the overseed and the ongoing growing and environmental conditions.
Last Fall Think about how the bermuda was prepared and when the time the overseed was done.
A heavy verticutting done at overseeding can slow down spring transition. Cut stolons and rhizomes do not grow back in the fall, and if they do, they don't store a lot of food for winter preparation and cold storage food reserves. The same holds true for greens. Don't try to get rid of a spongy condition on Tifgreen putting surfaces by heavy verticutting and heavy topdressing at overseed time. Other summer greens management should have avoided such a condition.