Bermuda to Rye Overseeding Thread

If you don’t need VAN nozzles, I encourage you to switch them out to standard Rain Bird nozzles. They consume double the gallons per minute as standard Rain Bird nozzles.

Here is comparison for half circle):
Rain Bird 8VAN: 1.19 gallons per minute, 3.58 inches per hour
Rain Bird 8H: .52 GPM, 1.58 inches per hour
Toro Precision 8H female thread: .26 GPM, 1.0 inch per hour.

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If you need adjustable nozzles Rain Birds HE-VAN high efficiency are adjustable but use the same amount of water as standard Rain Bird.

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Thanks for that info. I believe the nozzles that were installed by the builders were HE-VAN, I just said VAN not realizing there were HE-VAN and VAN’s… I check them out later when it’s cooler outside. If standard nozzles throw less water than VAN nozzles, what i the benefit of a VAN nozzle?

Ideally Variable arc nozzles VAN are used where there are unusual shapes in the landscape, but they use double the gallons per minute of a fixed non adjustable nozzles. With Rain Birds high efficiency vans you can still adjust the arc/pattern but these nozzles have the same output of the fixed spray nozzles. So if you have a mix of fixed nozzles and regular VAN nozzles, simply retrofit the vans with HE-VAN Rain Bird nozzles, giving you better irrigation uniformity,
,

http://www.rainbird.com/landscape/products/sprayNozzles/HE-VAN.htm

Here are the specs on the HE-VAN nozzles.

I don’t work for Rain Bird, by the way. I’m all about finding the best solutions.

Let me add that this is the way I did my over seeding last year and it seems to . My Hunter Pro-C allows up to 6 start times per day. I was using 5 of them for 10 minutes each.

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I might have to take a look at these. That is one issue I have with the Hunter’s that I have now. They throw a ton of water in certain areas, but leave other areas with a light watering. I have the Hunter 8A’s that I have been using to replace damaged or poorly performing nozzles. I need to finish replacing a handful of old nozzles and maybe that will even things out for me.

There’s a chill in the air at night. Last night my local PWS registered 65 degrees for it’s low. Reminder that above 65 is the temp where Bermuda grows. This is just a cooler point and I’m sure it’ll rise up a bit in the next week but just a reminder to shoot for sometime in October to be reaching 55 lows and planting the rye.

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Did you check the Internet for the problems that overseeding perennial rye grass into Bermuda grass? Perennial rye grass releases an alleleopathic chemical that causes Bermuda grass decline. Use tall fescue blended with Kentucky bluegrass. Google this and you will read for yourself. This is why perennial rye grass is not used for overseeding like it once was. Exchange your rye for a blend of several fescue varieties.

Is it possible to program all 4 of my zones to water for 2mins each every two hours? If so could the people in the know tell me how??

Thanks!

The way I do it right now is to set up separate fixed schedules for each time I want it to water (for overseeding I start with 3 times a day). I like the schedules because I can have it not water if we get rain. I think there are some people out there that use IFTTT to get the zones watered manually every two hours, but I don’t think there is a way to take rain into account doing that.

I’m hoping that the Rachio team will address this in the 3.0 version – from the hints we’ve seen on the forums, I’m guessing that the capability to do this might be built into the next release. Keeping my fingers crossed.

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Thanks! Lets hope they’ll add it so one can program like a manual controller . Pick days, times, and duration for each zone in one mode. Maybe call it “Fixed manual mode”

I’ll look it up but rye is everywhere in this area

It must be a regional thing. Arizona has many landscape practices that are strange to me. (I lived in

Scottsdale when I lived in Arizona and could not believe the horrid tree and shrub pruning I saw there by landscape companies. Probably ignorance of these companies.)

The overall performance of perennial ryegrass is lower than fine turf- type tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass throughout the United States. If you are the Phoenix area, you’ll read water conservation departments discourage overseeding because it uses so much water. Overseeding any cool season grass on warm season causes immense stress to the warm season grass, just when it is attempting to store nutrients for the winter. Tourism drives overseeding in your area. I understand that.

Overseeding with rye is a common practice in the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Golf courses do it–no one wants to golf on dormant brown bermuda. Overseeding an established bermuda lawn does no noticeable harm if done properly and @Modawg2k, the U of A extension is a good source of information for Arizona as you have already found.

Fescue is not adapted for the low desert elevations and it not recommended for overseeding bermuda here.

We’ll look forward to posts about the process and expect to see pics of that beautiful green lawn. :relaxed:

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Yes :wink:

:cheers:

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Had anyone ever seen the “intermediate rye” grass that the Uofa document refers to? I find places on the web that sell it, but anyone local know where to find it? I’d be curious to try it. I love perennial for lack of staining, but it sure holds on tight come spring!

Yes, there is a cross between annual and perennial. Do a Google and see what you find. I’ll do the same.
I’m trying something new in Oklahoma. It’s called Texas bluegrass, a cross between Kentucky and another type of cool season grass.

Have you checked here? Might be worth a call.

Arizona seed technology
16772 W. Bell Rd.
Suite 110-428
Surprise, AZ 85374

P: 623-572-4907
info@arizonaseed.com
http://arizonaseed.com/

I haven’t, but OMG that is far for me…might have to give them a call though.