Glyphosate won't hurt trees if used by the label. I wouldn't spray young tree leaves or shrubs directly on purpose but it shouldn't do anything. 2-4-D you have to be careful with.

Max -- with Bermuda, you pretty much always have time as long as its hot for 45-60 days. By October, its too late to lay seed down but you can put pre-emergent, and then follow up with a pre-emergent and glyphosate in the Feb timeframe.

So I picked up some Bermudagrass seed from a place in Justin (north of FW) yesterday. All I could find around here was common bermuda, which I didn't want. I took a picture of what I had that was going good and they recommended a seed they call "Blackjack." They also said it had the benefit of coming in faster (~2 weeks) than some of the other varieties. Today, I "tilled" up the yard with a manual cultivator (don't ask how that went) to loosen the dirt, spread the seed down, and then threw some 13-13-13 fertilizer I also bought at the seed store. They recommended that as starter fertilizer. I think it will also keep the birds away. I then watered it for about 15 minutes by hand. Depending on how much rain we get, I'll go out 2-3 times each day and water some more. Hopefully, we'll get enough rain through the weekend I won't need to water as much.

I also sprayed some other parts of the yard that still has some thatch with my "concoction" (see above) that will hopefully remove that and other dead material. I'll throw seed and fertilizer, and possibly some topsoil, down in 2-3 weeks.

I'm HOPEFUL that if nothing else, the aeration of the dirt will keep weeds at bay. I don't have anything to back that up; just cautiously optimistic. Looks like the sun won't be out in full force until early next week. I should be OK, though.

Pics coming up. I promise.

Its been almost 2 years, so time for an update. I'm hopeful that this will keep me focused on getting this yard in shape and done this year.

First, no pics. I just never took any.

Second, the seed I got at the seed store was, well, disappointing. It took a while to take and even then, didn't fill in very well. So, I ordered some seed from a company in Florida. Got it, dropped it, and it filled things in a lot better. The other "half" of the yard started to look pretty decent. When June (2024) hit and the weather warmed up, the Bermuda came out. I still had some weeds, particularly crabgrass, but I pulled and spot treated them. The yard looked BETTER but not great.

Third, last year (2025) I didn't have much time to work in it but I did a TON of research in the little time I had. YT channels like GCI Turf and Lawn Care Life were immensely helpful. I got a Smith 2 Gallon sprayer and it is night and day better than the generic sprayers at HD/etc. (I threw all my old ones away except the one that had rinseless car wash in it!). The Smith is not much more expensive at Amazon than the basic ones are at HD/WM. This summer I'm getting a 4 Gallon backpack sprayer from Flowzone and maybe another manual Smith. I'd like to be able to spray 2 chemicals at be able to clean both sprayers at once.

Fourth, you can buy small quantities of the various "pro" weed killers like 2,4 D, metsulfuron, and prodiamine online and the mix ratio with water is small. In other words, a small, $30 bottle will last a couple/three years or a year for multiple or bigger lawns. Don't buy HD/box store "brand" name junk. If it isn't watered down, its a one-size-fits-most that won't solve YOUR issue.

Fifth, while I've already nuked my small side yard and the median between the sidewalk and street, I didn't get seed or anything down and (mostly) weeks grew up. I've got to redo that. Don't make the mistake I did: if you put down Glyphosate, fine. But follow that up ASAP with something -- sod, seed, etc. Otherwise, you'll see weeds again.

Today, I picked up some surfactant at Tractor Supply. I didn't use that in past sprayings but will use it next week in putting down the glyphosate and pre-emergent. I'm hoping the freeze killed the crabgrass germinating already (if it did). I think I'm going to lay down some rye seed in my side yard and median as an interim protection against weeds before I overseed with bermuda in mid to late May. Also working on a master chart for dilution ratios for all chemicals.

I hope we have a wet spring/early summer!

Comments welcome.