bermuda grass seeds

Tungsten – posted 16 April 2005 22:02

Hello everybody,

Does anyone have a favorite culitvar of bermuda grass seeds? I’m looking all of those at www.seedland.com. How do you pick one like that? I might have to grow bermuda on bare backyard because i think that’s what the whole young neighborhood have but they don’t look good. Maybe it’s still early in south of Dallas-FTW area? I looked closer at my lot where they’re prepping for foundation slab. It looks like the whole area is limestone with thin tipsoil or something. That’s a big difference than what I’m used to in Houston. Is it really that hard to fight off bermuda grass? I had planned on growing zoysia via seeds next year.

tommy – posted 18 April 2005 11:00

I have tried several seeded type bermuda’s- and have not been very impressed! I have not tried the latest and greatest,(such as ‘Princess’ or ‘Yukon’) but many of the others are too much like common bermuda- (rapid growth, lots of seed heads etc.) I have also noticed that many seeded varieties do not have many rhizome’s. I am now a firm believer in hybrid bermuda over seeded types- if for nothing else, the hybrids have very little seed head production. There is also such a wide range of hybrids to choose from- to fit any application.

ted – posted 18 April 2005 12:39

forget the seed- sod it.

Tungsten – posted 19 April 2005 10:43

Ted,

If you’d pay for sod, I’d be more than happy to sod the backyard! Agh… looks like I’m gonna have a busy summer prepping the backyard e.i. digging up limestone rocks and then new topsoil then sodding if i can afford it! Or tell the builder to build the house slowly till late september so I can plant ryegrass seeds in october!

tommy – posted 19 April 2005 12:35

You can sprig hybrid bermuda (shredded up stems & runners) for much cheaper than sodding! Sprigs are cut from hybrid bermuda sod at the sod farm- and then bagged up and delivered to nurseries. You order them about a week before you need them. You spread the sprigs evenly throughout the yard, and then topdress as you would seed-except the topdress layer has to be thicker with sprigs.

grassnut – posted 19 April 2005 20:31

Here’s an article about Bermuda Seed.

http://www.turfgrasstrends.com/turfgrasstrends/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=45719&pa geID=2

This is interesting:” In the second planting (Aug. 16) that year, the seeded cultivars emerged quicker, with complete coverage within four weeks after planting. The sprigged Tifway took nine weeks to obtain complete coverage.”

[This message has been edited by grassnut (edited 19 April 2005).]

tommy – posted 20 April 2005 15:28

Ya, well- sprigging generally establish’s much quicker, so they may have gone a bit on the light side with the number of sprigs planted……or they may have dried out too much or somthing before being planted.

Walt – posted 01 May 2005 16:47

i was in your condition last year. we moved into a new house in october, i chose to wait til this spring to build my grass. i would recommend you wait, that way you can have soil samples done and spend more time preparing. The builders will tear up your turf anyway if you try it now.

grassnut – posted 04 May 2005 14:21

Here are some quotes from an article I read about Princess 77 (seeded Bermuda).

“Princess 77 is no stranger to the New Mexico football world. Last season, NMSU’s grounds crew began a massive reseeding project with the new grass at the university’s 30,000-seat Aggie Memorial Stadium. Just 50 days later, players were sprinting across the turf. “It was an outstanding success,” Leinauer said.”

“The highly textured, bright green grass, which took a decade to develop, is used on sports fields and golf courses in 65 countries, growing from Hawaii to Saudi Arabia.”

When will these fools learn that Bermuda seed just doesn’t work. They need to start buying sod!