Coastal Bermuda Grass

[Sheila]

We have a pasture with patches of coastal bermuda. We have sold our current house and will be building there. The problem is that the ground is quite bumpy and will need to be smoothed out. We would like to plant coastal bermuda, but I've been told that you can't just spread coastal bermuda, that it has to be actually planted in the ground. In researching this, I haven't been able to verify whether this is true or not. I know that we just seeded the common bermuda that we have in our current yard.

Does anyone know that answer to this?

Thanks

[Stella Liebeck]

Some varieties of bermuda will reproduce from seed, but most hybrid varities are seed sterile and must be propagated from sprigs. Where do you live? If you are in the south seeded varieties will usually work. Most cold-hardy types, however, are vegetative/

[zxcvbob]

Coastal bermuda does not set viable seeds, so it is common sprigged rather than seeded. I don't even know if it is possible to seed it. Some of the other hybrids, like Tifton, do set a very small number of viable seeds.

Bob

[Sheila]

Common bermuda seeded fine for us, but it won't grow in the shade. We're in the south and coastal bermuda in our pasture seems grow in the shade at the edge of the woods.

[Sheila]

Thanks, do you like Tifton better than common bermuda?

[zxcvbob]

I've only heard of Tifton; I live in Minnesota now and bermuda doesn't grow up here.

Bob

[Michel Buonarroti]

There are many "Tifton" varieties such as Tifway 419, TifDwarf, TifSport, TifEagle, etc. AFAIK, none of them produce any useful amount of viable seeds. You could ask Jim Sutton at Georgia Seed Development Commission or Earl Eisner (he's the fellow that bred the stuff). They are in Athens, GA at 706-542-2351.

[Sheila]

Thanks,

I think we'll plant common bermuda, we did here and it does a pretty good job. It just won't grow in the shade.