# Bermuda grass in WNC



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Im becoming more and more convinced that Bermuda grass might be the best grass for this area to make hay out of. I'm in the far western part of the Piedmont of NC right at the foothills of the mountains. There isn't any Bermuda grass grown around here for hay.....you have to go south of here in SC or east into the coastal plain of NC to find any Bermuda hay fields. Common Bermuda grows wild here and is used for yards as well so I know it will grow well here.

I actually planted a small patch of seeded Bermuda year before last to see how it would do here before I went to the trouble of getting sprigs of a hybrid variety. I really planted the seeded Bermuda too late to begin with and then we didn't get a rain for over a month and the seed didn't come up until early August. It came up great and grew extremely well until first frost. We had an unusually cold winter and I guess since it was planted so late it didn't develop a develope a deep enough root system to survive the first winter.

What brought this back to mind is I was looking at a field of smooth brome and I noticed some wild common Bermuda had creeped in from the fence and was growing very well. It was very thick and almost knee deep. This was on the 25th of May and we had had a cooler than average April and May so I was quite surprised the Bermuda was already that large.....especially considering it was common Bermuda which I'm accustomed to seeing only a few inches tall growing in a yard or along the highway. This got me to thinking that if the Bermuda grows that well in this early in the summer here it just might be the best grass for this area.....I had previously thought we might only have enough hot weather for three cuttings of Bermuda but now I'm thinking at least four is possible. I wish I had a whole field like this clump of Bermuda in the pictures.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

That looks like coastal to me as common Bermuda should seed out around 6-8"


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Me too, my common doesn't look like that, a local coastal field does look like that...


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ya, I agree....not common, although it may not be coastal either, it appears more likely to be a hybrid than common. Of all the Bermuda we grow down here, T44 is the cold hardy variety, if cold hardy and Bermuda even fit in the same sentence......I believe that would be the grass to grow....can get sprigs from Augusta area


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I thought it was kind of large and looked a bit different for common Bermuda as well but not sure what else it could be as there is not any improved or hybrid Bermuda grown around here for this to come from. I was thinking that maybe this was what common looked like when it had plenty of nitrogen. Maybe it is just a natural mutation of common?


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## 32-0-0 (May 30, 2017)

FarmerCline said:


> I thought it was kind of large and looked a bit different for common Bermuda as well but not sure what else it could be as there is not any improved or hybrid Bermuda grown around here for this to come from. I was thinking that maybe this was what common looked like when it had plenty of nitrogen. Maybe it is just a natural mutation of common?


Looks like coastal to me too. How tall is it in those pictures? Has any type of head formed yet? My coastal usually starts heading out around knee high.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I would think coastal just because it's so widespread and has been for years.....also coastal does produce a few viable seeds, most of the newer hybrids struggle to produce seeds that are viable. It would be nice to have something to reference the relative size of the blades/stems but even then Bermuda grass is a tough one to ID because there are so many different ones, the only one that looks completely different at a glance is T85 and it very apparent. Not sure about jigs as not much is grown here. It's definately not T85, you know what it looks like anyway.....how much is there? why not take this opportunity, depending on how much you have, to cut the grass and spread onto a prepared seedbed and disc in and see if you can establish it from tops.....just depends on how much you have. You can bale it in a small (it will be heavy) square package (no dry down) and immediately disc into seedbed....most Bermuda can be established that way, just has to be mature.....I would say that is mature enuf.....notice very little seed heads, common would be loaded.


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## SCtrailrider (May 1, 2016)

Yep, might would cut & bale it then spread it, then come back with a yard type plugger and pick up the plugs and spread them.. maybe just plow a strip and see...


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

Here you go farmercline, I put this together from a feild I went and checked on this evening from left to right:
Common Bermuda, jiggs, coastal, and tifton 85 
All with 28 days of fertilizer on it.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

32-0-0 said:


> Looks like coastal to me too. How tall is it in those pictures? Has any type of head formed yet? My coastal usually starts heading out around knee high.


 Just about knee deep on me and super thick. No seed heads whatsoever. I know it's hard to tell from the pics but it looks like a little finer leaf than coastal to me.....kind of in between coastal and Alicia.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Colby said:


> Here you go farmercline, I put this together from a feild I went and checked on this evening from left to right:
> Common Bermuda, jiggs, coastal, and tifton 85
> All with 28 days of fertilizer on it.


 It does look very similar to the coastal in your picture. Your common looks exactly like what grows wild in the yards and along the roadside here. I just assumed it had to be some kind of common since there isn't any other improved Bermudas grown around here that it could have came from. Defiantly going to keep an eye on this clump of Bermuda and see how it grows/spreads throughout the summer.


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## 32-0-0 (May 30, 2017)

FarmerCline said:


> Just about knee deep on me and super thick. No seed heads whatsoever. I know it's hard to tell from the pics but it looks like a little finer leaf than coastal to me.....kind of in between coastal and Alicia.


Looked at your pics again and noticed the length of the leaves...How long are the leaves? Maybe just the picture, but the leaves seem longer than any coastal or hybrid I've ever seen. Also, does this grass have runners?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

32-0-0 said:


> Looked at your pics again and noticed the length of the leaves...How long are the leaves? Maybe just the picture, but the leaves seem longer than any coastal or hybrid I've ever seen. Also, does this grass have runners?


 Must be the picture as leaves aren't that long.....longer than regular common but not any longer than the hybrid Bermudas I have seen. It does have runners and that is how it is spreading from the fence into the field.....spreading quite fast as well.


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## Dan_GA (Dec 29, 2015)

There are a few varieties of seeded Bermuda that can keep up with the sprigged hybrids that I've found online. If I recall correctly one of them is Cheyenne. You have to maintain it by throwing the juice at it or the common Bermuda will push it out quickly from what I've seen on the cattle forum.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

FC
There is a variety out of Tenn that might fit for your area. Vaughn's, or Vaughan's? I don't know if Vol or some of the folks from up that way might have some input on it.

Reed


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

reede said:


> FC
> There is a variety out of Tenn that might fit for your area. Vaughn's, or Vaughan's? I don't know if Vol or some of the folks from up that way might have some input on it.
> 
> Reed


 I think most of the Bermuda varieties would do well here with the exception of tift 85. If I plant any it would most likely be tift 44 or Alicia.....they are very fine stemmed and make some really pretty hay. I would probably choose tift 44 since it seems to be more resistant to rust than Alicia.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I went back by the field to get some updated pictures since the last ones were taken May 25th. Since then the Bermuda has started to head out and is over knee deep. It is also spreading at a phenomenal rate. I'm posting a couple more pics one of which you can see the entire patch of the Bermuda where it is creeping out from the fence. The other grass to the left of the Bermuda in the picture is the smooth brome I planted in this field.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Common Bermuda can grow pretty big without seeding with a little water and good fertlized soil. I planted this field 4-5 years ago with common bermuda.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

FarmerCline said:


> I think most of the Bermuda varieties would do well here with the exception of tift 85. If I plant any it would most likely be tift 44 or Alicia.....they are very fine stemmed and make some really pretty hay. I would probably choose tift 44 since it seems to be more resistant to rust than Alicia.


You may want to look at midland99 it is the newest hybrid out and is pretty cold tollarant and yields are pretty good. I just got a field spriged this year so I will know more as the year go's on but so far looks good.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

FarmerCline said:


> I went back by the field to get some updated pictures since the last ones were taken May 25th. Since then the Bermuda has started to head out and is over knee deep. It is also spreading at a phenomenal rate. I'm posting a couple more pics one of which you can see the entire patch of the Bermuda where it is creeping out from the fence. The other grass to the left of the Bermuda in the picture is the smooth brome I planted in this field.
> 
> image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg


Doesn't look like regular coastal in those pictures.. last picture looks like jiggs... jiggs grow good in clay type soil


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I believe I would propagate that.....is that field gonna be planted into alfalfa? That's a purty good area already established.....field is right there, you know what you have, looks like it's a marketable product to the horse crowd. Be purty easy anyway to cut out about an acre off of that as a nurse area for a future whole field planting....


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Call it what you want.....as long as it looks good in the bale, most could care less....it's Bermuda.
I used to think I couldn't sell T85 in squares, now I have folks asking for T85 in squares....go figure


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Rain event in Dixie....this low pressure in the Gulf is spinning copious amounts of moisture our way, ain't seen the sun in a couple of days...Bermuda will be rank by the time we get back in the fields, next week is the same pattern as this, rain. We've gone from 6/10 in 3 months to 5" in the last 8 days and plenty on the way......go figure that one. We want our high pressure back......I swear sometimes I can't win for losing, but we are appreciative of the moisture it's gonna be a long hot summer....


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> I believe I would propagate that.....is that field gonna be planted into alfalfa? That's a purty good area already established.....field is right there, you know what you have, looks like it's a marketable product to the horse crowd. Be purty easy anyway to cut out about an acre off of that as a nurse area for a future whole field planting....


 No, not planning on planting it into alfalfa....just planted it into smooth brome grass this spring. The brome is the wider bladed grass in the picture that is growing to the left of the Bermuda in the one picture......so far it is looking like a promising grass for this area as well but we will see how it makes it through the summer.

Might have to see if I can't plant some of that Bermuda into another small field to use as a nursery. It is really a pretty small section of that field where it is growing out from the fence.....maybe 20' long and about 2' wide.....not sure how much that would plant if I cut the tops off. It's spreading fast though.....probably just let it keep spreading into the brome......that could be an interesting mix since the brome is a cool season grass and Bermuda is a warm season.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

Then you can market it as BnB--Brome N Bermuda.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

somedevildawg said:


> We've gone from 6/10 in 3 months to 5" in the last 8 days and plenty on the way......go figure that one. We want our high pressure back......I swear sometimes I can't win for losing, but we are appreciative of the moisture it's gonna be a long hot summer....


I think Snodgrass put a mojo on your tail for cursing him. 

Regards, Mike


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Not much info on Bermuda grass in VA - at least our part of it. I spoke to our extension agent when I was thinking about giving it a try. Tifton 44 or Midland 99 would be the varities I'd consider up here, but there's no guarantee a subzero winter wouldn't kill it.

I actually called NC State for some info and folks that sprig Bermuda in NC.

Here is a link to an article by NC State I referenced that is specific to NC and Bermuda, including temperature ranges throughout the state and verities recommended in those zones.

https://duplin.ces.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/AgBermudagrassAG-493.pdf?fwd=no

Good luck,
Bill


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