Bermuda grass is the most widely used warm turf grass because of it sporting field applications. Bermuda grass has a fine blade structure, thick dense growth habitat, and reproduces by rhizomes making it ideal for heavy foot traffic areas. Most Bermuda sod cultivars require full sun and drought tolerant. Bermuda is a vigorously growing sod in temperatures between 90-100F, will stop growth at temperatures below 65F and will turn straw brown during dormancy. Because Bermuda grass goes dormant in winter it is overseeded with rye grass. Families with several or large dogs, playground equipment or parking areas are ideal Bermuda sod applications.
‘Common’
‘Common’ Bermuda Grass is a light green color and has a lower density making it ideal for roadsides and medians. It is the cheapest sod grass through seeding and is also available for sod installation. ‘Common’ Bermuda has excellent drought tolerance and can also survive periodical short term flooding. It will withstand heavy foot traffic but has poor shade tolerance. It is also available for sod installation but is usually mixed with Bahia grass making it a poor choice for residential lawns.
‘Tifway 4-19’
‘Tifway 4-19’ is a darker green and is the sod grass of choice for sporting fiends, golf courses, tennis courts and home lawns. This sod can be established by turf plugs and is also available for sod installation in the Jacksonville and St Augustine area.
‘Princess 77’
‘Princess 77’ is a medium to fine textured dense grass and dark bluish green in color. It is considered the highest quality of bermuda grass and used on golf course fairways. Like other bermuda grass cultivars it requires full sun. It has excellent drought tolerance and cold tolerance. ‘Princess 77’ is 30% more drought tolerant and has a higher divot recovery than ‘Tifway 4-19’ Bermuda sod. This cultivar is not readily available for the Jacksonville or St. Augustine areas as a sod installation but can be grown as a Bermuda grass through seeding.