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What kind of bermuda for dogs?

15 years ago

OK. We had a Marathon II sod lawn installed last month to try to replace the 30+ year old Bermuda lawn that we had previously. We were sick of it's dormant stage during the winter and our dogs obliterating it during that time, then struggling to get it all back in again during the spring.

However, with the Marathon II lawn, we now have urine spots all over the yard and it isn't holding up to dog play. I'm thinking it's time to return to Bermuda with perhaps some fescue or rye seeded during the winter to keep some semblance of green and to deal with shade issues under our umbrella tree. Oh yes, we're getting ready for a wedding next month with lots of guests, so we were trying to get our yard to look at least have way presentable.

Which Bermuda grass would you most recommend? I think we used Dwarf Tif?? Bermuda long ago.

Thanks for your help.

Stan

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Comments (3)

texas_weed
15 years ago
Tifdwarf is a very high-end Bermuda grass developed exclusively for golf putting and bowling greens. Not recommended for home lawns due to very high input requirements and pretty much antiquated by Tifeagle.

In your situation I would recommend Tifsport. It has excellent wear and cold tolerance so it will stay greener longer than most hybrids. It will also tolerate over seeding in the winter, but I caution you of doing this as it requires a lot of timing and work to be done right.

What zone are you in or rather where do you live. I see 10 in your profile so if you live like say in Phoenix or SoCal you can overseed since you have a very long growing season giving the Bermuda ample time to recover from over seeding stress.
owlman22
Original Author
15 years ago
We live in San Diego, inland about 10 miles from the coast. Most nurseries here appear to sell Tifgreen, which shows as strong in most categories, except for shade tolerance--quite poor actually.
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texas_weed
15 years ago
OK I am a sod farmer in northern Texas so I am not certain what varieties are available to you but here is a rundown.

Tifsport was developed by Dr. Wayne Hanna at the U of G in Tifton. It is the same breeding program that brought us Tifdwarf, Tifgreen, Tifeagle, and Tifway-419. Tifsport was developed to have superior cold and disease resistance and excellent recovery characteristics from heavy use. It is a semi-fine texture and very dark green. It is not a true dwarf like Tifeagle and Tifdwarf, and about the same texture as Tifgreen.

Between the choice of either Tifsport and Tifgreen I would opt for Tifsport because it has superior characteristics over Tifgreen especially saline and pollution tolerance which is a huge advantage in your area.

Now with that said both are high input grasses requiring a reel mower mowed at least twice a week to keep it Â¾ inch or less, needs verticut and top dressed at least once a year to control thatch, and religious watering and fertilizer schedules. If you are not prepared for that then I would suggest choosing another variety of Bermuda grass.

As to the shade tolerance issue, it is not an issue with any of the Bermuda grasses, none of them tolerate shade worth a darn, so donÂt let that make your decision as it does not matter if it is a high-end variety like Tifdwarf or Arizona common.

Now here is my best advice based on knowing what is available in your area and the slight shade conditions you have. HAVE YOU considered Zoysia? Marathon Sod in San Diego has El Toro Zoysia which has fair shade tolerance, fine textured that resembles Tifway, nice dark green color, and a lot less maintenance.

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