Types of Bermuda Grass Seed For Lawn, Turf, Pasture

Seedland.com - The lawn & garden specialists!

Bermuda grass seed produces one of the most popular warm season lawn, sports field and pasture grasses. Bermuda grass can be easily planted from grass seed or grass plugs. Bermudagrass provides good turf grass lawns, pastures, sports turf -- golf courses -- athletic fields -- and more.

Bermuda grass is one of the few warm season grass varieties that will grow a little further north into the colder climates --  see the adaptation map below. It will turn brown at the first dip in temperature though. More cold tolerant and high quality varieties are being developed constantly -- such as the popular Yukon Bermuda grass seed. In the more warmer tropical south, during average rainfall years, Bermuda will retain a beautiful green color all year round. This grass can be grown on low to high maintenance schedules depending upon the usage. Lawns planted in Bermudagrass can attain full lawn coverage in one year. It is not uncommon for seeded or plugged Bermuda lawns to be established within 60-90 days.

*MAP NOTE: Bermuda seeded varieties planted in the more Northern areas marked in red on above map should be selected from "cold tolerant" varieties such as Yukon, Riviera or Mohawk to avoid increased risk of winter kill.

Princess 77 Bermuda Grass Seed - Hybrid Quality at Seed Prices

Certified Princess 77 Bermudagrass is the world's first dense, fine textured hybrid bermudagrass variety to be available in seeded form. Known as experimental variety, SWI-77, Princess is a very dense, dark green, fine textured hybrid bermudagrass that can be established from seed. It is the product of two self-sterile clones that are established vegetatively in certified production fields. The resulting progeny seed is the variety, Princess 77. Seedland does sell Bermuda grass lawn plugs if you wish to purchase a vegetative bermuda grass.

PRINCESS 77 Bermuda Grass Seed - The grass of choice for 2004/05 Superbowls
Princess 77 Bermuda Grass Used in the Houston Superbowl XXXVIII (2004)
Princess 77 was also used for Jacksonville's 2005 Superbowl game.

Bermuda Grass Seed At Discount Prices!

Save $ with Bermuda Grass Seeds From Seedland

Highest Quality Improved Bermuda Grass Varieties
PRINCESS 77 (5#, 10# & 25# sizes)
YUKON (5# & 25# sizes)

Quality Bermudas from Seed!

Check Seedland Prices on Bermuda Grass Seed. Save $$.

Bermuda Grass Characteristics

• Bermuda grass grows best in full sun.
• Bermuda grass has a medium to fine texture.
• Bermuda grass is drought resistant and highly versatile
• Bermuda Grass is salt tolerant.
• Bermuda grass is easy to establish from seed or grass plugs.

Bermuda grass was brought to America in the 1500's from Africa via the Spaniards. Since that time has developed from the basic forage grass into one of the major grass species used on the most exclusive golf greens worldwide. This grass is a perennial sod former, dark green, drought resistant, low growing, fast repairing, full sun, has fair salt tolerance, can be mown closely, forms a dense turf, goes into dormancy when temperatures drop below 60 degrees and greens up fast when temperatures rise. Once only grown from sod or sprigged, bermuda grass is now readily available as grass seed in both common bermuda grass and improved varieties. Bermuda grass spreads by rhizomes and stolons and is a highly diversified grass.

Bermuda grass seed germinates quickly, covers quickly and grows in a variety of soils. With a fair degree salt spray tolerance, Bermuda is used in coastal regions all along the south and up to the lower sections of the cool season area. One of the best qualities of this grass is the degree of growth that can be achieved through good management practices. This is highly desirable on golf courses and athletic fields where heavy traffic damages occur daily.

Known as one of the most persistent and aggressive grasses grown it is very hard to kill Bermuda grass after establishment. The down side to Bermuda grass can be the aggressive quality that also makes it so popular. Flower beds or other adjacent areas can be over-run if not kept in check by constant edging or applications of herbicides. This is one of the grasses that can "return from the dead" if not completely killed the first time due to its extensive root system. Just digging it up without getting rid of the roots will not solve the problem. Repeated tilling and the removal of roots is usually required to kill Bermuda grass.

Blade texture can range from slightly coarse to very fine depending upon the variety. This grass prefers well draining soils whether acidic or alkaline and tolerates soils from sandy to clay. It is adapted along coastal areas into the interior of the country. The wear ability factor is high and depending upon the cultivars Bermudagrass can repair moderately well.

On golf courses Bermuda grass is the number one choice for tee and putting areas. Although the newer Zoysia seeded grasses are also becoming very popular. The sodded varieties are still the finest in texture and density. To grow these hybrids at lower heights requires an extraordinary maintenance schedule. Expertise is required to control disease and insects. Managers must also be knowledgeable concerning frequent fertilization schedules, over-seeding management techniques, utilization of intense mowing schedules for shorter mowing heights than most lawns, plus accurate irrigation and drying procedures. Newer seeded varieties such as Princess 77 are approaching the hybrid quality and texture found in the vegetative varieties.

Improved Bermuda Grass Seed Information & Pictures

For those that have planted Bermuda Grass seed and need a reference for seedlings please see this Picture of Bermuda Grass Seedling at 21 days old.

These improved Bermuda seed grasses make an excellent lawn grass and can be mixed by variety to improve the lawn characteristics much like the cool season grasses are are mixed. LaPaloma and Yukon are two Bermuda grass seed varieties, found in the La Prima XD Bermuda grass blend, that are often mixed together for stronger qualities. This allows for a more flexible mowing height from very short to two inches high. Newer varieties such as Mohawk and Yukon extend the area of adaptation and provide better texture than the more common strains.

Another excellent and very popular professional turf type BLEND of 3 improved varieties sold for home lawn and golf course applications is the popular Bermuda Triangle. This variety along with La Prima Bermuda are classified as mid range "Fairway Quality" varieties. They also make a great option for use as a general purpose home lawn.

Premium Quality Bermuda Grass Seed

The Newer finer "Premium Quality" varieties are Princess 77 and Yukon. Several of these can be used for home putting green applications as long as you do not require a high speed Bermuda green. Princess 77 is economically available in 5 lbs sizes especially for growing small lawn areas such as putting greens. It is used for both professional sports fields (2005 SUPER Bowl!) and for high end commercial / home lawns.

Princess 77 Bermudagrass is one of the newest seeded Bermudas available on the market. Princess 77 produces a dense, green turf that is highly comparable to the sodded varieties listed below. But with lower cost the establishment costs are much less than sod!!! It makes an excellent dense turf that can be mowed low for a green type look or kept maintained at higher heights for a denser fairway look.

YUKON Bermuda is also a high quality turf variety similar in turf quality to Princess 77 but with higher cold tolerance (winter survival). Yukon can be usable for home putting greens and high input lawns where low-mowing ability and density is important. Yukon is a popular variety due to it's dark green color (very similar to Tifway 419 in color) along with excellent cold tolerance AND slower growth for less mowing.

These varieties are not for use on high-speed modern Golf Greens but are excellent choices for seeded tees and fairways, home putting greens or for improving existing common Bermuda areas or problem fairways.

MEDIUM QUALITY BERMUDA GRASS

The three-way Bermuda blend, "Triangle Blend" and the two way blend "La Prima" are used extensively on golf course fairways (public types) and athletic fields. Triangle is one of the better blend choices for medium input home lawns, fairways and sports fields. We sell more Triangle than any other improved variety because of its proven versatility. La Prima is also a popular choice for all types of lawns for fast germination and rapid establishment. LaPrima contains the bermuda grass varieties SR-9554 and the premium variety LaPaloma which are used for home, sports fields and golf fairways.

The Pennington PREMIUM Seed Blend of turf Bermuda's is an excellent choice for home lawns and is available in smaller package sizes for planting smaller areas, than are some of the other varieties. More of the new turf-type seeded varieties used for lawns are listed in the menu here on the right.

BASIC QUALITY BERMUDA GRASS

Bermudagrass is fairly disease and insect resistant depending upon varieties - some are better than others. The improved common varieties such as Sahara are good choices for use in lawns and are easily seeded and cheaper than expensive sod or sprigging types. Sahara is probably the most popular variety sold due to it's improvement over common and it's economical price. SR-9554 is probably one of the better quality basic varieties and in many applications performs similar to the other medium quality varieties --this variety can be found in our LaPrima Bermuda Grass Seed Blend. Blackjack Bermuda is a basic variety used throughout the Southern states and is especially popular from Texas through Arizona.

Bermuda Grass Hybrids

NOTE: Hybrid varieties do NOT produce seeds - To plant or replace these varieties you must obtain and use either grass or lawn plugs, sprigs or sod. See our informational page www.lawnplugs.com for more information on quality bermuda grass lawn plugs.

The closest to Hybrid varieties available in a seed form are Princess 77 and Yukon. You can compare the seeded varieties to the hybrid "vegetative" planted varieties at NTEP.org. - Read More about hybrid bermuda grass.

Hybrid varieties such as Tifgreen, Tifton 419, and Tifway and many more varieties are sodded or sprigged on golf courses and for commercial sports and lawns. These sod hybrids are much more expensive to establish and generally require more fertilization and water than seeded bermuda grass.

SEEDED BERMUDA GRASS SPORTS FIELDS

For a Bermuda grass seed Sports field application, we recommend that you consider using the PRINCESS 77 or YUKON Bermuda variety if you wish for a look close to the hybrids such as Tifway 419. If you are needing a more general purpose turf / or perhaps a more economical cost of establishment is required... the Triangle Blend or the La Prima Bermuda are Blends of turf type Bermuda Grass that work well for sports fields.

BERMUDA GRASS IN PASTURES

Pastures of hybrid, common and improved Bermuda grasses are grown for forage and hay production throughout the South. Common Bermuda grass is drought resistant, full sun, fast growing, fast germinating, easy to establish and provides a low maintenance pasturage. Common Bermuda was used extensively for years and is still one of the most used pasture grasses grown. These are just a few reasons for using Bermuda as a forage. Deep roots make the grass very drought resistant with the plus that it can be flooded for short lengths of time and fully recover.

Newer improved vegetative forage Bermudas (hybrid sprigged varieties) are usually planted primarily for hay production. There are also new improved seeded varieties (Such as Cheyenne II , Ranchero Frio Blend, and Giant that can provide excellent cost effective plantings for use for general forage / pasture and/or hay production at a more economical cost than sprigging. Pasto Rico is a mixture of common and giant bermuda. Cheyenne II Bermuda is one of the newest seeded forage varieties that is attracting a lot of attention from ranchers for its excellent pasture grass performance.