Yukon, Princess 77 and Riviera
will match the closest to a Tifway 419 Bermuda grass lawn in
color, texture and density - all of the physical appearance items
the eye notices with individual inspection of varieties.
Princess 77 is an excellent variety
for warmer areas of the Bermudagrass planting zone.
The new Prima-XD Blend is
also a good choice for use in all Bermuda zones as a seeded
replacement of similar quality or even an addition added to
improve the stand of existing Tifway 419 Bermuda lawns.
In Side by side plots, you can see subtle differences
between all of these varieties -
But when MIXED into the existing
Tif 419 lawn you will see only very minor
differences, and you would have a hard time naming which is which
the seeded variety, versus the hybrid sprigged Tifway variety. If
trying to repair and replace damaged, thinned or bare sections
in a Tifway Bermuda 419 lawn... your best option is to slit seed
the whole area with the seeded variety (both good and damaged
areas).
If no slit seeder is available you can do a heavy aeration
(spike or core plugger) and then overseed with your Bermuda
seeds. the seeds should be raked and watered into the lawn
/ soil so as to get best soil coverage to ensure germination.
By seeding the whole area with the slightly different shade of
seeded bermuda you trick the eye with a optical illusion to
think that the lawn is suppose to look that way. It then
will not notice the differences as easily if you had just
planted in the bare / damaged areas.
Additionally, the newer varieties & Blends, Such as
Prima-XD, Paloma and
TransContinental have both shown early results similar to this
same turf quality level as the varieties listed above - the NTEP
re-planted last summer (2004) with all 6
of these varieties and will have some results later this summer
(2005), where
we can better make comparisons if this similar quality is holding true.
READ MORE ON
OVERSEEDING EXISTING GRASSES
Plating
together or over-planting varieties such as Yukon into
worn, thinned Tif 419 - you will be hard pressed to pick the
plants apart.
It is better to overplant the entire area, not just the
bare spot - If you just replant the bare spot with Princess or
with Yukon, then YES you will see the patch as different, due to
subtle appearance differences AND mostly since the bare area will
be new immature turf and the adjoining areas will be older, more
thatched up turf plants
