Friday, March 29, 2024
Grasses

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) Complete Guide

Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is another invasive perennial grass that belongs to the narrow-leaved grass species. Bermuda grass belongs to the Poaceae family and is native to the Mediterranean region with a height of about 10 to 40cm tall and short flat leaves.

The grass is often found and used in warm areas in several parts of the world, they are mostly used either as pasture grass or for green golf areas. Invasive grasses grow aggressively and often tend to invade other grass species habitats due to their ability to outgrow faster.

Poaceae, formally known as Gramineae, in the order of Poales are monocotyledonous flowery plants. Grasses belonging to this family have been termed the world’s most important source of feed.

Poaceae grasses can be found anywhere and it is grown in all continents today. According to research, Poaceae ranks among the top flowery plants in terms of the number of species. As mentioned earlier, Bermuda grass belongs to the turfgrass weed species.

Common Names of Bermuda Grass

Bermuda grass, bermudagrass, coast cross, costcross, Bahamas grass, dhoub, kiri-hiri, devil’s grass, African couch, Indian couch, star grass, kweek grass [English]; herbe des Bermudes, gros chiendent, chiendent pied de poule [French]; grama, grama brava, grama común, grama de España, grama rastrera, gramilla blanca, gramilla brava, gramilla Italiana, hierba Bermuda, paja de la virgen, palo delgado, pasto Argentina, pasto bermuda, pasto de gallina, pasto de las Bermudas, pata de perdiz, pelo de conejo, zacate agrarista, zacate agujilla, zacate alicia, zacate de Bermuda, zacate de conejo, zacate de gallina [Spanish]; capim Bermuda, grama Bermuda, grama-seda [Portuguese]; kweekgras [Afrikaans]; handjesgras [Dutch]; Hundszahngras [German]; rumput bermuda, rumput minyak, rumput grinting [Indonesian]; gramigna rossa [Italian]; দূর্বা [Bengali]; 百慕达草 [Chinese]; αγριάδα [Greek]; יבלית [Hebrew]; दूब घास [Hindi]; バーミューダ グラス, バミューダグラス, ギョウギ シバ [Japanese]; ಗರಿಕೆಹುಲ್ಲು [Kannada]; കറുക [Malayalam]; அறுகு [Tamil]; cỏ chỉ, cỏ chỉ trắng, cỏ chỉ mùa khô, cỏ chỉ mùa mưa, cỏ gà [Vietnamese]

Read Also: Pampas Grass (Cortaderia Selloana) Comprehensive Guide

Facts About Turfgrasses

(1) Turfgrass weeds are mainly used in sporting areas, like the football peach and golf courses.

(2) Wildlife depends highly on turfgrasses for their survival because turfgrasses are responsible for the recreation, filtering, and cooling of air.

(3) Turfgrasses are also a good source of high-quality feed needed by livestock and wildlife.

The Bermuda grass despite its interesting and benefiting facts has also been termed “a gardener’s worst nightmare” because of its highly invasive nature.

Many people find it difficult to get rid of or control this grass once installed in their gardens.

The most disturbing fact about the grass is that it grows vigorously in both sandy and clay soil areas.

Bermuda grass has many names, many of which include:

(1) Wire grass

(2) Scotch grass

(3) Couch grass

(5) Crab grass

(6) Devil grass, e.t.c.

This invasive weed has also been listed in the list of noxious weeds and also contributes to the damaging of farm crops like Cotton, Sugarcane, e.t.c.

Due to its disturbing nature, it is now widely known to be a “crop-damaging weed” because having weed grasses choking your plants in your garden or farm could be very annoying, and this weed can be very difficult to control.

How to Kill Bermuda Grass

Some of our readers sometimes ask us how to kill Bermuda grass. Well, let’s discuss this here in detail.

Since it grows fast, we will be sharing effective tips on how to control this weed.

Below are series of tips that might help you in getting rid of this weed.

(1) Using herbicides to kill this grass in your garden is a great way to handle the grasses; you can simply get the herbicide from any local store available in your region and put it to use, it is safe and efficient.

(2) You can also control such weed by solarization.

Solarization is a method in which the weed is being fumigated by exposing it to sunlight.

This can be achieved by covering the weed with a transparent plastic sheet and exposing it to sunlight as well.

(3) Another way of getting rid of this grass is by cultivating it, by pulling them out from there root, this method can be very stressful.

Getting rid of this grass by cultivating it can be very stressful, therefore, the most effective and stress-free way to control it is by using herbicides in your garden.

Read Also: How to Use Mulches to control Weeds on your Garden

Bermuda Grass Juice

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) Complete Guide

Bermuda grass juice is very nutritious and possesses some antioxidant properties and having just a glass per day can enhance your body’s immunity.

This does not just only work as a detoxifying agent, it cleans your liver, washes out toxins from your body, and also reduces the level of acidity in your body.

It prevents and helps in flushing out kidney stones.

It possesses notable vitamins like vitamin A and B.

It also helps in the prevention of heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

If you’re interested in growing this grass in your garden/yard for any reason then you should read on.

How to Grow Bermuda Grass

Before asking what does Bermuda grass look like, below is a picture of a Bermuda grass close up

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) Complete Guide

Bermuda grass can be grown using the Bermuda grass seed (Bermuda grass seeding or Bermuda grass sod) and following the following guidelines below:

(1) Ensure that where you intend on growing the grass is exposed to sunlight because it is a warm-season weed and for several reasons, this weed needs to be exposed to sunlight.

(2) Avoid over-watering.

(3) You should grow this weed during the hot season or late spring.

Bermuda grass seed must be planted in thin soil for it to germinate and grow properly.

You have to water this weed daily until its establishment becomes apparent.

As mentioned earlier in this article, Bermuda grasses are invasive, and also they are called warm-season weeds.

However, Centipede grass is another weed that can be planted along with Bermuda grass but they are not as harsh as the Bermuda weed.

Centipede grass requires little effort to grow and control the weed because it is not as invasive as the Bermuda grass.

Bermuda Grass (Cynodon dactylon) Complete Guide
Centipede grass

Centipede grass has the slowest growth rate among all the warm-season weeds in existence, and only requires very low application of fertilizer to grow.

Therefore in situations where both the Bermuda grass and Centipede grass are present together, the Bermuda grass tends to invade the Centipede grass due to its noxious and invasive nature.

With regards to the best fertilizer for Bermuda grass (fertilizer for Bermuda grass), you can easily source for a compound fertilizer within your location to use for the grass as it doesn’t select much.

Read Also: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide to Vegetable Gardening

Varieties

There are many varieties of Bermuda grass. Seeded varieties result from the selection for desirable traits. Most of the commercial Bermuda grass varieties are products of hybridization between Cynodon dactylon subspecies.

Seeded varieties: Common Bermuda grass and Giant Bermuda grass are the main seeded varieties. They correspond to a wide range of genotypes and were selected for their adaptability to different cultivation conditions. In some usages, “common” has become synonymous with any seed-propagated Bermuda grass. Seeded varieties are outstandingly tolerant of drought and heavy grazing, two important traits for tropical forages. Their seeds are commonly mixed to make commercial blends.

Hybrids: Work on hybridization started in the 1940s at the Coastal Plain Experimental Station, situated in Tifton, Georgia (USA). In 1943, the first hybrid called Coastal Bermuda grass was released. Since then, many others have been created at Tifton: Tifton 44, 68, 78 and 85. Tifton 85, released in the 1990s, is one of the most popular varieties of Bermuda grass. Other varieties such as Midland, Callie, Coastcross-1, Hill Farm Coastcross-1, Coastcross-2, Brazos, Alicia, Grazer, Russell, Lagrange, Zimmerly, Scheffield, Naiser, Luling, Oklan, Guymon, Quickstand and Hardie are all retailed for forage production.

The hybrid Coastal Bermuda grass variety has longer and larger leaves, stems and rhizomes. It is more resistant to drought and leaf spot, and it is immune to the root-knot nematode. Coastal Bermuda grass is twice as productive as common Bermuda grass and is easier to eradicate. It is readily grazed when 25-30 cm high.

Introduction of this grass in the Southern United States sharply increased herbage production and revolutionized the livestock industry. Tifton 85, one of the most popular hybrids, is taller and leafier than many of the others. It spreads rapidly and has a much higher DM yield and nutritive value. It is more adapted to tropical areas but is less winter hardy than other hybrids.

In summary, Bermuda grass is an invasive weed, it grows aggressively and contributes to biological pollution. However, despite its bad characteristics, this weed turns out to be the remedy for most diseases today. Centipede grass is not as aggressive as the Bermuda grass and also has a slow growth rate.

Read Also: 7 Health Benefits of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon)

Agric4Profits

Benadine Nonye is an agricultural consultant and a writer with over 12 years of professional experience in the agriculture industry. - National Diploma in Agricultural Technology - Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Science - Master's Degree in Science Education... Visit My Websites On: 1. Agric4Profits.com - Your Comprehensive Practical Agricultural Knowledge and Farmer’s Guide Website! 2. WealthinWastes.com - For Effective Environmental Management through Proper Waste Management and Recycling Practices! Join Me On: Twitter: @benadinenonye - Instagram: benadinenonye - LinkedIn: benadinenonye - YouTube: Agric4Profits TV and WealthInWastes TV - Pinterest: BenadineNonye4u - Facebook: BenadineNonye

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