Tifway 419 bermuda vs common bermuda

Requiring less water and tolerating foot traffic better than St. Augustine, Bermuda is an excellent choice for full-sun areas. It is completely shade intolerant, however, and must be planted in areas that will always have 100% sun. Three sod varieties that do well in our area include:

Table of Contents Show

What is the prettiest Bermuda grass?
What is the difference between common and hybrid Bermuda grass?
Will Tifway 419 overtake common Bermuda?
How do I know if I have common Bermuda?

Common – This variety spreads through seed propagation, which sends up tall, unsightly seed pods just days after mowing. As a result, it has been avoided in most residential areas in favor of the hybrids.
Tex-Turf 10 – This hybrid Bermuda spreads through leaders (or runners) rather than seed, and is our recommendation for the average homeowner. It has an excellent track history in North Texas.
Tif 419 (Tif Bermuda) – 419 is a low-growing "golf course" strain of hybrid Bermuda that is more attractive when mowed more frequently with a reel-type mower.

Christech11 said:
I was afraid of that. I'm PGR free but mowing at the lowest setting of my rotary.

Would you post a pic of your 419 for comparison?

smurg said:
Christech11 said:

Like other poster above, not trying to hijack but could use some more professional opinion than my own.

Live in central MS and our house was built 2 years ago. Most of the sod for sale around here is Tifway 419.
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Looks like a common that's been sprayed with a PGR. Has a bit wider blades than my Tifway but the node spacing is tight.
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Now that I'm looking at mine up close, I change my vote

Raleigh St. Augustine: Best Feature: Second to none with it’s ability to tolerate fairly shaded conditions, and it’s cold tolerance is important for the colder winter seasons we may have here in South-East, North Carolina.

Zorro Zoysia: Best Feature: Considered the “Cadillac”of warm season grasses as it provides that sought after, manicured, golf course look with proper mowing.

Empire Zoysia: Best Feature: Rated by NC State as being the perfect warm season grass, and to date we have seen no problems with Brown Patch

Certified Tifblair Centipede Lawn

Bermuda (Tifway 419):
Pros: Best Feature – Recuperates quickly from damage
Dark Green, can achieve that “fine, manicured” appearance

Cons: High maintenance required with mowing every 4 days to avoid scalping into the crown area. Will creep into flower beds, curbs and sidewalks
Does not tolerate shade

Bermuda (Tifsport):
Pros: Same “Pros” and “Cons” as Tifway 419.
However, this variety is more dense, has stronger leaf blades,
Greens up earlier and is more winter hardy

Cons: High maintenance required with mowing every 4 days to avoid scalping into the crown area. Will creep into flower beds, curbs and sidewalks
Does not tolerate shade

Bermuda (Celebration):
Pros: Celebration is a hybrid cultivar of Bermudagrass that has an exceptional wide range of applications. It has been rated #1 by NC State for wear and overall turf quality.
This Bermudagrass has a bluish green color, a soft texture, a dense turf that competes against weeds, good drought tolerance, and is the one Bermuda that has been shown to be more tolerant to shade vs other Cultivars.

Cons: High maintenance as are all Bermudagrases requiring more frequent mowing, weed eating garden edges and driveways etc.

It looks like you may already have Tifway Bermuda. The "common" seeded Bermuda has a coarse leaf texture and from the picture it looks like you have a fine leaf texture that indicates it may be Tifway (also referred to as "common" Bermuda). TifGrand looks different than Tifway and you will see a difference, especially when there's dew on the grass, which brings out the slightly different colors. TifGrand is darker green.

There is a new exceptionally drought tolerant Bermuda on the market called "TifTuf." It is now available throughout the US and we have it too. It will match the color of Tifway better than TifGrand will match. In fact, you won't be able to tell the difference, except when there's a drought - Tifway will go dormant and TifTuf will still be green.

Because it is hard to identify a grass type via pictures (even via your very good pictures), you are welcome to bring a sample of your grass to Super-Sod and compare it with Tifway plots at both our Raleigh and Cary stores. One of our staff will be happy to assist. Bring in a good sample, a couple inches wide, so they can really get a good look at it. Like I mentioned, you may already have Tifway and they can help you bring it to the next level of health and beauty (we have compost-sand mix for leveling - the compost component adds nutrition for the lawn and beneficial bacterial to your soil.)

With all this said, I have to mention that your pictures show a beautiful lawn! You've done a pro job with "common" Bermuda. I am curious, what are you dissatisfied about in your lawn and what features portrayed in pictures of other types are making you want to change?

Sincerely,

Hillary Thompson

@dchall_san_antonio, thanks dchall, your posts have a lot of weight and I respect your interest to help others. I did not look at springging because I didn't want to kill the existing lawn. Incase if I end up plugging, I will share how that goes.

@super-sod: thank you for the wonderful information about various bermuda types. The reason I thought this is common bermuda is because (1) I had never seen this in any other communities (I guess tifway is very common). (2) This grass produces seed heads if I don't mow of a week. (3) the nodes are very far away from each other. (4) It spreads super fats (4) none of my neighbours have bermuda, so it could have starting via wind or birds dropping.

I started liking the look of low mowing and I read common bermuda has to be kept @ 1". I am trying to see if it's really worth a try to go below 1" height and that's the primary reason for mixing a hybrid. I still don't know if it's really worth trying to mix a hybrid. I am trying to get a opinion on what other experts think. That's a good idea to take a sample to super-sod to check out, I will take a good sized sample to check against tifway/Tifgrand.

What is the prettiest Bermuda grass?

Latitude 36® Bermudagrass is popular for its beautiful color and texture that make it stand out from other home lawns and bermuda grasses alike. This turfgrass was developed by renowned Oklahoma State University and is one of the most cold-hardy bermuda grasses on the market.

What is the difference between common and hybrid Bermuda grass?

Common bermudagrass will release a tiny yellow cloud of pollen on the paper. Hybrid bermudagrass is sterile, it does not produce pollen. My personal observation is that if you can see the two growing near each other, the hybrid grass will have a deeper green color when compared to the common type.

Will Tifway 419 overtake common Bermuda?

Ignore the common and cut your tiftuf as normal, it will choke out the common. I have some 419 coming from my neighbors yard and it has no problem overtaking my common.

How do I know if I have common Bermuda?

Identification: Bermudagrass has a blue-green leaf and forms large patches in lawns as it spreads radially from rhizomes and stolons once it becomes established. The stolons can be easily spotted spreading over sidewalks and drives. Stolons of bermudagrass are visible creeping over a street curb.