Sports Turf Manager Association

Bermudagrass—Worldly, Wily, Wonderful Weed

William R. Kneebone is one of STMA’s first Honorary Life Members (1986). He was Professor of Agronomy at the University of Arizona and was one of the pioneers in turfgrass breeding until his retirement in 1985. In 1966 he published this treatise on bermudagrass which everyone should enjoy since it is the leading warm season grass for sports turf in the United States.

Worldly

From its long forgotten start in tropical Africa or the Indo-Malaysian area, bermudagrass, Cynodon dactylon (L) Pers. has spread and (like the weed it is) is spreading around the world. As a familiar weed, it has acquired many descriptive pet names such as: devil grass (obvious derivation), quick grass, kweck grass, quack grass (hard to kill, quick, alive—the quick and the dead), couch grass (creeping prostrate habit), wire grass, scotch grass (from wiry tangled stolons). Other descriptive names by the more poetic Latin’s refer to the digitate inflorescences, e.g., pied de poule, pata de perdiz; “chicken foot” and “partridge foot” in France and Argentina, respectively.

The genus name Cynodon is Greek for “dog tooth.” The rhizome buds have a striking resemblance to dog fangs. Linnaeus listed the grass as Panicum dactylon in 1753 and knew it as a native of southern Europe. Long before Linnaeus, it had been celebrated

in the Vedas as the shield of India and preserver of nations, as without it the cattle would perish. Its Indian names doub, dhoub, durva, dwiva, derive from the ancient Sanskrit in the Vedas, the sacred durbha grass. It still has significance in Hindu rituals. The wedding ceremony in some areas includes tying the fingers together with a bermuda- grass stolon.

The standard common name in most of the world, bermudagrass, is American, so known probably from early West Indian introductions into Georgia and by Carolina planters coming from the West Indies.

Extensively traveled, often dimly regarded, variously named, anciently experienced, bermudagrass certainly fits into a worldly category.

Wily

Bermudagrass specializes in the fait accompli. It shows up suddenly and takes over almost immediately when given the chance. Since most types are strongly rhizomatous and stoloniferous with generally very poor seed set, vegetative spread is obvious. Stolons squeezed between the toes of sheep and cattle at water holes, chunks of sod floating down rivers and irrigation canals, rhizomes wrapped around cultivating equipment, and vegetative materials in ship ballasts, have all undoubtedly played an important part in distribution. Hay used as packing has been blamed for spread. One story of bermudagrass origins in Georgia concerns hay around crockery smuggled in at St. Mary’s during the war of 1812. A boy took some of the hay and planted it in his garden in Greensborough from which it spread to the street and state.

In western Oklahoma, a giant type is said to have come as packing around furniture. Most likely, however, there were seeds in the last two cases.

Except in Arizona, Australia and India, bermudagrass has the reputation of setting no seed. This is not true. It sets a little seed in most places. The seeds do not shatter easily, and they are carried with hay. Cattle and sheep grazing pasture or eating hay ingest seeds. These seeds pass through them unharmed. It has been shown that viable seeds passed by Jersey heifers ten days after ingestion. The few days inside the animal actually improved germination. Cattle can walk a long way in ten days. The seeds move easily with water and can germinate after as much as 50 days of submergence. They will stick in wool or slip into cracks in wagons. They are small (nearly 2,000,000 to the pound) and stealthy! With so many means of dispersal at hand, bermudagrass can and does choose the most effective method. They are the wily ways of an opportunist.

Wonderful Weed

The economic wonder of this weed is an American success story. Governor Ellis of Georgia has been credited with introducing bermudagrass to Savannah in 1751. Very probably, Robert Miller, botanist hired by the Lords Proprietor from 1733-1738, intentionally or inadvertently brought the grass into Savannah somewhat earlier with collections made in the Caribbean and Central America. Columbus in turn, brought it probably to the West Indies on his second and third voyages (if not on the first) as the first American experimental plantings were established from his cargos. This grass was recorded in South Carolina and Georgia in 1788. By the early 1800’s , people were calling this the best pasture grass of the South (along with crab grass!). Pastures were limited to natural spread and special efforts, because no seed was available and all planting for lawn or pasture was vegetative. Bermudagrasses’ importance in this way should not be minimized. For example, a whole boatload of sprigs was shipped from Baton Rouge, Louisiana to Ft. Smith, Arkansas, in the early 1830’s to grass over the parade ground (and incidentally provide a later source for many Arkansas pastures). Much was used in this way to stabilize ditch banks, roads, levees and sandy areas. Still, general use for intensive pasture was limited. In the 1890’s the United States Department of Agriculture distributed some seed for tests. Still earlier, in 1819, seed had been brought in from India by W. II. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury and a Georgian. Australian seed was imported commercially in the 1890’s and early 1900’s, but was of poor quality and gave indifferent results.

In the late 19^th Century, extensive irrigation projects became productive in Arizona and alfalfa became a principal crop. Bermudagrass brought in for lawns around Phoenix, carried in Mexican sesbania seed and brought from California in drought-starved cattle to the Yuma area became a principal weed in the 1890’s. Bermudagrass had been in California at least since 1858, when it was being offered for sale as a lawn grass in San Francisco at $5 per flat. As alfalfa became an important Arizona crop, bermudagrass became a principal contaminant, especially in the Yuma area where seed production of both is very good. By 1907, bermudagrass was a serious pest. A 1914 Arizona bulletin on alfalfa seed production points out that “old bermudagrass pastures” could be overseeded with alfalfa for seed production and the bermudagrass seed easily cleaned from the alfalfa seed by fan and sieve. Alfalfa seed returned from 15 to 20 cents a pound to Arizona growers. In 1909 it was written that Australian bermudagrass seed was being sold in Georgia for from 75 cents to $1.00 a pound. Somewhere during this period, alert individuals put two and two together. In 1912, lawns were being sprigged, not seeded, at Tucson. In 1918, it was reported that germination studies were being conducted at the University of Arizona from local seed houses. Somewhere between these dates an Arizona industry was born. The 1917 Yearbook of Agriculture rejoices “for the past few years, a good quality seed has become available from Arizona at reasonable prices.”

At the present time, more than 6,000,000 pounds of bermudagrass seed are being sold in the United States annually, primarily from Yuma County, Arizona, and all grown as a specialty crop. This brings well over a million dollars to the growers, much of it from land too salty to grow anything else or from land, which the bermudagrass was allowed to take over as a reclamation measure. What could be more wonderful for an agricultural area than good profits from a pest on land become unfit for the cotton or vegetables that it pesters?

A companion story is the more often told one of Coastal bermudagrass. Selected by Dr. Glen Burton at the Coastal Plain Field Station at Tifton, Georgia, in 1939, widely tested during the early years of World War II and released as a variety in 1943, Coastal is presently growing on 4,000,000-5,000,000 southern acres. At a time when Arizona common seed was used almost exclusively for bermudagrass planting, along came a vegetative propagated hybrid, so good people went back to sprigging in a big way. Largely because of Coastal, the common seed market is for lawns more than for pasture. The one variety, Coastal, must be returning today more than $100,000,000 annually from southern beef pastures and is such a standard that experiments are run with “Coastal” instead of “Bermuda”. Coastal is even being exported to Africa and Asian areas from which bermudagrass initially spread with civilization.

Bermudagrass can grow on acid or alkaline soils, withstand flooding or drought, high salt concentrations, low or high fertility, be used as hay or grazed more closely than most grasses can endure. It provides a dense, wear resistant turf for golf course fairways. Its growth with high fertility levels can be amazing. In Georgia pasture experiments, Coastal produced enough extra forage to give two pounds of beef for every pound of added nitrogen up to very high levels. Bermudagrass can provide grazing income where other crops fail. In India still, according to some sources, the early green growth of bermuda is the saving of the cattle in some areas. Lawns all over the warm parts of the world testify to the aesthetics of this species as well as its economies.

One more bit of wonder is virtually unexplored and may never be economically exploitable. As with so many ancient weeds, there are many folklore medicinal uses. Bermudagrass rhizomes according to sources have probably been used medicinally at least since the days of Dioscorides (1^st Century – Greece). In India, in Cuba and in the early days in the United States bermudagrass rhizomes were used to make a diuretic. Also in some areas in India the rhizomes are ground with turmeric to apply to bleeding wounds.

In Mexico, tradition has it that an infusion of bermudagrass leaves is helpful to sufferers from high blood pressure. Dr. Pichioni of the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy soaked clippings from his lawn, injected the solution in veins of dogs and got a significant reduction of blood pressure. The effect was transient and he did not follow it up, but wonders may yet be found!

I have told you a story or two. From these, you may draw your own conclusions, but you can clearly see why I, at least, call this species with which I work a worldly, wily WONDERFUL weed.

I would like to update our readers who just read the above article. I checked with my sources – Dr. Charles Rodgers, Seeds West, and Dr. David Kopec, University of Arizona and current figures indicate that there are about 60,000 acres on which bermudagrass seed is grown, 75% in the Imperial Valley of California and 25% in the Yuma Arizona area. This reversal is due to the fact that other cash crops are now being grown in Arizona since the farmlands now have drainage installed in the fields to leach away the salts. The seed produced now returns the growers about $20 million annually and about 16,000,000 pounds per year are grown. I had never heard of Mexican Sesbania seed but Dr. Kopec told me it is a legume known as Indian hemp and grown for fiber.

I also checked with Dr. Kneebone’s wife Pat, in order to update the members and readers about Bob. He is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and they have moved into a care facility to better cope with this illness.

I received Bob’s permission to share this article with you and Pat said that Bob would love to receive cards or letters from his friends or readers at STMA. Please make an effort to share your life or greetings with an old STMA pioneer and friend.

Dr. William R. Kneebone
Atria Valley Manor
5578 E. Pima Street
Tucson, Arizona 85712

Conference: Mark Jan. 18-22 on your calendar for the 2006 annual conference, which will be held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. STMA has negotiated cost-effective sleeping room rates of $135.00 per night single or double occupancy. And, Orlando is one of the most affordable cities for airfare! The conference program is nearly complete. Look for an awesome tour to Disney’s Wide World of Sports. http://disneyworldsports.disney.go.com/dwws/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage

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SPORTSTURFMagazine: Look for a redesign of the magazine in January. It will have a new look AND a new size — to the standard magazine size for easier storage and filing.

YOUR STAFF!

Your staff has a significant impact on your success. The work that they do is a direct reflection on you, your ability to train, to motivate and to lead.

Reaching the goals of your facility is only possible through good management of your people and their continued development. To make sure you are fully embracing the talents of your staff, use these simple techniques.

Top 10 Strategies to Engage Your Staff

1. Seek input and listen.

Your staff is a great resource for ideas and improvements. Asking for their opinions and solutions to problems, truly listening to them, and implementing as appropriate, strengthens their commitment to you and to their job. Involving your staff in decision-making builds loyalty and improves retention.

2. Set expectations.

Clearly and consistently set expectations for each employee through jointly written performance objectives. Good performance can’t happen if they do not understand what you expect. Reinforce your expectations verbally.

3. Provide continuous feedback.

Praise accomplishments, large and small, and for those projects that weren’t as successful, use them as learning experiences to find out what could have been done differently. Don’t wait until the end of the year at performance time to express dissatisfaction.

4. Show appreciation.

Just say “thank you!” When you reward and acknowledge good behaviors, you get more of the same. Publicly acknowledge your staff for doing a good job, and look for other ways to reward their efforts. According to a Harris Poll, the top three satisfaction drivers for employees are control over their work; the opportunity to use their talents and skills; and recognition and appreciation.

5. Be accessible. By being visible and available, you send the message that you are part of the team and are ready to support their efforts to get the job done.

6. Train, Train, Train. Training in the correct procedures and equipment use is critical to getting the job done right, but also for health and safety reasons. The continuous upgrading of skills also provides employees with the means for promotion. Consider training opportunities in areas outside of their core responsibilities, such as in writing skills, public speaking, customer service, business management, etc. You and your facility will reap many benefits from improving their “softer” skills.

7. Empower your staff. Give them as much information as possible about what and why, and allow them to make decisions appropriate to their work.

8. Provide a safe and comfortable working environment. Don’t expect employees to use outdated or faulty equipment. With anxieties at an all time high regarding increased terrorist activity, make sure you have emergency procedures in place to protect the workforce in the event of an attack, and ensure that every employee is aware of these procedures.

9. Treat with respect. Respect and accept each person as an important member of the team.

10. Inspire your staff. Be a coach and a cheerleader. Be sure your boss knows about the good work they do. When you help them succeed, you succeed.