Bahiagrass 101

Bahiagrass is appreciated for excellent heat and drought tolerance and is able to sustain where numerous types of grass falter. It is used in lawns in a very limited area of the southeastern United States. Within this region, Bahiagrass produces a relatively low-growing, durable, low-maintenance turf. This resilient grass may be an outstanding choice when your lawn goals, soil, and location complement Bahia's natural preferences.

Let's discuss Bahiagrass and its use for golf courses in detail.

Bahiagrass Characteristics

Bahiagrass was first used in the United States in 1914 as a pasture grass in the Southeast. This native of South America is still used widely in agriculture, erosion control, and conservation programs. Bahia is a warm-season grass. It actively grows from late spring till the hot summer months. In its appropriate climate, this perennial grass lasts year after year.

Bahiagrass has a naturally deep root system that makes it very drought-tolerant, even in the sandy soils of the Southeast. Its natural texture is coarser compared to numerous regional kinds of grass, specifically cool-season grasses native to northern zones. 

Some other warm-season grasses are similar to Bahia in having better drought tolerance in the sand, such as Bermudagrass. Bahiagrass favors full sun; however, it tolerates limited shade greater than Bermuda. It also offers greater toleration for poorly drained soils.

Since it was a pasture grass, a few Bahiagrass species have proven to use in lawns in the humidity- and heat-prone Southeast. It is used in lawns in Florida from the southern Coastal Planes to the Texas Gulf Coast. For homeowners in this demanding turf zone, these Bahiagrass species provide benefits other warm-season grasses don't.

Bahiagrass Care

Being a warm-season grass, Bahia implements a different timetable than northern grasses for month-by-month lawn maintenance. However, its limited range sets it on a different schedule than numerous southern grass too. The best time to seed is in spring, as it is the time of active growth. You can oversee existing thin Bahiagrass lawns simultaneously. However, Bahia's limited areas experience warm, moderate winters and provide some flexibility. In Florida, fall seedings will establish relatively well.

Similar to Centipede grass, some ingredients that are common in weed-and-feed lawn products can cause damage to Bahia, especially if it is not the time of active growth at the time of application. Before using any fertilizer or weed-killer product, read the label carefully to ensure the product can be safely used on Bahiagrass lawns.

If you are doubtful about typical conditions in your area or an unforeseen weather event hits, contact your county extension agent for local lawn care advice.

Use of Bahiagrass on Golf Courses

Bermudagrass is king for turfgrasses on golf courses in the South. Its density, fine leaf texture, and broad-ranging tolerable mowing heights make it ideal in warm climates for golf courses. 

However, maintaining Bermudagrass needs regular fertilization, cultivation, irrigation, mowing, and periodic chemical treatments. Numerous southern golf courses are implementing ways to reduce their acreage of maintained Bermudagrass with the growing importance of resource management.

The most common form of decreasing maintained rough acreage is to naturally adopt areas that rarely receive play. Numerous courses have eliminated Bermudagrass and replaced it with plants, such as cordgrass or cumulative "waste areas." However, naturalized plantings can be troublesome to play from, and waste areas may not be attractive to some facilities, so numerous golf courses are looking for other options. 

Bahiagrass thrives well in infertile, sandy soils and is a drought-tolerant turfgrass. As a matter of fact, Bahiagrass is broadly used on roadsides, pastures, and other utility areas due to its low water needs and ability to tolerate poor growing conditions. However, recent Bahiagrass species, such as Pensacola and Argentine, are rather irregular in playing quality and create tall, awful-looking seedheads when mowing is not done for several weeks. 

The USGA-funded research at the University of Florida is helping produce turf-type Bahiagrasses with enhanced turf uniformity, density, and finer leaf texture. A few varieties are really promising, revealing great color, reduced vertical growth, and very few seedheads. However, till the time these enhanced varieties are released, recent Bahiagrass varieties still provide sustainable options for Bermudagrass rough in areas that get little play. 

Bahiagrass can offer substantial water savings over Bermudagrass as Bahiagrass needs no irrigation once it establishes. Its potential to bear infertile, sandy soil also shows that it needs less fertility compared to Bermudagrass. Bahiagrass also withstands low rates of the herbicide glyphosate, which is useful to help lessen herbicide and mowing expenses.

DTE Golf® offers maintenance and management services to golf facilities across Florida. They approach every course as if it were their own and promise to offer unmatched quality services, their results speaking for themselves.