SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda

   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #1  

W5FL

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Location
Central Texas
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TYM T-1104/TX10 Loader Kubota M6800SD/LA1002 Loader Kubota RTV900
For the North Central Texas area are the pasture grasses called Coastal (sprigs) or Giant Burmuda (seeds) similar. It is getting to the last of the sprigging season (last of April) and just beginning time for seeding Burmuda (soil temp of 65 degrees). I have just tilled 7 acres to plant the new grasses. The cost is similar but have no idea of the advantages of one over the other (if any), time to cover well and time to be able to cut and bail if you choose to do that. Guess the reason for this post is hope someone knows more about this than I do and will share that knowledge.

We are having a drought in Texas just like last year and just like the year before that. Hate to throw money away, but would sure like some good pasture grass this year(better than the native weeds and buffalo grass).
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #2  
Wen, I know in my area the Coastal sure is popular, both for pasture and for hay, but I don't know anything at all about the other one. I've never heard it mentioned.

Bird
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #3  
Both grasses are hybrid bermuda, coastal can going be planted by sprigs (seeds are not viable) whereas giant bermuda can be sown by seed. You might want to take a look at a Texas AM publication at http://agpublications.tamu.edu/pubs/esoil/b6035.pdf
this Adobe file discusses the various types of bermuda grasses and lists the advantages and disadvantages of each.
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda
  • Thread Starter
#4  
It is a good publication on coastal bermuda. Unfortunately, there is very little about giant bermuda which can be propagated from seeds but have not found anyone who was growing it for hay or forage. With the poor rainfall conditions present in North Texas I may be lucky to just get any grasses to grow.
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #5  
Wen, I think you're right. I got 2.3" of rain last night; biggest rain we've had since 1/29/99. And Dallas, and points north, have gotten a lot more rain than we have south of Dallas in the last year. My total for last year was 20.7" and over 4" of that was on 1/29/99.

Bird
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #6  
Rain,Ya'll can barrow some of ours here in centra- bama....We've had 10-12" here in the last couple weeks and it's started again today and supposed to last through Sunday....and they were just saying resently that we are under our annual rain fall...Yeah!Right!........Course by July will probabley be beggin for a couple of inches o'rain......!!!Don't ya just love mother nature.....

Lil' Paul
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda
  • Thread Starter
#7  
You guys pretty lucky. I actuall live between Azle and Weatherford, TX. Total rainfall for the last 2 days finally got up to 0.9 inch. I hope that is enough and I ordered the broken tiller tines that should get here next week. I plan to till the 7 acres one more time to try to get down to 6 inches before planting the coastal bermuda. I am not sure that it will survive unless we then get another rain and then another one after it is planted.

If all that magic comes together, I will probably have a few small crops of coastal. If not, then there is still time to plan the giant bermuda assuming that it is approximately the same desirability as the coastal for hay and forage. Don't seem to be much choice though.

p.s. The weather and the stock market both suck.
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #8  
A friend of mine planted about 20 acres year before last. He was fortunate that the spring was wet, it came up very quickly and was quite thick. It does not get real tall, about half way up to your knee. Of course there were spots that didn't come in good and had to be re-seeded. He got two cutings off it the first year. He managed to get one real late last year because of the mild winter we had. Right now he is running cattle on it for forage and has had to spray Grazon to control winter weeds. It is starting to fill in quite nicely but again with any grass, rain at the right time is most important. If I am out at his place (south of Ft. Worth) this weekend I will try to get some photos and send them to you.
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #9  
You and Bird both live in Texas! You're neighbors, right? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Ya'll should get together and "do lunch" or something...
 
   / SouthernPasture Grasses - Coastal or Giant Burmuda #10  
About 110-20 miles apart, as the crow flies; maybe a little farther by road. Of course, in Texas, that's almost neighbors./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird
 
 
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