[Marty Bonnar]

In the UK, we're desperately trying to eradicate a whole range of furriner interlopers.
From the Japanese knotweed to the Rhododendron ponticum, from the Damn Yankee Grey Squirrel to the escaped Minks killing our smaller rodents, the country is awash with things that shouldn't be here.

Given the above, discuss the pros and cons for the utilisation of Bermuda Grass in the Southern United States.

FBD.

and PS BTW Bermuda Grass ain't even Bermudan!!!

[Garland Bayley]

FBD,

You are beginning to scare me! Stop your association with Redanman right now. For your own good!

Over and out,

86

[Dan Herrmann]

We're suffering in the USA - everyting from the zebra mussel to the swan to the starling.  Oh yeah - killer bees too!

And it's not just the southern US that has Bermuda grass.  I've even spotted it up here in metro Philly.

I know that we have some mile-a-minute weed in some obscure spots at our golf club.  They've been trying to get rid of it for 4 years now.    We're getting there, but it isn't easy.

Here's some good documentation on non-native species from the US Government:  http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/

[BCrosby]

FBD -

Interesting question. Bermuda grass came to the US from north Africa as an invited and highly sought guest. It was the only grass that would survive the summers in the SE as forage for livestock. There were statewide programs promoting it.

But for Bermuda grass I'm not sure there would be golf in the SE. It's use on golf courses has always been a secondary one, however. The old "common" or "field" strains are still the main forage grass down this way. You still see patches of the stuff on some older courses in the SE.

Bob

   

[john_stiles]

Also in the southern US,  we invited  Kudzu and well,  southerns know what became of that idea. 

I think Mike Young uses the Kudzu leaf on the inside of his fancy Eyetalien leather shoes so he doesn't have to wear socks.  The open cells in the broad Kudzu leaf soaks up any foot sweat going from his air conditioned house to the air conditioned car. 

Also in the south, we have fire ants from South America.  They are as far north as Chattanooga.  Quite a stinging pest.   Don't get those in your shoes.

Another invited friend was the eucalyptus tree, introduced into the western US as timber crop for railroad ties, etc.  That hasn't gone well.

Fire ants and eucalyptus trees are a nuisance at some golf courses.

[BCrosby]

John -

I have a farmer friend in Mississippi who actually grows kudzu. Turns out his cows love the stuff, it's full of nutrients and they get fat faster. He told me he wishes he could grow whole fields of it, but his cattle eat it too fast.

Bob

[Mark Bourgeois]

Florida is the lab for invasive species.  The list is too long to mention.

Bob

That guy should set up an "domestic import" business, say with state transportation departments.

Martin

If you're interested in the theory of this stuff here's a good book:

Out of Eden: An Odyssey of Ecological Invasion (Paperback)
by Alan Burdick (Author)

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. To be human is to change our habitat; this is one of the many insights in this thought-provoking account on the ecology of invasions, a hot new science in which new discoveries swiftly overturn old theories. Now that our habitat is global, creatures emigrate with us at an ever-accelerating pace, carried in ship ballast (a bivalve mollusk from England to Massachusetts), imported by nostalgic birders (once native birds returning from disappearance) or crawling into airplanes on their own (the brown tree snake from Australia to Hawaii). Even NASA's space probes carry potential invaders. If these creatures make new homes for themselves, they may eat other species into extinction, infect them with new diseases, even reconfigure an entire ecosystem. Burdick's fascination with the science is contagious, and he does a superior job of conveying the salient points of classic experiments. The Discover senior editor is at his best following invasion ecologists—a lively bunch—as they do their gritty, often ambiguous research in Guam and Hawaii, along the margins of the San Francisco Bay and on the deck of an oil tanker. His vivid descriptions add the pleasure of travelogue to the intellectual satisfactions of science: "Travel is a weekend away, a reward upon retirement, a chance gift won in a game show or a sweepstakes. Honey, we're going to Hawaii! Applied by biologists to nonhuman organisms, the phenomenon is known as the ecological sweepstakes, and it explains how life arrives at a place like Hawaii to begin with."

Mark

[BCrosby]

All -

I've never been sure whether "Bermuda" when used to describe a type of grass should be capitalized or lower case. Anyone know the rule? I've seen it both ways.

Bob

[john_stiles]

John -

I have a farmer friend in Mississippi who actually grows kudzu. Turns out his cows love the stuff, it's full of nutrients and they get fat faster. He told me he wishes he could grow whole fields of it, but his cattle eat it too fast.

Bob

Bob,

Yep,  kudzu was imported for exactly that reason, as a cheap feed stock.
And it works for some, but has resulted in lost crop land, added costs to control, etc. and is generally thought to be a nuisance.


On the good side,  attempts to re-introduce the American chestnut in the Smokies and elsewhere is ongoing.   This hardwood was practically eliminated by an Asian bark fungus from imported asian chestnuts.   

[Doug Ralston]

In the UK, we're desperately trying to eradicate a whole range of furriner interlopers.
From the Japanese knotweed to the Rhododendron ponticum, from the Damn Yankee Grey Squirrel to the escaped Minks killing our smaller rodents, the country is awash with things that shouldn't be here.

Given the above, discuss the pros and cons for the utilisation of Bermuda Grass in the Southern United States.

FBD.

and PS BTW Bermuda Grass ain't even Bermudan!!!

Martin;

Just be certain the bermuda is available along the approach. As it narrows down to the 13th green, cut a swath across the fairway about 50yd out, then chase all the aliens INTO THE BERMUDA TRIAGLE!!

Aliens ........ jeez. 

Doug

[Mark Bourgeois]

Bob

Bermuda the country should be capitalized (proper / place name).

Flora and fauna such as bermuda grass, the live oak tree, and h. pylori, should not be capitalized.

I think; anybody have Strunk and White handy?

Mark

[Mark Bourgeois]

On the other hand, when a proper name is part of the name, do you capitalize that word? Isn't there an animal called Thompson's gazelle? And don't body parts named after someone get the up cap?

[Bill_McBride]

Martin lad, as Bob says above, without bermuda grass there would be little golf in the Southeast.  It survives heat and humidity where northern grasses would perish in the dreadful summers.   The modern bermuda hybrid strains make really good putting surfaces.

Here's a note I posted on a current thread about the stuff as it relates to wet conditions:

"Our new course in Pensacola is terrific right now - no overseeding of our Bermuda fairways and Tifdwarf greens.  We've greened up quite a bit but it's still running very fast and the greens are slick and firm.  The sand-capping of all the fairways in Jerry Pate's design for the new course has produced terrific results, and the drainage plan has by and large been very effective.  There are a handful of low spots around drains but nothing disastrous.

Dormant Bermuda is almost as good as links turf when it's just right.  Almost.    "

[Mike Hendren]

The hillbilly test is whether you pronounce it bermewda or bermooda.  I'm quite fond of it on both the greens and fairways.

[BCrosby]

Dormant Bermuda is almost as good as links turf when it's just right.  Almost.    "

Bill - Keep it under your hat, but it's like getting two courses for the price of one. Heaven knows, if peope get wind of it they might start moving down here. So let's keep it between us girls. Thanks.

Mike - I've got a couple of friends who pronounce it "bemoooda". They are the same ones that say "litatoor" and "toonament". They also take my money every weekend.

Bob

 

[Melvyn Morrow]

Aliens!!!

When I first saw the heading, I wondered what the subject could possibly be about.   Never would have come up with grass. 

These are some of the thoughts that went through my mind, North American Golf, but who would be mad enough to link it to Aliens (some well known GCA.com members including myself). But then I thought, ah, long hitters, that’s it, must be those guys who believe that there is skill in hitting a long ball (all down to smoking too much grass). Finally, I realised it must relate to design after all it is GCA, but wrong, it’s just grass.

Not being a smoker, is Bermuda grass good? As you say it comes to the US from north Africa and used for forage for livestock (not a kind term for smokers, but as a non-smoker you could be right). You also say that there is a state wide programs promoting it – Man, that’s Cool.

If I ever feel the need, then it’s Bermuda grass to ask for. Wow, what a great site, you offer help and advice across the range!!! 

[BCrosby]

Melvyn -

I don't think you need to smoke any bermuda grass. You are already at whatever place it could take you. Keep us posted about things.

Bob

[Dan Herrmann]

Are other courses in the Mid-Atlantic having issues with mile-a-minute weed (another invasive species).

It has a triangular leaf and really spreads.  We have it under control, but, boy, does this stuff grow...

[Garland Bayley]

Melvyn -

I don't think you need to smoke any bermuda grass. You are already at whatever place it could take you. Keep us posted about things.

Bob

You are going with bermuda grass? Does that mean that always seeing Douglas fir here in the PNW is wrong? I meant the spelling. Of course, Douglas fir is a native and is always right growing around here, except of course when TD rates or modifies courses in this area.

EDIT: As far as aliens are concerned, can you say Himalayan blackberry? 

[Melvyn Morrow]

Bob

You may be right, but from here, it looks like you guys keep trying to invent the wheel and never quite remember it’s meant to be round. 

Not high, feet firmly on the ground promoting the wonders and magic of the old UK courses. 

Garland

Douglas Fir, is that a new plane?

[RJ_Daley]

Bermuda grass and hybids and paspalum grass and hybrids are here to stay.  They are a good example of a species of plant or animal that have more benefits for rational uses.

Now, if you want to talk about flying asian carp that actually kill boaters and water skiers, and now Burmese pythons that are taking hold in the Everglades, well those are serious problems and getting worse all the time. 

European milfoil in our lakes is choking them.  Martin, do your lakes suffer from them clogging and choking out species, or Zebra mussels or white perch killing the fisheries?  If they came from your side of the pond, then shouldn't your lakes and waterways be dead a long time ago?  Or, does the ecosystem rebalance after initial devistations by invasives, and establish a new order?

I really need to read more on this, I'm totally ignorant on the subject... 

[Mike McGuire]

Our club in SE Wisconsin started eradicating  invasive plants 4 years ago. We have a lot of wooded areas that were infested with garlic mustard. Left unchecked this stuff takes over everything. I think it was imported from Europe as a spice.

Also removed all the buckthorn, honeysuckle and autumn olive.

[Marty Bonnar]

Re plant naming. Horticultural taxonomy always has it that the genus is capitalised, species lower cased and cultivars italicised. EASY!

i.e. Pinus sylvatica bonnarii

http://www.hortax.org.uk/

yours in compost,
FBD.

[BCrosby]

FBD -

All very erudite (something we could use more of in this neighborhood ), but does "bermuda" signify genus, species or cultivar? Or is it just a word some colonial made-up?

Bob

[Mark Bourgeois]

Genus = Cynodon

species = dactlyon (L.) pers.

Don't ask me what the hell that means! I think the "L." and "pers." refer to various strains.

(Apparently in some states it is a noxious weed! Like me undoubtedly you will be fascinated to learn it is one of Utah's 17-most noxious weeds -- maybe they post wanted signs in Home Depots? -- except for some reason in Washington County.)

On the USDA plants website it's written as Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. – Bermudagrass

Holy smokes, this is confusing: on the website it appears variously as "Bermudagrass," "bermudagrass," and "common bermudagrass."

Either Strunk and White or the AP Manual of Style say when in doubt, go with lowercase, so I vote "bermudagrass."

Here's the USDA link: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CYDA

Mark

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