Bermudagrass Green-up and a Frosty Week

Have you considered what factors effect bermudagrass green-up in the spring? Or why the bermudagrass spring green-up occurs on different spring dates throughout the years? This post will answer your questions about bermudagrass green-up in the spring.

Temperature, shade, moisture, soil conditions, competition from weeds and traffic are the major environmental factors affecting bermudagrass recovery/green-up in the spring. Temperature has both direct and indirect effects on spring recovery. Bermudagrass begins to green up in the spring when nighttime temperatures exceed 60° for several days (soil temperature at 65° or above at the 4-inch depth). Our current soil temperatures fluctuate around 60°   This varies with the change in night and daytime air temperatures.  As temperatures remain favorable for growth, we begin to see new growth as green leaves emerging from a brown, straw colored turf.

So long as the temperature remains favorable during this transition period, recovery progresses until complete green-up of the turf occurs. Depending on the temperature, complete green-up may require 2 to 6 weeks (the higher the temperature, the faster the process is completed). Typically we will see fairways and tees that have all day sun green-up first, then areas that have less sun follow a few days to weeks behind the full sun areas. However, if periods of favorable temperatures are interrupted by occasional freezing temperatures, green leaves may be killed and new leaves must be produced.

The maintenance staff has started mowing tees and fairways and will continue to do so throughout the growing season until the cold, frosty weather returns in the fall.

(The information above was provided by Richard L. Duble, Turfgrass Specialist Texas Cooperative Extension)

The pictures below were taken on March 14^th a few green leaves starting to show.

 

Then picture below was taken on March 28^th. You can see the significant green-up progression has been made as the warm weather continues.

The bermudagrass continued to green-up until this past week when night temperature dropped below freezing and turned the greening up bermudagrass back to a neon green, straw colored turf. Picture taken on April 12^th.