# Any reason I DON'T want Celebration Bermuda?



## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Front is the Maya seeded bermuda, and a work in progress. Have less than 600 sq/ft to do in the backyard, and due to the dogs running on it I'm thinking sod instead of seed, and with that small an amount i can stretch the budget to do it. I can get Tifway 419 or Celebration, but I'm thinking Celebration is the better option for wear and tear, some shade, etc. Any reason that's the wrong way to go?

There is a fence between front and back, so don't need it to match, but would like to be able to mow at the same height.


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## Visitor (Jul 23, 2018)

What height do you cut at? Celebration doesn't look good above 1" and looks best at .5" or less. It gets super leggy and puffy. Other than that it is a great grass with really nice color.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Visitor said:


> What height do you cut at? Celebration doesn't look good above 1" and looks best at .5" or less. It gets super leggy and puffy. Other than that it is a great grass with really nice color.


I'm more at 1-2 inches. So that may be a factor. Other options are Empire Zoysia, and St. Augustine of some variety.

Or I could try seeding the back like the front and see what happens. Wouldn't be a costly experiment, just unlikely to work.


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## lucas287 (Jun 3, 2018)

@ktgrok I just bought a pallet of Celebration for this same reason. I will document in my thread: Throwing Shade on Bermuda. Also, reference @Iriasj2009 thread https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=435 . He was maintaining anywhere between .5" and 1.5" HOC. I think it looks great. not leggy or puffy at all.

I pick up that pallet tomorrow evening and will get it laid before eod.

I chose celebration because of it's highly noted shade tolerance and growth rate. This USGA test has some great data. http://usgatero.msu.edu/v14/n3-24.pdf

Notice that three cultivars scored higher right? Why not choose them? Look at their "full sun" ratings vs "shade" ratings....those grasses show higher levels of decline than Celebration which only declines a marginal amount in the shade...


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Ok, just measured and the side yard that I cut yesterday is at 1.5 inches, so that is I guess what I'm cutting at, lol. Could go even lower if need be, but I like that height.

And yeah, I looked at some of the ratings. I like also that it is a choice for football fields...hoping whatever can hold up to linebackers can hold up to my dogs, lol.


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## lucas287 (Jun 3, 2018)

ktgrok said:


> Ok, just measured and the side yard that I cut yesterday is at 1.5 inches, so that is I guess what I'm cutting at, lol. Could go even lower if need be, but I like that height.
> 
> And yeah, I looked at some of the ratings. I like also that it is a choice for football fields...hoping whatever can hold up to linebackers can hold up to my dogs, lol.


My tifsport does excellent with my two hunting dogs! German Shorthair and a Lab. They run and cut like wide receivers and the tifsport recovers within days. And i imagine Celebration is the same.


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## Iriasj2009 (Feb 15, 2017)

Celebration would be my number one choice if I had dogs. Even at a higher HOC. It's so aggressive and bounces back great. Good luck!


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

Glad to hear all this! One of my dogs was supposed to be a german shorthair, @lucas287 . Turned out he is a bloodhound/bluetick/newfoundland mix...basically an overgrown hound impersonating a blue tick. Sigh. Totally different personality than what I thought I was getting, but he's a good dog for a hound, lol. Also have a golden retriever mix - they are the ones that tear things up and then also a senior border collie with a traumatic brain injury. It's interesting back there between them and the kids!


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## lucas287 (Jun 3, 2018)

ktgrok said:


> Glad to hear all this! One of my dogs was supposed to be a german shorthair, @lucas287 . Turned out he is a bloodhound/bluetick/newfoundland mix...basically an overgrown hound impersonating a blue tick. Sigh. Totally different personality than what I thought I was getting, but he's a good dog for a hound, lol. Also have a golden retriever mix - they are the ones that tear things up and then also a senior border collie with a traumatic brain injury. It's interesting back there between them and the kids!


He's beautiful! Looks like a black and white shorthair if you wouldn't have told me any different. The shorthairs have some goofy personalities! We've probably had a half dozen since i was a kid. (we did a lot of bird hunting) Oh yeah, I bet that golden is rowdy! Never a dull moment with dogs. Sometimes my wife and I get really annoyed with ours - they're both spoiled rotten, inside, bed and couch dogs - but then we realize how much joy they bring us!


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

lucas287 said:


> ktgrok said:
> 
> 
> > Glad to hear all this! One of my dogs was supposed to be a german shorthair, @lucas287 . Turned out he is a bloodhound/bluetick/newfoundland mix...basically an overgrown hound impersonating a blue tick. Sigh. Totally different personality than what I thought I was getting, but he's a good dog for a hound, lol. Also have a golden retriever mix - they are the ones that tear things up and then also a senior border collie with a traumatic brain injury. It's interesting back there between them and the kids!
> ...


Same - we were sure he was a GSP. But then he started baying like a hound, and we did genetic testing, lol. And yeah, the golden and he get pretty wild - in fact he's got 5 stitches from them roughhousing and him falling onto some debris in the yard where I was digging things up for irrigation. Went out there to find what it was and dug up a ton of broken glass, half a dozen old roofing nails, and a broken off fence post buried just beneath there surface. Still now sure what got him, could have been any of it, and now and surprised that it's the first injury. Will be glad when it is all cleaned up and has some turf!


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## JLAD (Jul 6, 2019)

If I may, I would like to add a few notes. Celebration will definitely handle the 8 paws worth of traffic better than 419. There's also a benefit to that traffic. Especially being in Central Florida, Celebration is an aggressive grower and loves to lean and grow on top of itself. That added traffic may relieve you from the need to be aggressive with verticutting.

From a HOC standpoint, I mowed Celebration for a few years with a rotary mower at 1.5" and it never was at its full potential. it never looked quite right like 419 would at that height. The moment I introduced a reel mower to it at .900 the wow factor was there. Daily it screamed at me lower the HOC and eventually stayed around .750ish because that's what was best for that application. At that HOC it won't be a firm surface but will look incredible. With traffic on it it will be less "puffy" and will most likely be easier to go lower. It does well in the shade but needs at least 4/5ish hours to be descent.

Hope this helps.


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## friscolawner (Sep 24, 2018)

You may consider tiftuf. It can be cut 1.5 to 2. 
Dog , kids, water is not issue and looks like doing well in shade as well. My 400 sqf sod doing well. 
I soded small part with, once roundup bermuda complete- hopefully next week ill put sod those area mainly more shade. Wondering what will happen 

Since have dog, zoysia cannot be option  otherwise zoysia staff more better in shade.


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