# Runners.....good or bad?



## M311att (May 22, 2017)

Hi everyone. I'm new here but have been studying your lawns closely. I have a lot of questions and one of them is: Are Bermuda runners all good? All bad? Or can they be either? I suppose they look bad in good looking turf but what about them as a mechanism for covering bare spots? Thanks.


----------



## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

M311att said:


> Hi everyone. I'm new here but have been studying your lawns closely. I have a lot of questions and one of them is: Are Bermuda runners all good? All bad? Or can they be either? I suppose they look bad in good looking turf but what about them as a mechanism for covering bare spots? Thanks.


As long as they aren't running over the concrete or on top of the lawn they are good!


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

+1, and don't hesitate to ask any questions you may have. There are none too basic. That's why TLF exists - everyone gets smarter together! :thumbup:


----------



## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

As far as a mechanism for covering bare ground. The runners will spread out and at the nodes they will send down some roots. Slightly pull at one of the runners and you will see where it touches the ground it will have some roots, not deep roots maybe 1/2" long but eventually you could cut that runner away from the mother plant and it would become its own plant. Runners (stolons) are great! You can even cut them in undesirable places (like growing over concrete) and plant them in thin areas of your lawn and they will root (given enough moisture, check out sprigging or stolonizing) and help fill in any thin/ bare spots


----------



## tigertailbell (Mar 13, 2017)

However.... when the lateral growth is slicing through the canopy of a dense lawn, the runners are not desirable. This is where groomers are valuable as they make vertical cuts into these runners to promote new, green growth.


----------

