Bahiagrass & Salt Water Tolerance

Uses

• Bahiagrass can be used as a low-maintenance lawn grass in infertile soils, on salty sites or in dry conditions. It also works well as a forage grass, cover crop or erosion control plant, especially along waterways. Bahiagrass can be used in orchards to reduce undesirable weeds and spreads easily from seed or sod. This grass is aggressive and can become a weed in some areas.

Soil Salinity

• Many factors can increase soil salinity. In areas close to the ocean, spray and evaporation lead to higher percentages of sea salt in the ground and water. Saline conditions may also occur in arid regions and after using some kinds of fertilizers and soil amendments. For instance, composted animal manure and ashes, two common garden soil improvements, are high in salt. Excess salt stunts the growth of most plants.

Salt Tolerance

• Bahiagrass is a good choice for many saline environments, due to its high tolerance for salty conditions. According to the "Handbook of Plant and Crop Stress," bahiagrass has a 50-percent higher shoot yield than other warm-season turfgrasses when grown in salty soil. Very high concentrations of salt in the soil or water can still prevent this plant from growing properly.

Salt and Germination

• Saline conditions can keep bahiagrass seeds from growing. According to the 6th International Turfgrass Research Conference, bahiagrass seeds grown in agar contaminated with sea salt grew much more slowly as salt levels increased. Seeds were also less likely to germinate at all in salty growing conditions. Other turfgrasses, such as bermudagrass, had higher rates of germination and growth.