Clark Wooten - Tri State Turf

Excellent in Low pH Soils
Short Grow-in Time
Drought Tolerant
Cold Hardy
Seasonal Color

Developed Especially For Low pH Soils

Common centipede's poor rooting characteristics have limited it to sites with good soil and water availability. TifBlair, on the other hand, is an ideal choice for construction sites with eroded, low pH soils such as those routinely found in the southeastern coastal plains, piedmont and mountain regions. The chart below clearly demonstrates TifBlair's ability for aggressive growth in both low and high pH soils.

Improved Plant Vigor Shortens Grow-In Time

On-farm comparisons of TifBlair and common centipede have shown that TifBlair grown from seed establishes more rapidly and with greater consistency than common centipede. This translates into a big advantage for homeowners and landscape professionals alike. Everybody benefits from shorter grow-in times, fewer weed problems and denser turf stands. And that's the beauty of certified TifBlair centipede.

Adapts Remarkably Well To Dry Conditions

With the volatile weather patterns, water shortages and outright water bans of the last few years, no wonder landscape professionals are looking for grasses with improved drought tolerance. TifBlair's unique deep-rooting system gives it the ability to produce superior turf even in poor quality soils and under persistent day-in day-out dry conditions.

Cold Hardy Enough For Northern Climates

One of the biggest advantages of TifBlair over common centipede and St. Augustine grass is its improved cold tolerance. Tests conducted over 3 winters at Stillwater, OK and Blairsville, GA, demonstrated that TifBlair can survive prolonged severe winter temperatures. This is good news if you're looking for an aggressive, low-maintenance turf that will do well on highway roadsides or commercial and residential lawns in the more northerly regions.

Exceptional Late Season Color And Quality

In tests conducted in Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia, TifBlair had equal or better turf quality than the other tested centipede varieties. The fact is, TifBlair produces more stolons with more leaves more quickly than common centipede. While TifBlair's winter dormant color is similar to common centipede, its late season color retention is far superior to common centipede and a point better than both Oaklawn and Tenn Hardy.

Clark Wooten - Tri State Turf

One of the North Carolina producers who has worked with TifBlair is Clarke Wooten of Tri-State Turf in Newton Grove. He's noticed distinct

allelopathic characteristics. "We've planted some areas aside from the turf production plots just for erosion control and for aesthetic reasons, and essentially left it untreated-no fertilizer, insecticide or herbicide. It still made a good stand, and didn't allow weeds to come in. Some scientists believe it manufactures a kind of natural herbicide. That stand has been untouched for years, so there's something there."

Eastern North Carolina soils typically have low pH and require lime for best growth, according to Wooten. However, "Centipede loves a pH of 5 to 5.5, which naturally occurs here, and it's low-growing, so that may be part of the reason it survives well under low-to-no maintenance. I've also observed it in the field growing side-by-side with common centipede, and it definitely retains it color longer in the fall and survives the winter without winter kill compared with the common. The winter and spring of '01 was disastrous to our common centipede. We lost blocks as large as three acres in size; we have photos to support that. The blocks were at different elevations and stages of maturity. TifBlair, however, came through unharmed under the same conditions."

TifBlair Certification

cert_small TifBlair has been exclusively licensed to The Turfgrass Group, Inc (TTG) and its sublicensees for sod production. Along with the Georgia Seed Development Commission, TTG is responsible for overseeing the propagation and sale of TifBlair [Read More]