Manatee farm develops patent-pending new strain of grass

A new type of grass is growing in the region. 

In an innovative move, a $12 million Manatee County company, Bayside Sod, has introduced a first-of-its kind strain of grass. The strain is called Fusion, and it took Bayside Sod — which operates 900 acres of sod farms across Sarasota and Manatee counties — three years and cost at least $20,000 to get to market.

Fusion is a blend of four types of St. Augustine cultivars, or cultivated strains, Bayside Sod CEO Tiffany Bailey says. Each has different traits, including shade tolerance, disease tolerance and insect resistance. Blending multiple strains helps diversify the grass, she adds.

“We’re putting some diversity into the lawn to give you strength,” Bailey says. “This grass literally gets better with time because it's adaptable to the environment that you put it in.”

Fusion was developed by Nick Greene, a Manatee County native and University of Florida graduate, at Bayside Sod to provide greater adaptability.

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“What you basically get is a grass that has a very uniform look and feel,” Bailey says. “It's highly applicable to different environments, and that's what we were trying to create — a more tolerant turf grass that can sustain different types of landscapes, pest pressure and disease pressure.”

Disease resistance is becoming increasingly important. There are a couple of things that could “completely wipe out your lawn” that Fusion is resistant to, including sugarcane mosaic virus, which can turn into lethal viral necrosis, Bailey says. While not widespread, this lawn killer has been growing in prevalence over the past 10 to 12 years, she adds.

A patent is pending for Fusion, which was in development for two to three years. The patent is expected in the next few weeks, after the company spent more than $20,000 to get it, Bailey says. 

There was an element of opportunity risk in creating Fusion: The farm set aside land for the experiment, where it could have cultivated other varieties of grass that would have been a sure thing. It also has to grow the four components of the grass first, then use them to produce the blend. "That essentially takes twice as long as what a normal core product crop would take," Bailey says.

“Right now, we have about 20 acres ready,” Bailey says of Fusion. “In 2027, we’re going to plant an additional 40 or 50 acres.”

Bailey foresees growth in the company’s bottom line coming from Fusion, which hit the market in October. 

Growth spurt

Bayside Sod is growing in other ways beyond the new grass. 

The company runs a wide-ranging operation with 48 employees that spans farms, a retail store and delivery service. It has two farms in Sarasota County and two in Manatee County as well as a store on State Road 64 — with another one in Palmetto set to open by the end of the year — where landscapers and homeowners can pick up pallets of sod.

The company posted $12 million in revenue in 2025, an increase over the previous year that Bailey credits in part to rebuilding following the 2024 hurricanes.

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For 2026, the company is on track to do $13 million to $14 million in revenue, Bailey says.

In 2026 and 2025, Bayside Sod was listed on the Inc. 5000, which ranks the country's fastest-growing companies based on revenue growth. What has contributed most to Bayside Sod's increasing bottom line is “diversifying the offerings of the company,” Bailey says, moving from serving businesses to residential customers and landscapers and offering deliveries.

Now, about 40% of its revenue comes from business-to-business sod sales, while 30% is retail installations and 30% comes from landscapers/commercial installs.

More knowledge 

And the company isn’t slowing down.

In December 2025, Bayside Sod launched a turf care division that has three employees and what Bailey calls a “high growth trajectory.” Staff provides service for grass after customers get deliveries; previously, the company had only provided sod but not the follow-up care.

“We just felt like it's such an opportunity because we had the client right there that we did a good job on the install for, and they trust us,” Bailey says. “We have 30 years of growing grass out on the farms, and we felt we could bring some of that knowledge into the landscape.”

Bayside Sod was founded in 1987 by Bailey’s father. She, her brother and her brother-in-law purchased the business from him in 2018. It is now owned by Bailey and her brother-in-law.