A month after FOX 13 and Bay News 9 visited the farm, Fusion™ St. Augustine is in print. Reporter Elizabeth King of the Business Observer wrote “Manatee farm develops patent-pending new strain of grass”, published November 4, 2026.
The Story Behind Fusion
The article walks through how Fusion came to be. It was developed at Bayside Sod by Nick Greene, a Manatee County native and University of Florida graduate, and it took about three years of work to bring to market.
Fusion blends four St. Augustine cultivars with different strengths in one lawn. Tiffany Bailey, our CEO, described the idea simply: “We’re putting some diversity into the lawn to give you strength.”
The story also covers a threat Florida homeowners should know about. Sugarcane mosaic virus can lead to Lethal Viral Necrosis (LVN), a disease that can kill a St. Augustine lawn outright. It is not widespread, but it has become more common over the past decade, and offering an alternative to the varieties most associated with it is one of the reasons Fusion exists.
Grown Twice as Long
Fusion is not a quick crop. We first grow each of the four components on their own, then use them to produce the blend, which takes roughly twice as long as a standard sod crop. That meant setting aside farm acreage for a new idea instead of planting varieties we already knew would sell.
Fusion reached the market in October with about 20 acres ready to harvest, and we plan to plant another 40 to 50 acres in 2027.
More Than a New Grass
The Observer also looked at the rest of Bayside Sod: four farms across Manatee and Sarasota counties, our pickup location on State Road 64 with a Palmetto location on the way, and the Turf Care division we launched in December 2025 to look after lawns after installation. It closes on something we are proud of: the quarterly company meetings that bring our crews, drivers, and office team together, with Spanish and Haitian Creole translators so every employee hears the plan firsthand.
Florida Trend picked up the story in its Wednesday Afternoon Update the same day.
Getting Fusion for Your Yard
Fusion is available now from our Bradenton farm. See the Fusion page for the details, request a quote with your square footage, or call the farm at (941) 702-1746.
Thank you to Elizabeth King and the Business Observer for telling the story, to Jay Perez for sharing it with them, and to Nick Greene and our whole team for growing Fusion from an idea into a crop.