Newspaper works well. Use about 4 sheets of it and make sure the edges overlap. Wet it down, and put mulch on top of it. It will last for about a year and eventually degrade. If you need to plant anything else in the bed just dig a hole through the newspaper and redo the newspaper around it when you're done. I do this for my rose beds because I'm a horribly lazy gardener. In fact, I usually dig a hole in the grass, plant my rose, and newspaper around it. I still get some grass coming up but it's not that bad and I can just pull it. There's a spray called Grass be Gone by Ortho that is safe to use around roses, but it didn't work too well for me when I tried it last year. I'm trying it again this year but I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

I got rid of bermuda grass (and bindweed) in the paths around my garden plots at the community garden by pulling any stolons and rhizomes I could see, then putting down cardboard or newspaper and 6-8 inches of mulch. It went from being a constant lush nuisance to a once-in-awhile easy-to-pull straggler within one season. Also, since surrounding gardeners still allow it in their garden beds, the roots are fed and watered regularly. It has not reappeared in my garden beds. Other people who have mulched without the cardboard and prepulling have had it reappear, but (if they bothered to pull it) it's easier to pull when it comes up through thick mulch. Even in the paths near my garden where the gardeners do not mulch, I've found it satisfying to dig up the long stolons and rhizomes occasionally, and over time their number has decreased. I think the bg was such a huge problem because you started out by tilling. That's how bg is planted!! The stolons and rhizomes are cut up into little pieces, then scattered. Each one develops into a new plant. One of the people at the community garden digs and sifts the soil (half-inch mesh) down to about a foot when starting a new garden. He removes rocks as well as bg rhizomes that way. I would not use poison on food-growing soil.

Thanks for the link Luis. That is what my leaves are doing before they get crispy brown. They look wilted, as if they needed water, and then dry up. Eventually, I can then break the twig off. I may have injured the new growth when I planted the newer camellia. I've also planted a small Tama No Ura that I broke a dead twig off. It's easy to bump new growth. However, all these camellias came from the same source, and I'm not sure who this camellia nursery gets their stock from. I suspect a variety of places. It makes me wonder. I also discovered in my web searches that there had been a problem with camellias coming from Monrovia at one time, and that there had been a quarantine. Perhaps some Florida nursery stock got contaminated and is spreading something. However, I do not want to blame this local nursery for anything that may not even be remotely their issue. Once infected, is the plant always infected, or can it be pruned away quickly enough? In the case of my Rutledge, I did go ahead and dig a section of the roots and pulled up enough to look at the roots. This probably hasn't done this bush much good, but it may be very ill anyway. One thing I discovered is that there was a half inch diameter root mingled with this camellia's root from a Drake Elm we had growing 25 feet or so away. The Drake Elm was removed about a year ago, as we were concerned about hurricaine issues, our septic system, and the foundation of the house. Some of the elm roots keep sprouting and I have to keep after them, but I'm hoping some of them are dying. This may be a factor in the decline of this camellia, although the ones next to it planted at the same time are fine. Lady Vansittart is still the picture of health, but she may be a stronger camellia. The other thing that I saw, although I didn't actually dig them up extensively, is that many of the roots surrounding the trunk are a reddish color, while some of the ones further extending from the rootball are still white. I'm wondering if this is root rot, or is this a normal coloration? The soil was not soggy at all. We obviously have sandy soil here in Florida, even with ammendments mixed in. The soil was still a nice mixture of sand and the compost/ peat mix that had been broken down. I did read somewhere that camellias can get root rot even if growing conditions are ideal. We have been extremely dry and haven't had rain in 2 months. I irrigate, but it isn't the same. I would still think this camellia would have adapted. I am worried about soil contamination, and am wondering if another camellia can be planted in the same spot. I can't find much detailed information anywhere. I don't feel our coopperative extension has much knowledge in this particular area. About all I get from them is the typical "canned" answers. So far, I have gotten the healthiest, most beautiful camellias from Erinon Nursery in Plymouth, Forida. I won't be purchasing from anywhere else now.

I don't know if my county even has a health dept. We had the crushed pipes fixed and lateral lines added when we bought the house & the septic guy had to get a permit. Then 3 years ago we added a bathroom & the same septic guy had a plumber do everything to connect to the tanks and he didn't have to have a permit. This time, our septic guy just told us what to do, said it was no big deal if it was just the top. Now replacing the tank will be a big deal. This is the first time this tank has ever been touched as far as I know. Surely it wouldn't have been made this way to begin with, but I don't see how concrete can move without cracking. Yes, it's concrete, and when it was completely drained, there were no cracks in the walls or bottom. There were cracks, more like chips about the size of a quarter in the top rim. That may have happened when the roofing truck drove over it 11 years ago. About 10 years ago, a longhorn steer got loose & was walking around in that area too. We've been walking & riding the lawnmower over this cracked lid for 10 years and it might have been this way all that time. If dh hadn't tried taking it off, it might have stayed this way. But now we're worried about the chips in the rim turning into cracks, and need to dig up the other two tanks to look at them. We had the tanks cleaned when we bought the house 10 years ago & then again 2 years ago & no one ever said anything, but I think they just dug up the little cork-like lid in the center of the top of the tank (which I keep calling the lid).