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Can never kill burmuda grass!!

14 years ago

Since there is no "Lawn kill" sub-forum, I came here to post my question.

Well, I admit and regret that I did not do a good job at all to kill Burmuda grass. Last Fall, I used landscape fabric to cover partial lawn and put pit gravels on top. I thought the weight of the gravel would smother the grass, yet the grass still growing without any problems. I had pull them out twice already one by one. Now 80% of the surface is again covered by Burmuda grass.

I am so tired of pulling the grass out. My thumb and index finger hurt so much every time I pulled them, not to mention that it was very time consuming.

Please, is there any way I can rid of Burmuda grass

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Comments (13)

bpgreen
14 years ago
I don't have any experience with Bermuda, but I read an article on the Colorado State University extension service site that it can grow through pavement.

Somebody once posted about successfully killing Bermuda grass, but I think it took many applications of glyphosate before he succeeded.
chueh
Original Author
14 years ago
thank you for your reply. Gee! What form does glyphosate come? Can I get it easily in a store? Can a regular weed killer manage to kill Burmuda?
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I fought with Bermuda grass when we lived in Berkeley, CA. The front "lawn" (maybe 15' x 25') was nothing but Bermuda grass. So I started at one side and dug the stuff up with both a pitchfork (to break soil) and a square shovel. I dug about 8 inches or so down. I screened these diggings over my wheelbarrow through 1/2-inch screen staple-gunned to a frame of 1x2's approx. 36" x 20" x 2". The grass, roots, runners (stolons) which did not pass through the screen were shipped off in the yard waste. The dirt which passed through was returned to the ground, with compost added to improve drainage/soil health. (Berkeley has adobe-worthy clay soil.) This obviously wasn't a one-day exercise, but I did prevail! So, yes, you CAN defeat Bermuda grass organically; it just takes tenacity and sneakiness both. heh heh... Cynthia H. El Cerrito, CA
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After reading many good suggestions I have noticed shade and a female dog do the trick of getting rid of this nuscience that is choking out my garden. Also chemicals and a lot of hard work. I have tried corn gluten and it works minimally. So here is what I am going to try in the heat of the summer. 1. Water and feed my grass well for several weeks so every kind of grass (what I do want and the Bermuda) is doing well. 2. Let my grass grow long and tall (the Bermuda won't do this) 3. Apply a 20% vinegar to the Bermuda grass. (like dog pee but easier to spray) 4. Repeat till its not hot and in the fall or late August when the Bermuda is stressed from the vinegar and shade from the long grass, add the wheat gluten, grass seed, and fertilizer. I'll let you know how it works.
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For all the years I worked offshore (oil field), I was gone sometimes 6 months. While I was home, I piled up my leaves and such in the spots I wanted to create a bed. By the time I returned home, soil that had been hard as a rock was diggable and ready to be worked. It was the little composting worms that I gave credit to digging the bed for me. I worked in the decomposed leaves and grass clippings with further bags of purchased Black Cow and had no problems with plants growing. In my zone 8B area, the problem was not rocks in the soil, but rather tree roots. Any problems with digging holes usually was caused by root intrusion. As a result, I chose lots of plants that could survive amongst the roots. Two of these are leriope and aspedistra. It has puzzled me a lot why neither of these plants are spoken of as companions to hosta. Do they compete? Or are they not tolerant of the colder climate range where hosta thrive? I love heuchera and heucherela, but zone 8b is the lower extreme of their tolerance. I guess this is too off-topic for this thread, so I will look up a companion planting thread and post there.
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organicnoob
14 years ago
Someone posted a link to Turfallo on another thread and I read the FAQ on their site and they mentioned they found only one effective way to kill bermuda. Let it grow to 3", apply glyphosphate (Round-Up), wait four days and mow very short and immediately hit it with glyphosphate again.
dchall_san_antonio
14 years ago
I killed it with 2 inches of sand and then 2 more inches of mulch.

I would think Round Up (glyphosphate) would work with enough applications.
bpgreen
14 years ago
One thing to note about glyphosate is that it kills everything, not just Bermuda. So you'll have patches of dead everywhere you spray.
weigojmi
14 years ago
Someone needs to devise a truly effective way to kill Bermuda without harming the grass its cohabitating with. They would become rich beyond imagine.

Only thing I found is http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/burmudagrass-control-lawns/ready-to-spray.html but its not quite the same thing. :(
lou_spicewood_tx
14 years ago
Fertilize and water deeply. Wait 3-5 days. Spray glypho (off brand is much cheaper than round up. I use Hi Yield brand).

Wait a week. Maybe 2 weeks. Scalp lawn and water deep again. 3-5 days later, hit again with glypho.

Repeat a few more times... Guaranteed to kill 99% of bermuda...

That's what i did...
bpgreen
14 years ago
"Guaranteed to kill 99% of bermuda... "

Doesn't that mean you'll have a 100% Bermuda lawn in a couple of weeks? :)
rdaystrom
14 years ago
Kill all you want. There are about six million seeds in the soil just waiting for you to go inside your house. They will either sprout now, later, or next season or all three. Anyone claiming complete kill of Bermuda is incorrect. I imagine there is Bermuda growing on Bikini Atoll.
User
14 years ago
Read the article at the link.

You have to get it growing well, with enough leaf area to absorb the glyphosate, then spray.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to kill Bermuda Grass
rdaystrom
14 years ago
It is not really practical to try in my opinion. It will always come back. Maybe not instantly but it will come back. Just when you think you have killed it all it will sprout up right in the middle of your St. Augustine. Then what are you gonna do? Nothing. Just keep trying to keep it down by keeping the St Augustine thick and tall. Plant trees . Bermuda hates shade.
texasredhead
14 years ago
So does St. Augustine. Hate shade that is.
rcnaylor
14 years ago
Yeah, I agree with the "it'll come back" opinion above. I had a side yard with alot of bermuda in it when I moved into this house in 2000. I sprayed it three times, cut out the top with a sod cutter as deep as it would cut and hand dug the tillers that came up in the fescue from the roots for a couple of years. Got rid of 99.98% of it.

And still have a couple of spots I need to spot treat 9 years later.

Sigh.

I did eradicate it in the front yard and the other side yard by the same method and then... growing the trees there.

Good luck with the battle.

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