THE BERMUDA WILL COME BACK AGAIN NEXT SUMER THEN HE HAS TO KILL IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND HAVE TO START EARLY IN JUNE / JULY.
IT'S VERY HARD & LONG PROCES AND WILL TAKE YEARS IF NOT FOR EVER BUT FINALY (IF HE IS LIKE ME) HE WILL GET RID OF THE BERMUDA!

He should have started earlier with killing the bermuda, because it takes several applications a couple of weeks apart.

He will have bermuda sprouting next year, and if he's not extremely careful and removes them immediately, it willtake over the fescue.

Ok, so realistically, what can he do at this point? What about bringing in a Bobcat and scraping off the top six to twelve inches of dirt and replacing it with good soil? Will that work? I'm invested in this process because it's a constant battle keeping his Bermuda grass out of my flower beds. I want to see the Bermuda grass gone even more than he does!

There is a selective herbicide called Ornamec that will stunt (and eventually kill) bermudagrass. It is labeled as safe for use on Zoysia and Fescue. I have used it on my Zoysia lawn and it seems to do a good job of controling the bermudagrass.

http://www.pbigordon.com/professional/page.php?id=310

flemmo said:
Will that work? I'm invested in this process because it's a constant battle keeping his Bermuda grass out of my flower beds. I want to see the Bermuda grass gone even more than he does!

Well if I were you I would learn to love Bermuda and how to care for it.

The best method of getting rid of it is solarization of the soil. However that can only be done in the summer months. If all your neighbor did is spray one application of RU on it and tilled it, all he did was make the Bermuda angry and even more healthy.

As for the seeds really doesn't matter, but it depends on if the Bermuda was a hybrid or not. If it is a hybrid variety, the seeds are sterile. If it is a common form of Bermuda the seeds are fertile, and RU is a systemic post emergence herbicide and will not effect the seeds one little bit.

Bermuda reproduces by both rhizomes (underground) and stalons (above ground). By tilling all you did was chop them up into millions of new transplants, aerate the soil, and made the conditions prime for the Bermuda to come back with vengeance and prejudice. In other words you made a whole lot of cuttings to be propagated, and planted them in idea conditions. Come next spring and summer they will use the fescue as food.

ornamec is good but will not kill the bermuda same with
turflon ester but they will help a lot to slow down the bermuda. on the early spring with ornamec and summer time with turflon ester.
Also he can cover the entire lawn with black plastic in the spring and keep it with the black plastic during the summer and reseed it again next fall. this is the only way to kill the bermuda quick and for sure.

nick7nc said:
Also he can cover the entire lawn with black plastic in the spring and keep it with the black plastic during the summer and reseed it again next fall. this is the only way to kill the bermuda quick and for sure.

That is solarization. Although black opague plastic sounds logical, it is not the most effective choice. That title goes to heavy gauge clear plastic.

However there are few more steps involved than just covering the area with plastic.

Great, so now my neighbor has angered the Bermuda grass. Isn't there some kind of animal sacrifice we can offer it to go away?

Solarization sounds effective, but it also means having my next door neighbor's front yard look like a lunar landscape for the next year. That no maka me happy.

What about the option I mentioned -- digging out the existing dirt and replacing it with good soil? How far down would he have to go?

What about the option I mentioned -- digging out the existing dirt and replacing it with good soil? How far down would he have to go?

Kind of hard to answer as it depends on how well established the Bermuda is. Bermuda roots are known to penetrate 6 feet or more depth.

How big of an area are you talking about?

I am not quite sure you realize what you are asking for. For example a very small area of 1000/ft2 to a depth of 12 inches, you are talking a volume of 37 cubic yards, or 6 to 8 dump truck loads to haul off and replace.

If the solarization idea does not appeal to you, the next best method is as follows.

Wait till next summer. During the summer baby the Bermuda grass by feeding it once a month with 1-pound of nitrogen per 1000/ft2, keeping it well watered and mowed. Make it look like a golf course.

Then about the last 4 weeks of the hot season or 4 weeks before planting time, Let th eBermuda grass grow up to about 1-1/2 inches or 2, then hit it with a good 4% Round Up Pro solution, keep the gras well watered, fertilize after third day. After one week, hit it with RU again and repeat process a third time minus fertilze. Wait for one more week to let the RU break down, remove sod, re-grade the area with a tractor and box blade, do not till, and then plant your grass of choice.

From that point on the Bermuda will pop up its ugly head from time to time. Pull it up as soon as you see it. After 4 or 5 years you should have it irradiated.

I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.

You're in zone 9. That's Bermuda heaven. It's fescue marginally.

Let's take a lawn that has no Bermuda. Seed fescue. Some grows, some dies. Fescue doesn't spread. Overseed the next year. And the next. And the next and so on.

Now let's take a lawn that used to be Bermuda. You kill 99.999% of the Bermuda and seed fescue. Fescue still doesn't spread. Bermuda spreads via rhizomes and stolons (and if it's common, it also spreads via seeds). As bare spots appear, Bermuda fills them in. after a few years, you have a Bermuda lawn with some fescue looking like a weed.

Bermuda that was killed with roundup will not come back. Dead is dead. However, 1 dose of roundup usually will not kill bermuda, so he probably tilled live bermuda into the soil. The topgrowth will wither, but it will regrow from the roots in a couple of weeks.

Oh well, what is done is done. What is the weather like there? Would the bermuda normally be growing? If so, I would water and fertilize the area. Wait 2 weeks and round up anything green. Wait 2 more weeks and roundup again. After that, he can seed.

Of course, any bermuda that survives will just come back in the warm weather. If he lets it spread, it will take over. He will have to be constantly pulling any bits of bermuda for years to come.

BPGREEN SAID:
You're in zone 9. That's Bermuda heaven. It's fescue marginally.

Maybe, maybe not one would be inclined to think so based on Z9 as a hot climate. But CA is just plain weird. I am certainly no expert on CA weather but I frequent the Central Coast Region around San Louis Obispo and Santa Barbara. Like to hang out in a small town called Morro Bay (aka poor mans Peable Beach) and it is Z8 or Z9 cannot remember, but I freeze my butt off their in summer months. It only get up around 70 or very low 80's during the day in summer and drops in the 50's at night. However in the winter it never or rarely drops below 40. But if you go 20 or 30 miles inland from the coast in Summer and temps soar up around 100. So it is just weird. I know it is the Pacific ocean that keeps the coastal areas cool, but the zone rating can really throw you as of how cold it can be in Summer in places.

I forget which baseball coach or player it was that said: The coldest winter he ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. San Fran Z8?

TW--You're right. I usually remember that, and it's part of why I hate the hardiness zones. Zone 9 doesn't have anything to do with how hot it gets in the summer, it has to do with how cold it gets in the winter.

I think the quote you used is usually attributed to Mark Twain, although I'm not sure if he really said it.

BP yeah hardiness zones are very misleading sometimes. That is why I always use Heat zone maps in conjunction with hardiness zones. Give a better picture.

I think you are right, it was Mark Twain. Guess it does not matter who said it, it gets the point across.

>How big of an area are you talking about?Rather small, actually. It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'.

>I'm going to go back to TW's first post and suggest that your friend should learn to love Bermuda.I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well, but that's really not an ideal suggestion for my fescue lawn or garden beds growing alongside it. I can't understand anyone who *chooses* to grow Bermuda grass. It's invasive to every other part of your landscape, ugly (compared to fescue anyway) and turns a lovely shade of brownish gray in the winter. :(

Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy. But I appreciate the suggestions.

>" It's a small strip alongside the driveway, measuring something like 5' x 10'. "

>"I suppose he could learn to love dandelions, oxalis and crabgrass as well"

There's another simple solution in one word - asphalt!

Solarization sounds like the most effective choice, but lord, having a dead lawn next door for the next year hardly has me dancing for joy.

It is not that bad. You have it covered for 4 to 6 weeks in the summer. Keep what you have til next summer.

Fleemo17, where in CA are you located? Zip code will work.

>It is not that bad. You have it covered for 4 to 6 weeks in the summer. Keep what you have til next summer.Oh, but you see, my neighbor's already started the project. I came home to find him halfway done rototilling the Bermuda grass into the soil. I stopped him in his tracks, but the project is well under way. It already looks like a bomb went off there. I suppose I could try and keep one eye shut when pulling in the driveway. :/

>Fleemo17, where in CA are you located?Northern CA, not far from the capitol.

The only thing I can say is to fallow bill z7 NC advise!
I did so 3 or 4 year ago and now I have one of the best lawns in Charlotte,NC. I own him a credit!!! When I moved from NYC(Manhattan)I didn't even know what fescue or bermuda was.
Thank you Bill

Not sure why everyone says bermuda is invasive... I have had it for 20+ years and it does not grow outside of the lawn border. Is it because I walk the yard 2-4 times a month and hit a blade of grass with RU that is out of place. This takes 5 mins a month

>The only thing I can say is to fallow bill z7 NC advise! And indeed, it does sound like sound advice that I'll pass on to my neighbor. A toast to Bill! :)

>Not sure why everyone says bermuda is invasive... Out here in Zone 9, it's a constant battle trying to keep it at bay. I try to garden organically, but I have regrettably resorted to Round Up to do battle with the Bermuda beast.