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Soil, Compost & Mulch

Dormant Bermuda grass trimmings OK for mulch?

wertach zone 7-B SC

12 years ago

I have a native Bermuda grass lawn that is dormant now. I need to mow the wild onions and I'm thinking of hooking up my leaf vac and collecting it all for mulch. Since the grass is Dormant I'm thinking those clippings shouldn't sprout? I want to go ahead and put it directly on the garden.

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Comments (12)

jolj
12 years ago
It has worked fine for me.
I cut the Crowsfoot or highway grass & Bahia with no roots or seeds & compost or mulch with them.
Both green & dry, not even the wild onion/wild garlic top seem to be a problem (no seed bulbs).
pattyokie
12 years ago
Don't do it! If you ever have bermuda anywhere near your gardens you will never get rid of it. It is the Kudzu of the southwest. It is not worth taking a chance.
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If you had put that bucket in direct sun the grass would be overflowing with no soil visible. There are lots of plants that will grow in water with no nutrients. I don't think anyone would say that bermuda is easy to kill. All I'm saying is that it can be smothered by covering it with a deep enough cover. After a couple years with the sand and mulch on top of the bermuda, we still have no signs of the bermuda trying to sprout in the middle. We have it trying to encroach from the edges, but still nothing in the middle. We're about to put another inch or two of mulch on top. Our only reason for adding more mulch is to freshen up the deterioration in the appearance. We're "topdressing" our mulch with more mulch, so to speak.
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toxcrusadr
12 years ago
Horrible stuff. I only compost it after it's sat in the hot summer sun for a few days until it's dead, dead, dead. Then I let it sit some more to make sure.
jolj
12 years ago
Did I miss something!
Trimmings should not have seeds in them or roots.
But It may be safer to compost first.
Kimmsr
12 years ago
Eveything I have read about Bermuda Grass says it spreads by stolens, rhizomes, and seeds. As long as the grass clippings from your Bermuda Grass does not contain any seeds, stolens, or rhizomes they should be a good material to use for mulch or composting. I would doubt that Bermuda Grass clippings would germinate anymore then would Kentucky Blue Grass clippings.
User
12 years ago
You can't trim bermuda without getting some stolons (the runners) ... so you risk having some of them survive and take root.

Go ahead and use it, but be VERY vigilant about checking for sprouts when it warms up.
toxcrusadr
12 years ago
Yeah, the runners run on top of the ground as well as beneath, and all you need is that little joint along the runner to get into the clippings and it's Katy bar the door!
wertach zone 7-B SC
Original Author
12 years ago
I already have a Bermuda grass problem in my garden, I just don't want to make it worse. I can usually control it with mulch until the plants get big enough. I'm trying to mulch deeper this year.
toxcrusadr
12 years ago
I have it in my garden too, probably came into the compost pile with curbside grass clipping bags because I don't have a bermuda lawn and it started next to the compost pile. Can't get rid of it, I just have to pull and dig and mulch to keep it in check. It's like a chronic disease that can be controlled but not cured.
jolj
12 years ago
Would large thick cardboard boxes help?
Or would something that thick be in the way of the plants.
You maybe able to put the thick boxes down & start a no-til bed on top. This would choke the grass out for the summer & it may die, before the boxes rot or are eaten by worms.
Kimmsr
12 years ago
jolj, as has been previously discussed here Bermuda grass covered with newspaper, or cardboard, will die for a time but like the Quack Grass here it will send out rhizomes that will reinvade the area so covered.
toxcrusadr
12 years ago
It can run pretty deep to get under obstacles and pop up somewhere else. Scorched earth treatment on the surface will not kill the roots and runners below, and they will come back up. Like The Terminator, it just won't quit.

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