You can but I would begin with several layers of overlapping cardboard first - multiple layers.

You know how it loves to crawl up over the edges of beds? Likely it will still do that to a degree - mine does. But the majority of the beds remain clear so you just have to keep an eye on the edges.

Good luck.

Dave

I would dig it up. By suffocating with layers may temporarily get rid of the grass, it will probably come back if you don't dig down and remove the rhizomes.

Here's my experience with burying bermuda grass.

Had a client in Palo Alto whose landscaper convinced her she could get rid of the bermuda by laying a foot of topsoil over it. Two years later, I'm trying vainly to dig out the bermuda coming up in her perennial bed but I can't seem to reach the roots! found out they were buried under a foot of topsoil. Didn't work, and now it was impossible to dig it out.

My grandmother in Alabama did manage to kill off bermuda, but it was a long term project as in multiple decades. She sprayed a patch with Roundup and then covered it with newspaper. That worked for her. I don't know if she had to repeat the process multiple times on the same patch; probably did. But as I said, it took her decades to clear her 2 acres that way.

Now a lasagna bed will get nice and hot, unlike a layer of topsoil, but still I would think that if a foot of topsoil won't kill it then a lasagna bed is unlikely to either. It will be easier to dig out though!

The best luck I ever had killing bermuda was spraying it, heavily, twice one hot summer with full-strength 20% vinegar.

The burn of the vinegar, combined with the heat & the sun, seem to do the trick.

Be careful, wear gloves/safety glasses, long sleeves, long pants, maybe a mask, etc, do this on a windless day, & be careful not to get it on any plants you like (I use a cardboard shield when spraying);
20% vinegar is very strong, & it'll burn.

At the time I used it, 20% vinegar was available in the organic nurseries, don't know if it still is or if you have to order it.

I also have used cardboard, with varying results.

It seems like it works, if you use enough layers with enough overlap (bermuda crawls), & leave it there long enough.

I'm still fighting, digging, pulling, & talking real bad.

Best luck!

g'day a,

have a look at how we do our raised beds same as lasagne, can't see why that won't work we control nut grass using this method, also when you create a bed create a weed barrier around the bed ie.,. app' 1/2 meter wide create a mulched path same method as the bed cardboard/newspaper down first then put wahtever on top shavings, hay biscuits wood chip, bark whatever.

len

Here is a link that might be useful: len's garden page

I just read that there is a special Bayer product that will eliminate bermuda grass. I'm not sure what the chemical is.

I have never tried lasagna gardening before but I do have bermuda grass in my yard.
In the spring of 2006 my DW decided that she wanted a new flower bed in the front yard. This area has more bermuda growing than the rest of my yard and on top of that the soil is red clay. I tilled the soil to a depth of about 14" and added about 12" of chopped leaves and grass clippings which had alot of dandylion seed in it. I then added about 5 or 6 inches of more grass clippings on top because I did not have anything else to use for mulch and let it sit for about 6 weeks before my plants were ready to plant.
I did have some bermuda pop up but was able to keep it under control without much trouble.
This year I mulched my garden and all of my flower beds including the new one with 6 inches of chopped leaves and have spent very little time weeding.
The main problem I have with bermuda grass is it trys to creep in from around the edges but 30 minutes once a week takes care of all of my weeding problems.
I have never made a lasagna garden but I understand the concept and don't see why it would not work.
I have several flower beds that I made in the past where I did not dig or till at all. I got my weedeater and cut the grass where the new bed was going so low that I was slinging dirt. I then put down 6 inches of hardwood mulch and had no problems with it growing back.
Jim

This spring I gambled with a sample area of bermuda just to see what would happen. I used two thick layers of cardboard on the bottom and layered sheets of newspaper amongst the 18" thickness of organic matter. It really isn't a surprise to see the bermuda popping up.

My sawdust source has bermuda roots/rhizomes thriving quite well at the bottom of 4 foot piles of sawdust that have been there decomposing for 2 years.

Choose your method of eradication first: vinegar, Round-up, digging, whatever suits you. Remember that if you choose Round-up you need to do it well before the bermuda goes dormant for the winter.