Getting rid of Bermuda Grass

14 years ago

I have a plan for getting rid of my Bermuda grass in a big enough area to put in a couple raised beds for veggies. I'm not sure it will work but I hope so. I know from experience that covering it with newspapers or cardboard, then mulch or soil won't kill it. I bet even a couple of feet of heavy soil wouldn't smother it because that's what it's used to.

I think I can get rid of it with Round-Up if I spray it repeatedly all summer. The trick is to let it grow TALL before you spray it (more surface area). If you spray it when it's short, it doesn't absorb as much. It has to be sprayed on a hot sunny day. Round-Up works better with sun and the Bermuda will be actively growing. It has no affect on dormant plants.

I've thought about putting a sheet of plywood at the bottom of my raised beds but the soil wouldn't drain and I'd have to make the beds deeper.

I don't know the best way to kill the weed seeds that are there. I'm afraid when I pull/dig up veggies, I'll be pulling up seeds to the surface and I don't want to get the Bermuda grass started all over again. Their seeds stay viable for many years. I've been looking on the web and I think I might try putting clear plastic over the area in late summer to kill seeds but from what I've read, the heat it generates only kills some types of seed.

Should I just move?

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Comments (12)

ceresone
14 years ago
LOL, That would be my suggestion!!
I think we're going to have to learn to co-exist with BERMUDA GRASS!! Seriously, others may tell you--Oh, this will work--or that will work--been there--done that! Best advice I have ever been given is just to try to contain it in and around the beds.
The best luck I've had, is with POAST-its made especially to kill bermuda-not perfect--but keep it on hand for the times you see it creeping back--for the next 50 years.
gldno1
14 years ago
ceresone, I think you have it figured out! My dad used to say to salt it, dig it up, burn it, dig a hold bury the ashes, then pile cement on top and that might (might) kill it.

Christie, some use a perforated landscape cloth on the bottom or an old piece of carpet or throw rugs. Good luck.
Let us know what works.

Can you find a spot without it? That would be the best and then try to keep it out. I have heard of driving cedar shakes down deeply around the edges.

I just go around and regularly pull it out from the edges of the beds and put it into the trash. I also spray the edges with gly-4.

I also want to try the corn gluten meal this year to prevent seed emergence.
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I know this is an old thread, but I'd like to add the knowledge I've gained from battling bermuda grass over the years using only organic methods. I live on heavy clay soil and the bermuda grass is heaviest over the leach fields of our septic system. Because I can't plant anything but grass on the fields, I added lots of planting beds near and around the fields where the bermuda is the thickest, but didn't know how much of a pain that was going to be. So, to say the least, I've been whacking at the bermuda for years and learned the following: Digging it up is an almost useless undertaking mainly because of our thick clay soil. There's always enough missed that the stuff comes back fairly quickly. This is especially true if digging it up near a sidewalk or driveway. There is plenty of rhizomes under the pavement. Burning the stuff with a propane torch is fun at first but grows old quickly when you start seeing new green growth the following day. I also can't do extended burning sessions because I'm usually doing a remedial removal with good plants near the bermuda. I'm lucky enough to not burn the plants I want. Boiling water held promise when I tried it despite risking killing roots of my wanted plants. Though my first attempt at this was incredibly dangerous (super propane burner under a giant stainless pot filled with boiling water and a smaller pot to scoop and pour the water out). I saw definite slowing of the regrowth but I couldn't risk doing it the way I was. So I devised a plan to turn my propane torch into a continuous hot water flame thrower by getting thin copper tubing, turning it into a coil, and attaching it to the end of the torch. With the hose attached to the other end and a valve to adjust the water volume, I was able to torch and pour boiling water on the bermuda at the same time. Unfortunately, the bermuda just kinda laughed at the rig and kept growing. Industrial strength vinegar (ie, 20% acetic acid, and yes I know that stuff is quite dangerous) works wonders to kill the top growth, but sadly it just grows back. Now if you're putting in a new bed, thick paper or cardboard under the added soil or mulch will work, but only if timed correctly, more about that to follow. So what's left that an organic gardener has to kill this grass? The final thing in my arsenal is black plastic and not clear plastic. I've tried the clear in another area, albeit it didn't have bermuda in it, but it did have johnson grass and it loved the clear. The johnson grass just kept on growing. The black plastic I've used is the stuff meant to go in crawl spaces as the moisture barrier. It's thick, heavy, and comes in really large sizes. And it withstands the elements very well. I've used one piece now for a year and it doesn't show any UV damage that most plastics would show. Now there's a trick with using the black plastic. You have to time it right. If you want to kill the bermuda, do not put it down in the early spring to take it up in early summer or late summer for late fall removal. Because bermuda goes dormant where I live, the spring time use of the plastic will not really kill it as it is probably still dormant under the plastic. But, the interesting part is the fall timing. As cooler temps approach in late summer, the bermuda starts going dormant even though it is still green. It starts storing more in its roots. So, even if you smother it then, it will come back in the spring. I learned this dearly when using the thick paper method of killing the stuff for a new bed. The paper did its job to kill the bermuda for that year, but in the following spring when the paper degraded in the soil, the bermuda came back with a vengeance. So time laying the plastic out in the early summer to at least late summer. That should ensure total removal. Of course, if you're paranoid, like me at times, leave it longer. Now, there's another problem with thick, black plastic. You really can't use it in already established beds because it will choke out your good plants and probably wreak havoc with your soil. It works wonders for killing this stuff before establishing new beds and for areas without plantings like walk paths. But what do you do with established plantings? This year I got a new weapon. Woven black plastic: http://www.groworganic.com/sunbelt-weed-fabric-3-x-50-roll.html The stuff lets air and moisture to pass through while keeping a total blackout for the soil surface. I haven't yet tried it on my bermuda as it is still dormant-ish, but I have some ready at first signs. It looks extremely promising as the material is thick and just as light blocking as the black plastic for a crawl space moisture barrier. And it should work just fine around my already established plantings.
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I was going to ask about your containers too Ceresone. I'm very jealous. I have supplement containers about as tall as a five gallon bucket or maybe a little taller, but quite a bit wider. I'm guessing they would be about 15 gallons. The blueberries that I got from Stark Brothers were potted in five inch pots so I thought they might be too small to put in large containers. I put them in three gallon pots for now. I think I will put them in my garage the first winter and then pot them up into larger containers next spring if they grow well. Bonnie - Yes I was sore! lol My arms and back were protesting. I was actually a little creeped out when I was digging that big hole and not hitting any rock wondering why. I thought I might find bones or something. lol Glenda - I'm sure I've never dug three foot deep without hitting rock. That's even more amazing. You must have been wondering if you were on Candid Camera. Let me know when your grapes start to leaf out.
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At one of the Middle TN Plant Swaps a couple of years ago Cissy Ziech did a program on Lasagna Gardening. She reported that in her Memphis garden that Roundup was not totally effective in killing Bermuda and she had to resort to a different grass killer. I believe it was Grass Be Gon like arjo_reich said but am not positive. I would wait to till the garden until all the Bermuda was killed because the tiller will chop it to tiny pieces which will each grow to a new plant and multiply your problem. Have you considered creating raised beds as in Lasagna Gardening? (If you're not familiar with that, do a search on GW and you'll get lots of info.) After killing the Bermuda, you wouldn't have to till where you intend to grow garden plants - only the lawn area.
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helenh
14 years ago
I have it in my day lilies and I think I will have to dig them up and pull it out of them and replant. I don't do that so it is a losing battle. My yard is too shady and outside my yard where I have expanded has bermuda. I threw bermuda hay over the fence and was happy when it grew because someone I know said it was summer pasture when the fescus was tough. My cows never did like it and ate it last.

I think round up will kill it, but even a little surviving piece will start it up again. I don't think you can do it once and forget it. Once you get a cleared spot you have to edge it with round up because it will keep creeping in.

I planted tomatoes in bermuda infested ground last year. I pulled what I could see but it came up again. Tomatoes will get ahead of it. Shade is its biggest enemy.
ceresone
14 years ago
I have bermuda that survives everything!
Landscape cloth-that was sure fun to try to remove it, with the bermuda growing thru it everywhere.
Black plastic? Four years--I removed it---white bermuda--heading for the edges of the plastic!
Roundup? gave it a belly ache for a week, revived-sprayed again--didnt phase it the second time.
I did use the Poast on a bed that had various flowers--all my poppies, Iris, clematis--tryed it over the top, as it said--forgot it--month later--IT WAS DEAD-and didnt harm flowers. But--I'd still be cautious around flowers.
Glenda, I love the corn gluten meal--my onions didnt have a weed for 3 months--which is when I was supposed to have re-applied it. Everyone remember tho--don't put it where you WANT seeds to come up.
Worse of all?? my horses don't even like it!
jessaka
14 years ago
do you have to mix the cornmeal with the soil or just put on top? i used it on our lawn but weeds still came up. at least it helped the fungi some. this year we are letting some weeds grow in our lawn. can't fight them all.
gldno1
14 years ago
Ceresone,

We used it as a mix in our dairy ration when we milked. I
hope they will sell it to me in bags. Just found out they are not the same product. Did you use feed grade or the special (under copyright by IA State) plant herbicide grade. There is quite a difference in price. I can get it at MFA for $8.00 or so a Cwt. I see the other is about $25 a 25-lb bag which means I will not be using it! Feed is 24% protein, other 60%. I don't know about the nitrogen level.
ceresone
14 years ago
Glenda, I bought mine at the feed store, was about 8.00, I think.
If there are already weeds, it wont stop them from coming up--all it does it stop the SEEDS from germinating. I just roughed the top surface, enough to push my onion plants in a bit with my finger--then sprinkled the meal over the entire bed. Remember, it needs to be reapplied, I think they said, in about 3 months.
Big thing to remember--it stops ALL seeds from germinating-it cant tell the difference in a vegetable--or weed.
helenh
14 years ago
Ceresone, at the feed store you ask for corn gluten meal or does it have another name?
proudgm_03
14 years ago
Didn't know I had bermuda grass until I googled a pic. Now I have something else to worry about besides creeping charlie!
ceresone
14 years ago
Thats what I asked for,Helen. Theres 2 feed stores in town, one refused to sell it to me, as they only sold huge amounts to farmers for feed additive, the other was fascinated as I explaned the use, and checked the "Preen" on their shelves for main ingredient.
gldno1
14 years ago
jessaka, we are talking corn gluten meal; not corn meal. This is a by product of the milling process for something else.

My guys at the mill said they will bag it for me. We bought tons of dairy from them a few years back.
helenh
14 years ago
The good thing about it (and I only know from TV)is that it rots and becomes fertilizer. That limits its effective time but it is safe and won't permanently contaminate the soil.

Getting rid of Bermuda Grass

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