Do what the biologists do when they go in to restore a wildlife habitat. Use glyphosate, carefully. Since you are watercourse adjacent, get the formulation without surfacants.

Unfortunately, sheet mulching doesn't usually work to kill bermuda. Glyphosate would be the easiest solution. It may take several applications (kill what you see now, wait for more to sprout, kill that, etc.). Rototilling would spread it as it grows back from bits of root. It will come through weed barriers.

Wow. Ok thanks. Good to know about the rototilling and weed barrier not working. I'll definitely look into Glyphosate. Sounds like it might slow us down on creating new beds, but better to do it right than suffer more consequences!

Oh. It's Roundup. The idea of using Roundup on my entire back yard is pretty depressing... especially since we have a cat that spends a lot of time back there. I guess we'll have to do it if that is the only thing that's going to work:(

If anyone has tried anything else that has worked for bermuda grass I'd love to hear about it. Otherwise I'll have to come to terms with it.

Glyphosate is less dangerous than vinegar. The surfacants (detergent) are the most dangerous part and you'll be skipping that part if you are next to water. Plus it's not like you will be using it forever. You just need to get a handle on the weed load and then you can put the sprayer away.

Just let it dry before sending the cat out back and you'll be fine.

Spectracide weed and grass is good. It doesn't hang around in the soil as long so plants won't be stunted. It works fast. If you get most of it with roundup, you can get the stragglers with the other. The Bermuda is going to take a few sprayings. I dug mine out and got rid of as many visible roots as I could see and sprayed the rest with the Spectracide twice. Bermuda never goes easily except when it's put into shade for a long time.

Thanks for the information. We understand now that this is going to take some time and commitment. One question, right now the grass is mixed in with mulch that is still there from our sheet mulching. Should we just spray the daylights out of it with the Glyphosate or is it better to rake the mulch away before spraying? Do we need to dig up the grass before spraying, or rake it?

Because of the drought we are still in,we chose to let our backyard die off last year.Then we had those few rains at the end of Dec,and the beginning of this year.We got a little bit of grass back and a bunch of Bermuda,and other weeds.2 weeks ago dh sprayed roundup all over what used to be our lawn and he's going to repeat the process again this week,and then we were going to rototill it,and start all over,but after reading the above post,perhaps that's not going to work.

I suggested,jokingly that we just call a cement truck and cement the whole thing..lol.

I also suggested we do the whole yard in pavers,leaving spaces here and there for some sort of plants.

While we were at it,we cleaned all the flower beds,pulled the few weeds that were there,laid down new weed barrier edgings,black plastic weed barrier and lots of new mulch.We just today put all the potted plants back in.

At this point,I think it's back to the drawing board.As it looks now,I don't think this drought will end anytime soon,unless New England dumps their snow here in S.Cali.LOL

Kathi

This is a very good resource on controlling bermuda grass. Different control measures are required at different times of year. Bermuda grass is a PITA. Not only do you have the stolons but it produces a lot of seed too. And then on top of that, the seed stays viable for 2 years. A grass specific systemic and preemergent herbicides will be very useful. Use deep mulch to keep the seeds shaded. And stay on top of it. You have to be dedicated to eradicating it. Whenever it pops up spray it before it gets too big.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7453.html

I agree on keeping the mulch layer intact. It's easier to kill what's on top than to start .more seeds growing by tilling. I have done both and unless you are going to sift or pick out all the stolons and roots I would not disturb the soil until the grass is dead. Old plywood can help if you don't want to spray particular areas. Bermuda dies off in shade but it takes time. If you're worried about kitty,pull the mulch back, spray, wait for it to dry and spread the mulch back over the Bermuda. Do a section at a time. Once it's gone you'll be so happy. It's worth the work to remove it.

My neighbor had the top layer of soil removed along with the Bermuda and it still regrew. He sent his best soil to the landfill and now has hard subsoil with sod on top with bermuda returning. Same lawn, worse soil.

I lived in Redwood City for MANY years...climate is perfect for growing. I also had Bermuda grass and always had 1-2 indoor/outdoor cats. I used Roundup with No problems whatsoever. It sure makes life easier. After you get your yard under control only an occasional spot spray when you see a bit of the dreaded Bermuda stick up will be necessary.

I got rid of the bermuda lawn my home came with by letting it go bone dry all last summer (I live in Fresno - 100 degree heat is common) and then using a pick axe to uproot the entire lawn area down to about 3 inches. Since the bermuda was mostly along the surface, this got rid of most of the roots. I now just combat the rogue shoots that come through, particularly along the edges of a concrete walkway. When those come up, I usually use a hand trowel or shovel to follow the root down and uproot the entire piece. I haven't used round-up at all, but be warned, this method of eradication is not for the faint of heart - it has taken a lot of time and physical effort. So far I've cleaned up about 2000 square feet of bermuda, with 200 square feet left do clean up this summer.

The roots can go down three feet. We had a small infestation on the dry front slope. I would pull out any green shoot as soon as I saw it. After 10 years, it appeared to be gone for good, and five years on it has not come back, so I think I'm ready to declare victory.

I'll tell you, after researching this and hearing peoples' stories, I'm not sure I would ever declare victory! Well, either that or I'd use apparent victory as an excuse to go on an exotic vacation, buy a car, something like that. Me, I'm at the beginning of this and getting ready for my long term battle:)

Also, be aware that if you have a mow n blow gardener who uses his own mower, it could come back from seeds stuck on his mower from previous clients. I'd have them use only your own mower.

Yes a garden crew can re weed all your hard work in just one fifteen minute visit. I was so frustrated with my friend. He had weeds come in to the front parkway and let them go. I cautioned him not to mow there and then mow his weed free back lawn which is large until he got rid of the parkway weeds. Of course he spread these weeds to his back grass and now it's going to be very difficult to remove them. I don't think he'll put the effort in. 20 dollars of weed spray would have fixed it in the first place. Summer is your friend on this project. Some people waste time and money trying to kill Bermuda when it's dormant only to see it grow in the spring. By the time fall comes, you will be grass free and ready to go.

As you know by now, sheet mulching works on Marathon, but not on grass with rhizomes and stolons, such as Bermuda or St. Augustine. More effective is 1) spray Roundup while grass is green 2) when lawn looks dead, water to reveal any living parts that are left 3) use Roundup again to kill the part that survived the first spray. I wish I had done this in my front yard. I'm still pulling out Bermuda 10 years later, although it has dwindled. I used Roundup on a narrow strip on the side of my house and haven't had bermuda coming up in my succulents.

I scanned this very quickly so I may have missed something important. If you plan to rototill, you MUST water and 3 weeks later treat with Round-up again. You are diggin up/spreading little chopped up pieces of Bermuda grass all over again, and they will simply sprout and re-establish themselves.

I use black plastic to kill perennial weeds. It takes about 3 weeks in sunny weather. Has anybody tried this on Bermuda grass? If black plastic doesn't work, use Roundup. You would be amazed how little Roundup is needed to kill a weed.

Plastic doesn't work on bermuda. Rototilling is not recommended because it just breaks up the stolons and spreads them around. Try this link below. It will give you information about removing different types of lawn.Tree of Life Nursery resources

I'm in the same boat right now--a few rogue offshoots of Bermuda grass are popping up from my cardboard/heavily mulched front yard. They are sparse enough that pulling and Roundup are about equal effort-wise. I've been going with Roundup, even though it often takes a couple applications just to kill the new shoot. With the California dryness it has been a bit more difficult than usual to get them in active growth--I've obviously sprayed the day after the couple of times it has rained, but other times spraying has caused little change. Does anyone know if the repeated spraying is killing down to the runner, or would pulling be just as effective?

when we visited the Santa Barbara Arboretum a few weeks ago, a volunteer told us that she got rid of her bermuda with exactly this method no problems at all. I said OK but it's a disaster for other people. If you are just down to a few stubborn spots, you might try digging it out but be on the ready in case some starts up here and there weeks and months later. If you are planting a 1 or 5 gallon plant, then I would get rid of any old soil and roots and put in soil that never had bermuda in it in the hole just to be safe.

Pulling Bermuda is a waste of time. Any bit that breaks off and remains will just resprout. Roundup or a grass specific herbicide are the only things that work and then only with repeated reapplication. That doesn't mean that I don't pull it -- I do, but I can't stop myself. Emily Greene says that cardboard and mulch with pulling will work, but not in my experience.

Well we've been spraying for a few months now. It IS getting better, but we still have it coming back. I've decided that spraying works but it takes a lot of patience and many applications. I agree that pulling it doesn't work, unless maybe there is very little there. I'm the original poster on this one and I can tell you from experience that sheet mulching does not work. We did everything by the book and it somehow got going between the mulch and the cardboard. It thrived. Waste of time and effort. Now I'm in it for the long haul. Eventually it will be conquered, but I've completely given up on doing it without chemicals.

Bermuda grows best in warm weather; so now is it's time--just keep up with it and you will conquer eventually. As soon as you see some green, pull or spray so it can't feed itself. If it can't photosynthesize, it gets weaker and weaker.

Everyone wants to be organic, but there are some plants, Bermuda being one, that need the "big guns". It wasn't what you did with the sheet mulch. It's the bermuda itself.

Thank you. This makes me feel better about blasting the hell out of it with Round Up:)

I like to remind myself that at least it isn't Himalayan blackberry whenever I start to feel particularly angry with the stuff.

This thread (old now) has been very informative. Had planned on a simple lawn to natives conversion with sheet-mulching - but the spots of bermuda gave me pause. I'm very anti-chemical as the OP was - but I think I will go the same route. Don't suppose you have any hopeful follow-up report, ktgrandy?

I know this is an old thread, but it set me on a path of sheet mulching after exhausting most avenues (including chemicals).

I have used two layers of heavy duty cardboard under 3" to 4" of cedar mulch with great success. Any gap or crack the Bermuda will get through. So really, the cardboard is 4 layers thick in places. This is heavy duty cardboard that I purchased at big box store and it is labeled as such. Also I collected from packages and any place I could get my hands on it. Thin cardboard and paper will not work.

Raised beds have been used to grow vegetable crops year round (tunnels in the winter). There are spots here and there where it comes up. I use a garden fork to get down to the roots, remove as much as I can and then layer back some more cardboard/mulch. Most of the grass we do fight is on the borders. The places in the middle of what was the lawn is always on the top of mulch and comes up easily.

Portions of this cardboard/mulch has been converted to meadow by direct sowing on the mulch and no Bermuda has appeared. This was done 4 years after that area was covered (just when we got around to doing it). No chemical has ever been used (except when it WAS a lawn).

The back yard is 75' x 35' and was half common Bermuda and the other section was Tiff Eagle mixed with Princess 77. The Tiff and Princess 77 were much easier to deal with and no sign of them. The common Bermuda is just a weed at this point. We have started our front yard in the same manner and look forward to a meadow with micro clover path/borders.

We hardly see June bugs (sorry, do not know the scientific name of them) due to far less white grubs. Skunks, which like the grubs, are no longer digging up the yard. Earthworms are in abundance (they like the cardboard). We have cut our water bill to 1/3 of what it was. We no longer need to apply all the chemicals to keep the lawn green and pristine. I still like a good swath of turf, but I will leave that to the golf courses and sporting fields (time and money).

Long post of rambling, but my two cents. I know it is somewhat costly to do this, but it was still cheaper than the water bill for a summer and the chemical additions. Far cheaper.