Bermuda propagate's from runners/rhizomes,stolens,not from leaves. Just don't mow low enough to pick up the rhizomes. I wouldn't rely on heat or drying out to kill viability of rhizomes,they are survivors.

Around here we call it zombie grass, because it comes back from the dead. Sure, temperatures of 140-150F will kill the seeds and the vines, but just remember that only the core of the compost pile gets hot. You need to turn it regularly, and each time you turn it, and make the outside into the inside, make sure it gets hot. I'm not picky, and I'm fine with 90% composting, where some admixture that never quite penetrated the pile doesn't get thoroughly digested, but if I were fighting Bermuda grass I sure wouldn't tolerate that incompleteness.

As to propagation from stolons, sure, but left to mature you can be sure that the plant will produce seed heads. My Bermuda regularly does.

Ok, that's what I was thinking. I'ts not worth the risk to me. Once Bermuda takes hold I know of no sure-fire way to kill it, at least not without destroying the rest of the garden, and I certainly don't want it in and around my asparagus patch! Thanks to both of you!

In fact, my Bermuda (which is invading my St. Augustine), is right now in the midst of seeding. The seed heads are only an inch or so off the ground, so any collecting mower will "harvest" them efficiently. You lay those seed heads out in the sun for a few weeks with the leaves and stolons, and you can be sure the seeds will remain viable. So I guess if you're sure your Bermuda isn't seeding, you have other options.

Bermuda forms seed heads in response to stress. In the spring, when the soil is just warming, it will do so abundantly. A standard strategy to avoid that is to hit it with high nitrogen fertilizer. That makes it develop foliage as opposed to seed heads. Kinda strange, when you're trying to discourage Bermuda by fertilizing it!

I hot composted the bermuda I pulled up from the yard when I first started making garden beds. What worked:

1) leaving the bermuda plants (leaves, seeds, stems, roots, stolons - everything) to bake in the sun for a week.

2) When composting, do so sparingly - a little at a time - ensuring the Bermuda plants remain in the hottest portion of the pile.

3) Works only if you maintain a hot compost. I was turning it at the appropriate intervals and adding fuel when necessary to maintain those hot temps.

And I can get lazy. If one is very diligent with turning and fueling a hot compost for the entire range of composting seasons, a greater percentage of Bermuda plants can be composted at once. I didn't trust myself, so I left the Bermuda plants in the sun and composted a little at a time.

Coupe,where in the world have you been,how's your health and what is the latest on your gardening and landscapeing? Just some observations on composting in general and persistent plants/seed in particular. Small quanities of stuff like Bermuda,Dallis Grass,Johnson Grass and Nut Grass are not worth the extra preventive measures required. I suppose if someone gave me a huge pile I might undertake composting it in a bin of it's own if I was desperate for material. If in doubt,just throw it away or mulch areas of erosion where it could prove helpful. Hybrid Bermuda doesn't seed whereas common does.

Nope, baking Bermuda grass seeds in the sun for a week won't kill 'em. Just won't.

Hiya klem Good to see ya. You doing okay? Everything's good here. I'm stronger than ever. Been busy learning a new trade and had property ownership issues recently. Leveled the entire area by hand. With issues resolved (we kept the property), I have begun starting over with the garden and choosing less work and more planting. ha

They have a hybrid version of Bermuda that is even stronger than the main Bermuda species. When I saw this I wondered what evil mind conjured this. Bermuda that's even stronger? No way!

That and the evil mind that concluded Johnson grass would be great planted as animal fodder. Cursed!

bon

Good to hear you are back in the saddle and starting a new gardening season. We skipped winter all together in Central Tx going from summer weather into mild spring like weather instead. It will be interesting to see if and what effect that has on gardening. If that Bermuda and Johnson Grass start's getting the best of you Okies holler and we will ship y'all some dillos and wild hogs to root it up.

klem I hope your area doesn't turn into a hopper heaven or even fleas or beetles or something. It's just wrong. Ya know?

"toxcrusadr(Zone 6a - MO)

last Thursday at 10:02AM

Whenever I pull it in the garden, I drop it in the aisles to let the sun kill it for a few weeks. If it piles up I will take those dead rhizomes and compost them, but only after they're dead dead dead. I have not seen it sprout in my compost after a few weeks in the hot sun."

Took the words right outta my mouth!

Another option is to burn them for bio-char

I don't think I've seen seeds on my Bermuda. It's mixed into a coarse fescue lawn though, which I mow high, so maybe they are down in there an I haven't noticed them. I'll have to look that up. I rarely bag clippings so in my case it shouldn't matter much.

Uh-oh, I've definitely seen THESE all over the place so unless they look a lot like some other grass...

Bermudagrass Seed Spikes

But they are not an inch tall, they stick up 6".

Turns out if you look up 'crab grass seed heads' instead, the pics look almost identical. So I probably have a crap ton of crabgrass too. Good news and bad news I guess.

Bermuda seed is much smaller and on smaller stem than crabgrass ( you can see the difference). We might be putting too much into Bermuda seed anyhow since it's actually difficult to get a lawn from seed if you try. As far as drying the roots before tossing into compost,consider this. When Bermuda is cut for livestock hay it lie's in the sun to lose moisture and cure before it's baled and stored. If it weren't the farmer would wind up with a barn full of compost if it didn't catch fire first. The hay can remain inside barn for 2 or three years before being fed. Wherever Bermuda hay is fed during winter,new grass sprouts the following spring where cows pushed hay into muddy ground. Burn the ^$%@*@ stuff in your fireplace or ship it to another country but don't throw it in your compost and it won't be a problem. Well actually,I think if there's any within 2 blocks,some will find it's way into your flower bed. ):

I'm sure I got my infestation from curb-shopping for other people's bagged grass clippings back when I was making boatloads of compost to fix the clay. It started right where the compost bin was at that time. Word to the wise.

I'm trying to kill it off once and for all with Bayer Bermudagrass Control.