Bermuda Grass

Help?????this grass is taking over my lawn. I have lawn service and they say there is nothing I can do to get rid of it. As you can see it looks beautiful but this ugly ( I call it weed) is taking over.

We have same problem. They are hard to pull out.. also hard to rid of.. We have it all over around yard. Hate it hate it.

A nuclear blast might do it, but then again, I'm not sure.

But seriously, my husband got rid of a lot of ours by digging it up and planting another kind of grass that would grow when the Bermuda grass was dormant. If you can shade it out, which the new grass did, you can put it into remission. I won't say that it totally goes away. I don't know if that's possible. Once it gets into the flower beds, though, forget it. Sell the house and move. ;-)

Let me tell you that solarizing the soil does not work. The grass has runners that go down four to six inches down and the heat never gets that far down to kill the whole plant.

Bermuda is a hideous weed that cleverly disguises itself as a grass. My battle with it goes back a good 15 years, when we actually PLANTED it as a lawn grass - yes, on purpose. Ugh.

Regular doses of Roundup helps, but pulling it up is probably a losing proposition: those roots go down a loooooong ways, and they tend to break off, leaving just enough to start the cycle all over again. In the South "they" (whoever "they" are) say that Zoysia can smother it, as can fescues, if properly timed and encouraged to grow and smother it. (Apparently it doesn't like shade, but quite frankly, I haven't found shade to be a significant deterrent to this invasive, hideous plant.

roundup only burns it back.
Poast on the other hand kills it dead.
of course Poast kills all grasses.... nifty if you have an embankment of juniper with bermuda growing in it, or nifty if you have zoysia or centipeed (which are sedge's btw).
not so nifty in your pretty grassed lawn.

drew

I planted St. Augustine in patches throughout my Bermuda yard and eventually it took over. i found that was the easier way to get rid of the Bermuda, just doesnt happen overnight.

I found an article on the internet that says you have to mow more often and at a lower height. Today is my day to mow so I will see if it is not as obvious cut low. Thanks for the input.

Drew, where can I get Poast? Is it pelletized or a liquid concentrate for my pump sprayer?

The paths of my garden get an annual invasion, and it gets just too dang hot to kneel for hours picking out the Bermuda....

Wow.. I'd love to have the problem you guys do.

Have Bermuda sod on my lawn ..... looks great, grows well, but I have WEEEEDS... Dallisgrass weeds, chickweed, you name it.

How can I get the weeds out? I've tried some sprays, and find they make the bermuda croak, but not the dallisgrass.

HELP! :) I have the opposite problem ....

terry, I dunno where you can get Poast.
I get it from a local farm supply place (you know the type... metal building, 3miles down a dirt road, in the middle of the woods).
They sell to local farmers.... I'd hate to be a cotton or peanut farmer without something like Poast.
you do not need a chemical license for it... should run like $120 for 2.5gal, but it'll last forever...
I use it twice a year to edge my garden beds, before re-mulching. When I first bought this property it was nothing but nutgrass and bermuda grass.
between Basagran and Poast I've gotten it fairly bermuda free and nutgrass is non-existant.
Big key with Poast is spray it and leave it.... if you were to spray and than till or mow the bermuda it wouldn't work as well.

Angelsong, I am far from the turf expert... but I have a friend who is... while listening to some rambling discourse on Bermuda care he always mentions the fact that bermuda can be mowed to 5/8 an inch tall (as he did when caring for a golf course) I highly suspect the weeds could not survive that kind of mowing. Of course this completly contradicts the advise listed above of mowing to kill bermuda... in my opinion that IS NOT gonna happen.

Drew

I am trying to cut it incredibly short .... but my yard isn't 100% perfect level, so I end up ripping up yard trying to cut low enough.

I need a weed spray of some kind .... b/c the weeds grow back fast fast .... taller than the bermuda.

Well, I preface this with "be careful what you wish for because it might come true" ...

If you put down decent fertilizer in mid-spring and mid-summer, and use a broad-leaf weedkiller as recommended (Not a "weed-n-feed" because they don't go down at the same time) and maintain a regular mowing regimen for a year or two, and give it water if you get a dry summer, you *can* develop a nice lush patch of bermuda grass. But I'd also put money on a bet that you'll be dog-cussing it as you try vainly to keep it out of any mulched areas such as vegetable garden, ornamental beds, from around trees, etc...

drew, thanks - yes, I do know the genre. I'll give my Co-op a try and go from there ;o)

I put down a good mid spring fertilizer... with a broadleaf spray ... tried three different broadleaf sprays..

What I need is a name of a good one .. that someone here has personal experience with ..

I think the reason that it's hard to find one brand touted above the rest is that they're all pretty much the same: they're going to contain one or more of the following active ingredients: 2-4-D, Dicamba or MCPP.

Here's a factsheet that may help you figure out what would work best on your particular weeds:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/03100.html

I think most sources will tell you that your "window of opportunity" for applying broad-leaf weedkillers is rapidly closing: you don't want to apply this stuff in the hottest summer months (You can spot treat though.) And whatever doesn't get knocked out now can be treated again in late September/early October ;o)

Deeproots,
I just want to ask for clarification on something... Are you saying that you can use the product called Poast on lawns that have centipede sod without hurting the centipede? The reason I ask is because my lawn is centipede and I have noticed a patch with this Bramuda grass in it. I would like to wipe this patch out before it gets out of hand. I know what a nightmare this curse of a weed can be. I had this battle in Texas. I just moved here and really don't want this to turn in to a life long battle so I would like to take care of it now. Please let me know what you think.

SGT,
I hope you have had luck in trying to wipe this thing out. Please do let us know how it goes for you.