Damn Bermuda Grass
 

Warning: Overly long story about grass.

A couple of years ago I noticed that I had a good amount of Bermuda grass in a 10' x 15' or so area of my back yard. I'm not sure where it came from, it seemed to just sort of pop up, and I haven't noticed it in any of my neighbors yards.

So in the fall of 2011 I sprayed Roundup on the whole area, let it sit for a couple weeks and then reseeded with fescue. The lawn looked great until early summer when the Bermuda popped back up.

Last fall I was determined to get rid of it once and for all. I sprayed Roundup again. Waited about a week, raked a bit and then sprayed another healthy dose of Roundup. Then I tilled the entire area under, brought in a bit of extra topsoil, reseeded and laid a straw mat.

The seed went down a little later than I would have liked, so it looked a little rough over the winter. But with the wet spring, the grass really took off. By mid-May, it looked as good as the rest of my yard.

I went out yesterday to fire up the grill and about pissed myself. Bermuda grass all over the place again. There wasn't a trace of it a week ago.

I'm pretty much at a loss. I never would have imagined it could come back after I tilled everything under. I suppose I could have stripped the surface before I tilled, but I probably would have had to bring in a bunch more soil.

Any suggestions from the CP grounds crew?

mix it with some northern California sensamilia and resead the entire yard

Your uncle molests collies.

Are you positive that it is bermuda?

Are you sure it's BermudaGrass?

I've had some success with Bayer Advanced Bermuda Grass Control for Lawns.

I'm in Hutchinson, BTW. Fescue lawn.

tl;dr

Just paint a large red Arrowhead on it.

you need to know what the rest of your lawn is to find a product that will kill the Bermuda but not the rest. Tilling only makes it worse.

Good question. Actually, no. It just looks like Bermuda to my untrained eye and has the "runners" along the ground that I typically associate with Bermuda. Although it could definitely just be a close relative.

It's a bitch to get rid of, that's for sure. Unfortunately, your tilling likely is the culprit - when you till, you're cutting the roots into smaller pieces, but not eliminating them. Which is why it came back.

You're going to need something stronger than Roundup - a selective herbicide that won't damage the other type of grass in your lawn - maybe something like Atrazine or Ornamec.

Rest of the lawn is fescue.

Ornamec is supposed to be good, but you have to know what the rest of your lawn is.

Just give in and have a bermuda lawn? It's drought resistant as hell.

My main gripe with our bermuda back yard is its tendency to run into our beds.

this. Bermuda grass is badass. It can't be killed easily, it grows low to the ground so mowing can be done much less often, and it is so thick, it chokes out weeds. Cut it up and bring it to my house. I'll take it.

Is this the casual sex thread?

Is quackgrass the same thing as bermudagrass? Some of the "alternate" names are the same (couch, quitch, devils, wheat, scutch, twitch, witch, dog or durfa grass) but the descriptions sound different.

I have the same problem.

Did the same thing...sprayed roundup on it last fall and it is coming back. Not as thick...but it isn't gone that's for sure. I am spraying it again. It is frustrating as I have some nice turf around it that is getting killed from the roundup as well.

And no...don't let bermuda take over your lawn. It will create an issue for not only you, but your neighbors. Don't be that guy. And you might as well not have any planting beds as the bermuda will take over that.

Bermuda is not badass.

Is it maybe nutsedge grass?

field turf.

if I can ever afford it, I'm doing that shit in the front yard.

NutSedge is distincly different than Berumda.

Looks like I'll give Ornamec a shot. I just find it hard to believe that a "selective kill" chemical is going to do better than glyphosate, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

You have to keep spraying with roundup. It will take a few seasons.

Dont use Orthos bermuda killer...it's a waste. Don't till...you will just spread it.

I'm painfully aware of what nutsedge is. But after a bad couple of years, I think I finally have that particular devil under control.

That would own.

No mowing. Just vacuum.

The good thing is that since it's a relatively small area, it's not an enormous hassle to kill and reseed every year until I figure it out.

I wish nutsedge was the issue and not Bermuda.

Rageemur is trying to figure out how to terminate his relationship with his Bermuda grass

Yeah, I reseeded the area I killed off last year. And since Bermuda is a warm season grass, I had false hope this spring when all my seed started to come through without the Bermuda.

I knew better...this past month the Bermuda has slowly been coming back in those areas. ****er.

Ya till the neighborhood kids start using your front yard for football games

The Bermuda grass is really starting to bore me.

Me either. Almost sounds like some dormant seeds germinated in the spring after the Roundup kill. Maybe get the next batch of fescue growing good and then hit it with pre-emergents in the fall and spring. Bermuda germinates when the soil temp his 70 so I'd make sure to time the pre-emergent well next year.

GET OFF MY FIELD TURF!! / Milkman

We have Bermuda grass around here and the rabbits killed half of it in my front yard this year.

Casual sex and Bermuda grass no longer fulfill me.

May want to get a little help here - http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7453.html

One other item - be sure to clean the underside of your lawnmower deck after each mowing. You could be "reseeding" the stuff without knowing.

Turflon Ester. If the lawn is Fescue also spray with Ornamec. The Turflon Ester is OK on Bluegrass or Fescue. Bermuda runners are long. If your neighbor has it, you will get it. Best bet is to get your neighbors to fight it too. Roundup and re-seeding is your best bet, but it will take several applications. Start now with Roundup. Fertilize and water the area. When it comes back (it will) hit it again. Good luck. I live next to a golf course. It is a yearly battle.

I hate it sooooo much.

Luckily it appears to just be me. I'm trying to keep it that way.

Make sure that Bermuda isn't holding 5 U.S. Navy Avengers

Buy some beach sand, a spreader, and a used walking greens mower. Top dress regularly, then mow the shit down tight and have your own putting green.

Putting on Bermuda grass, no fun.

Once you've killed it off again and got your new fescue growing you need to put down a pre-emergent a few times, especially in the spring before the bermuda germinates.

The guy across the street from me actually put in Bermuda sod. We couldn't believe it, and it looks like shit too.

I hate the stuff. We've been able to control it for the most part, but if there's a thin spot in the fescue, it pops up.

I'm a southern guy, so I guess thats where it comes from, but I'd take Bermuda over fescue every day.

Make sure you use roundup when it is growing... Its a warm season grass, and Roundup only kills what it touches. So you want it to be pulled into the roots. Another thought is to talk to a lawn service, see if they have a "guaranteed control". If it comes back it's their problem. Pre-emerge chemicals only inhibit germination of seed. If you don't get the roots it will be back

Aint' anything wrong with Bermuda if you make sure not to cut more than 25% of its height. If you let it get too tall then cut it, it looks like ass.

I like my Bermuca grass...of course I live here in the South where thats about all there is...

HeHe. I introduced bermuda into my lawn two years ago and now its spreading into the neighbors lawn. They have a fescue lawn that is so beautiful and mow it twice a week. And they're in their 80's. I bet they cuss me every day and say horrible things about me.

Cut little triangles or something.

The jackasses who owned our house before us planted bamboo. I constantly apologize to my neighbors. Offered to split cost of ditch witch and erecting a barrier between our houses, but they never replied. Oh well. Now they're infested.

i'm sorry but you are in the burmuda grass triangle

sorry for your loss.

Atrazine will be pretty hard on your grass and really limits reseed. And as far as I k know you can't spray it in town. I think it is a restricted use pesticide.

Glyphosate has no residual. It kills the **** out of Bermuda but it doesn't keep any more from coming.