Virginia, 7b.
It’s my first year of converting this patch into a native garden, and this Bermuda grass is really harshing the vibe.
I sheet mulched in April and impatiently planted a hundred or so native plugs I found from the property and from fb marketplace. They’ve been doing surprisingly well…but this Bermuda grass is constantly encroaching on them. It’s already killed my wild indigo by shading it out, and I don’t even want to know about the mess of rhizomes underneath, hogging nutrients away from the rest.
I’m out there almost every day pulling it up. The first photo is what it looks like when left alone for about a week.
It’s driving me nuts!
by ashashinscreed
19 Comments
Ugh it’s the bane of my existence as well
Once the natives take hold the grass will get crowded out. It will take a few years for that to happen so be prepared to keep pulling, lol.
Buy a Dutch hoe (also called a push pull hoe). It won’t eliminate the weeding, but it’ll make it go faster.
I till but seems you can’t. I also dig it out in or after a rain. I use a screwdriver. I dig around the largest area and follow it until I can get the most. I’m almost free of it in my beds and an now using a manual edging tool to keep it from spreading. The fescue is outcompeting it in the yard thankfully.
I know tilling can cause problems but it worked great. Left smaller pieces that were easy to pull. It was pretty bad at first.
https://preview.redd.it/6dvd8psu8mef1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31995714323eed18170920b4be3a50100bf7a04f
I installed a new bed this past spring and also have bermuda grass encroaching. I have hard clay soil so pulling is nearly impossible. I have started to spot treat with glyphosate. It has been effective, and none of my plants are showing any damage from it
Roundup. Use a paint brush.
Same here… I typically let it grow for a bit, wait for a good rain, and then go out the next day and handful as much as I have time and patience for.
That doesn’t fix the problem fully, but I pull more than it grows, so I’m slowly beating it. It also helps that because I had to scalp some of my yard and leave the soil bare, I can harvest the stolons and transplant them there.
Glyphosate would be my approach.
Yep. 😭
Im in the same boat… its taking over rapidly and we’ve had so many rainy and/or very hot days, i havent been able to weed.
What i have been doing is waiting until the grass gets a bit tall/long because its easier to grab and pull out. However, I did purchase a grass-specifc herbicide (grass-b-gon) and have been giving that a try in some spots.
The greatest thing about gardening is learning patience.
You can use a glyphosphate, but it is really terrible for the soil.
I had a massive full Bermuda front yard, it is almost 100% native plants and grasses now (down in GA). I’ve never used roundup, just pulled and cut out the grass, I used a hori hori knife and a little garden spade to get the roots out. Overtime sheet mulching, natives pushing it out, and my work have made my entire front yard 99% Bermuda free.
Whatever you choose to do, best of luck to you and thanks for helping restore our world!
Im trying the starvation method- trim every bit of green you see above ground consistently. Eventually it will run out of sugar to grow back. Ive noticed the patch ive been continually working on is less agressive than it used to be. Good luck.
I have Bermuda in parts of my beds as well, along with other plants that pop up consistently like trumpet vine and nutgrass. Every week I scope out and either snip the plants at the base with scissors or hand pull. Yes I don’t get the root system but I find this an effective way to control yet not completely eliminate the unwanted plants. At least they don’t continue to grow bigger and stronger. In some cases eventually the plant will wither away without sunlight.
I feel you. Haven’t done any yard maintenance in a few weeks and hoping the Bermuda grass isn’t going to kill me. 😭
Get a stand up 4 claw weeder. Big box stores sell them for $50. They are fun and addicting to operate, doesn’t require getting dirty, and once the initial batch is tamed, you can pick a day (for me, it’s Sunday) to do a causal stroll around your property and pick what new ones have popped up. Bermuda does do you a favor by having a strong central root which makes it easy for this tool to grab. My neighbor, a Round-up loving 70 yo even bought one for himself after he saw me picking with ease!
Just gotta keep putting more natives in there so they shade out the weeds. any bare soil (which includes mulch) is fair game for weeds. Nature doesn’t like bare earth.
Gotta always be weeding. A bit every day of the small ones. One year to seed = 7 years to weed. Unless it’s cypress vine = eternal pop ups.
I’m fighting the same fight lol. It’s definitely a contest of patience but the continued weed>mulch>weed>mulch cycles are slowly choking it out! I pull it as often as I see it pop up and it’s slowly dying back even in places I haven’t got the rhizomes. You’re making great progress!
You’re getting a lot of bad advice here. You can use clethodim (GrassOut Max), which won’t harm any non-grass species.