Long story short, my irrigation system has a rain sensor built in… not sure what happened but it must have failed. I noticed over the last week that my grass was getting brown and dry. So I removed the rain sensor and upped the watering. It’s kinda coming back, but im noticing that this is starting to really grow in to the brown areas… im assuming this is bermuda, and i know, “congrats on my new bermuda lawn” but has anyone had any success with killing the bermuda without killing the lawn? I am in region 9, lawn is 90/10 fescue
by Civil_Garlic
9 Comments
I had a few small areas I hit it with glyphosate twice over two weeks, then dug it up.lost some surrounding tttf but I was reseeding in the fall anyway. Haven’t seen any this year. I think mine just came from some seed mix or compost mix, so it it wasn’t established deep.
Not in my experience. I put grass killer on large portions of my yard and covered it with tarps for a month. Killed it good. Then reseeded with Fescue. It was great for 1 year. But it just came back from the neiighbors yard again. 2 years later its worse than it was to start.
Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Just buy yourself some Fusilade II. It’ll kill the Bermuda but not the Fescue.
https://www.domyown.com/fusilade-ii-herbicide-p-1774.html
It can be done with dedication!
https://www.reddit.com/r/lawncare/s/sT9ZrAv1aM
Nope.
That’s definitely warm season but perhaps a different kind than Bermuda. But if it is: [The bible](https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/content/dam/pubs_ext_vt_edu/spes/SPES-350/SPES-350.pdf)
Basically:
1) In winter, when the soil is wet, rip out as long a fucking piece as you can. You won’t get it all, but maybe it’ll be enough
2) keep the fescue healthy and long. Bermuda will struggle to compete with established grass.
3) pre emergent and post emergent herbicides will basically handcuff the Bermuda while your cool season can establish and get ready for summer
4) if it’s a smallish (less than 6 square feet) area, consider just hand ripping as much of that shit out in the summer and fall, when your herbicide regimen is over. You can’t do anything about the underground roots but you can seriously handicap it and prevent it from creating bigger brown spots
5) rinse and repeat for decades
6*) i want it nice now: cutout the whole section, as deep as you can, replace with sod. Same problem as 4, but it will look nicer faster.
Looks like it might be nimblewill, which is a total bitch to get rid of. Mesotrione is the only way I know of to get rid of it.
I’m assuming the 10 in 90/10 is bluegrass. You have a few options with berumda. Nothing is one and done. This is usually a multi year battle that is won slowly. A marathon instead of a sprint if you will.
First up… Pylex. Pylex is the gold standard for selective bermuda control in cool season lawns as it slowly suppresses bermuda. There is nothing that will outright kill bermuda like other typical weeds. Mix MSO and triclopyr for your best shot at a selective herbicide. As a heads up though, Pylex is very expensive at $416 for 4 ounces. Granted you add 1mL per gallon of water at most using a syringe so it can last awhile especially if you’re spot spraying. The last 3 months prior to bermuda dormancy are the most critical times to apply. The idea is to starve bermuda of food (carbobydrates) prior to cold weather dormancy. This means less food to come out in the spring with so hopefully it’s severely weakened and dies off over winter.
Next best option is fusillade II. This is far less expensive at $50 a bottle but not quite as a effective. Often mixed with triclopyr as well this might be a good starting point if you are spot spraying and don’t want to drop $$$.
WARNING: Fusilade is NOT safe for kentucky bluegrass. You may can get away with spot spraying but do not broadcast this is you have KBG.
Lastly we have the least expensive… triclopyr + mesotrione. It’s better than nothing. Not sure how effective it would be. Again the name of the game is repeated suppression.
If all else fails, spot spraying with glyphosate can work. I’ve gone this route in the past. I prefer the foamer spot applicator from Green Shoots. This does kill bermuda outright in one go but only the stolon above ground. It likely will not kill the rhizomes underground so you will still likely need to apply annually for a few years before the bermuda truly stops coming back. If you only have a few small spots this may be the easiest and most cost effective solution.