I plan [this weekend] to run a thatcher over the entire yard set at it's lowest level [basically a yard tiller] and bust up the soil and to "remove" all the debris via bagging it with a riding lawnmower [Cub Cadet]...then re-seed with the dwarf fescue and do what one poster suggested...STAY ON GUARD!!

In retrospect..I wonder if thatching the yard earlier [shortly after the WG siege begins] would be a better stratigic plan..I chased "runners" that in some cases were 4+ ft long and using a mulching mower has resulted in a bed of thatch.

Ok experts, here's the "alternative" plan..if you were to thatch the lawn early on [in my area, mid-June depending on the temp] when the WG was just getting started, could you in effect create a better chance of a total kill, as what grows back is less established?

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Originally posted by ncbob:
Wiregrass and Bermuda are not the same. I see this discussion on every board I seek help on. If you have wiregrass, you know the difference.

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Bermudagrass thrives on 1)Sunlight 2)H20 and 3)Nitrogen. You can break this triangle by cutting off the light source by placing a sheet of black plastic over well watered activly growing bermudagass for three weeks. It will kill the leaves, rhizomes, stolons and will not come back. Bear in mind bermudagrass will spread back into this area with time as it spreads with above ground runners (stolons) and underground runners (rhizomes). If you have a bermudagrass lawn and want to keep bermuda out of floewerbeds and gardens you will need to have and established border and be judicous about edging and keeping it from spreading. If you spot small plants in the garden pull them up by hand while they are small.

Roundup will kill it. I've had the best success with regular strength Roundup. I have found that if I only spray part of an infested area, there eventually will be regrowth unless I also spray all infected areas in that part of the lawn together; meaning if I am clearing it out of the flowerbeds, I have to kill that area of lawn infestation also or it will come back. I recently sprayed a flowerbed I was replanting with Roundup from a tank sprayer (and using a piece of cardboard as a spray protector for my good plants). I then dug up the ground, spraying anyleftover broken Rhizomes. In some spots I had to go down to a depth of 8-10 inches. I did reuse most of the same soil but put down a spread of newspaper on the surface (to smother anything left; It eventually just becomes mulch) then landscape paper and 2 inches of mulch. THe flowerbed now contains several Rose plants and no Bermuda for 2 seasons now. Professional black plastic yard bags will also work instead of landscape paper, just leave an area around the plant for watering.

I've seen several recommendations to spray Roundup and then remove the top 3 inches of soil. The Rhizomes of this grass do run deep (I've seen around 8-10 inches), so I don't think removing only the top 3 inches will always work. These deep running Rhizomes also cling to deep buried rocks, small and large, to use as a moisture source. This is what helps this grass remain drought tolorent; other grasses can't get that deep. If you have a rocky yard (as I do), remove the rocks whenever you are digging. It will also invade the root ball of other plants for moisture, eventually killing them.

The Bayer Advanced company has just come out with (for 2008 I believe) a product called 'Bermuda Grass Control for Lawns'. It comes in a end hose sprayer bottle and is suppoesed to kill only the Bermuda family of grasses within a fescue lawn, so do not use on a zoysia lawn. I seem to have pretty good results with it. In areas where the grass was starting to mix with my fescue and bluegrass, one shot did the trick. My other area of denser and increasing infestation (30x30 ft), I used 1 bottle the first of each month July, Aug, Sept. It has "controlled" it, but I am not rid of it yet. I will have to de-thatch and reseed that area. I hope the results will start to show next spring. I have not found this product in any local store and had to order it online. I found it for $18 per bottle.

I have heard that Ornamec will also do the job, but I have not tried it. I just found the Bayer product easier to use for the expense, attach to the hose and you're good to go.

As a natural defense, I've heard that Nematodes (which also kill many other lawn pests) will also work against this weed (the eat the Rhizomes), but have not bought any to test as they are a little expensive. I am looking into this for next spring before the Bermuda "greens up".