Can I spray Roundup on my dormant Bermuda?

rdaystrom – posted 04 January 2007 06:58

I have a huge amount of weeds and other grasses growing in my yard that I seeded last spring with Bermuda. I sprayed Trimec-plus late in the season and it helped with summer weeds but this stuff is new. When the Bermuda went dormant stuff popped out everywhere. My yard is green with stickers, rye, and all kinds of other stuff. I was told That I could spray Roundup on it with no harm to the Bermuda. I tried the Trimec plus earlier in the fall on the “stickers” with no effect. I feel like I need something like Roundup. Any suggestions? Thanks. Robert

BuckinNC – posted 04 January 2007 07:21

Yeah, you can use Roundup on bermuda that is absolutely dormant, not just brown.

Best test I have used is to section off a small part of the turf, maybe 1 – 2 square feet. Then try to light it on fire – rolled up newspaper works well. If the turf begins to burn on it’s own after removing the ignition source it is dormant, if not it is not.

If I can, I generally burn the whole yard off – gets rid of thatch and really gets it ready for the spring green up. But, in costal NC we only get enough cold weather to send the turf into dormancy once in 4 or 5 years.

rdaystrom – posted 04 January 2007 11:32

That’s great. Thanks for the advice on checking the dormancy too.

joeearney – posted 05 January 2007 09:42

In your area I would not apply round up to bermuda, it’s not likely that it’s completely dormaint and it will kill the grass. I would apply MSMA from a pump sprayer, about 1 tablespoon per gallon. It probably won’t completely kill the weeds but it will stop their growth. After the weeds are stunted I would mow. After the bermuda turns green the only weed control I would use is MSMA and 2,4d for broadleafs and grass like weeds. If you have nut grass and milk weed you will need other chemicals to control them.

jo*******@*****il.com

tommy – posted 24 March 2007 21:05

Also, don’t think you can scalp the lawn and spray round up on top of runners. The chemical will absorb into the stems and runners, and you will get extensive damage! I screwed up a lawn doing this very thing!

okgrassguy – posted 25 March 2007 21:54

Yep, I just smoked a nice chunk of my lawn this winter doing that. Its recovering nicely and at least I got all the poa and fescue out