How to remove Wild Bermuda or Wiregrass from Established lawn.

Greenthumb – posted 08 September 2001 07:57

Just purchased a home here in Chesterfield Va. And with the home came Wild bermuda grass or wiregrass. It has invested some areas of the back lawn in patches of up to10 sq ft. I have been hand pulling it, and I am wondering if there is anyone that has any advice on this matter?picture of the pest —-> http://www.agnr.umd.edu/users/hgic/diagn/graphics/large/bermuda_l.JPG

Don – posted 03 June 2005 12:39

I had the same stuff growing. Once my sod germinated & after about 5 mowing occasions, I applied a weed & feed. I used Vigoro, which seemed to have done the trick. You can purchase it at Home Depot.

phents01 – posted 13 June 2005 20:05

I have the same problem and am putting round up on it now. There is a landscape company that says there is a chemical that just kills bermuda grass and clover, but of course, they charge you a fortune. I dont know what it is and don’t know any one either who knows. I am in the midst of killing all the bermuda I can. Then I am planning on seeding –keeping good and watered– then must fertilize to make grass good a strong. If grass is thick the bermuda (wire) grass will get weak because it likes sun; not shade.

MJS – posted 21 August 2005 20:04

A product called Turflon Ester, applied as directed, monthly keeps bermuda grass in remission (but does not eliminate it entirely).

Dee Clark – posted 01 September 2005 07:06

I have been there. What worked? I killed as much of the Bermuda grass as I could with Round-Up. This process takes at least 2 years. The second year keep spraying Round-Up on any new shoots you find. I then re-seeded, but for several years you will need to spot kill any Bermuda shoot you find and don’t wait, kill them as soon as you see them. This Bermuda grass is tough to kill. It sends out underground shoots two feet deep and can go for 8 to 10 feet out. If you aren’t committed to getting rid of it, you won’t. Good luck.

tsmercruz – posted 06 October 2010 11:00

Gentlemen:I actually got on the Internet this morning to try to find where I can buy “Wild Bermuda” or “Wire Grass” SEED!??! It wasn’t long before I stumbled upon your forum and now, I’m a subscriber.I am retired, live in Charlotte, NC, where we’re supposed to have beautiful lawns of fescue and turfgrass, right? What a joke that is!Wire Grass and Wild Bermuda are NOT the same as the ‘real’ Bermuda and St. Augustine. I have been fighting wire grass for 46 years now and I’m too old and too tired to continue.I actually dug a large hole in the middle of that stuff and observed that it goes down three feet deep at a minimum! No wonder it keeps coming back! All the chemicals we spray on top of it never kills all the freakin roots!!! I’ve tried all the chemicals you’ve discussed and I’ve even mixed them together, but it still comes back! I tried covering my flower beds with “roofing tar paper”! No problem, the stuff bored right through it. I put down THREE layers! Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! I have tried different grass seeds, blends and mixtures from here to Oregon State, only to feed them to the Wire Grass Tsunami that awaited them in my lawn. In a last ditch effort, I had all the sod removed from my lawn and new, 100% turf fescue sod put down in place of it thinking I had solved my problem…. Oh, how I was mistaken in my thinking on that!

GUYS, THIS STUFF GOES DOWN IN THE GROUND THREE FEET!!! BOO-YAH!!! CONCRETE YOUR LAWN!PAINT IT THE SHADE OF GREEN YOU LIKE! YOUR NEIGHBORS WILL MARVEL AT YOU!

Stop the insanity and the expense! Don’t worry, be happy; it could be worse?!!?