i hate bermuda grass!!!

mitchgrant – posted 14 February 2005 16:36

i was once told the best thing to do with bermuda grass is to fertelize and enjoy, but i hate the stuff. I killed, re-soiled, and re-seeded my lawn two years ago and have a well established lawd of fescue. but that $@&^! bermuda grass seems to come out of nowhere. can u suggest a weed and feed for it? is there such a thing? and when is the best time to put down a pre-emergent? any help is geatly appreciated.

ted – posted 14 February 2005 16:56

where are you? i’m having difficulty seeing any place where you would sow fescue actually seeing bermuda this time of year.are you sure you’re not mixing up your weeds?

mitchgrant – posted 15 February 2005 15:19

i seeded with fescue a couple of falls ago and have a well established lawn of fescue, but that darn bermuda keeps coming up from somewhere (i suspect my neighbors). i’m in charlotte, north carolina. i’m not sowing anything right now. i will aerate and re-seed in the fall, but am trying to figure out how to get rid of the bermuda between now and then and once and for all have a good looking 100% fescue lawn.

ted – posted 15 February 2005 19:45

ok, you’re probably not using roundup on the bermuda prior to overseeding. make sure it’s warm and the bermuda is actively growing, then use pro strength roundup to eliminate the bermuda- it may take a couple of sprayings- then overseed with fescue- after that you’ll need to fertilize according to the fescue needs, not the bermuda needs- great website at ncsu.

Buck – posted 16 February 2005 07:53

Here’s an unconventional process you may want to consider. I’m in NC as well so we likely have similar growing conditions. I have bermuda, 419 and GN1, in which nutsedge ocassionally sprouts. So, a couple of years ago I used Manage to control the sedge. And much to my surprise it not only took out the nutsedge, but the bermuda surrounding where I sprayed. Now, I believe that Manage is labeled for bermuda, but my turf was replete with 6″ diameter spots where I had applied it. And it was a flat out kill, the turf never recovered and the spots only filled in from new growth coming in from the healthy turf.

So, my suggestion is to find something labeled for your turf, but not for bermuda, and spray the offending bermuda, even if the weeds designated for the product are not present. Manage does this for me but I expect there are many others and Manage is not exactly cheap.

Summary — spray the area with something your turf will tolerate but bermuda will not. Manage was every bit as effective as RoundUp for me.

Buck

ted – posted 16 February 2005 18:39

yeah, the neat thing about roundup is that you can reseed immediately after application, so you don’thave to look at the dead spots too long.

rbphoto – posted 16 April 2005 15:01

I live in Charlotte too and I DETEST Bermuda with a passion !!Only looks good 6 weeks out of the year, feels terrible underfoot, and takes over. Roundup makes a specific “Bermuda Grass Killer”; you’d have to apply in Sept.as the first step in a total lawn rehab. Best thing I have found to control Bermuda and keep it from encroaching from a stupid neighbor’s yard is a regular [every 4-6 weeks] application of pelletized lime. Bermuda loves the acid soil here, and it doesn’t take a huge change in Ph to suppress it.

Bryn – posted 17 April 2005 21:58

Try a cocktail of Turflon and Acclaim Extra mix. Works good over a Fescue lawn.

Bryn