How I'm Killing Bermuda Out Of Kentucky Bluegrass

[@petersonfamily6223]

Thanks for the video. I have been battling Bermuda Grass for years now without success. This year, I mowed the lawn as short as possible and rented a gas-powered Classen Power Rake-Dethatcher and Classen slice Overseeder from Home Depot. The Dethatcher went through the Bermuda grass without issue and helped remove more of the surface Bermuda grass than the electric Dethatchers I have used. I used allot of seed with the slice seeder and hope it will overcome the Bermuda Grass.

[@BenjaminT.Minkler]

I just got the GreenWorks DT13B00 for $106 which looks just like that VonHaus Dethatcher Scarifier(different color and some specs) but really happy with it over the other ones I've gotten....funny thing was that when I was putting the handle on, I forgot the mid section, so now it has a 'shorty handle bar' that sticks more upright than back - it still comes up to about the same height as my mower, but you are more on top of it than behind it; which should actually be okay as these things shorta pull themselves along, so I'm just going to leave it like that and try it

[@TurfMechanic]

that sounds great, I'll have to give that one a look as the one I use is so frequently unavailable for sale on amazon. I don't really want to buy a different one to compare but if the Greenworks version you have seems to be a good buy I may look to advise that one as an alternative to my vonhaus.

[@petersonfamily6223]

@@TurfMechanic I tried two of the Sun Joe 12-Amp 13-Inch Dethatcher and Scarifier, but the filter kept getting blocked, and the bearings required ongoing clearing; I then purchased the Rock & Rocker 16-Inch 15 Amp Electric Dethatcher Scarifier and it has worked great for two years now. Unfortunately, it is not available on Amazon. This year, I rented a Classen Power Rake Dethatcher, which went through my grass, including the Bermuda Grass-like butter. The electric-powered dethatches struggle with the Bermuda Grass. Good luck.

[@LawnFlex]

I just did around of turflon ester on my tall fescue lawn to get rid of bermuda and it works like a charm. I did the same thing 2 years ago too and it worked great. It's not that expensive, maybe $40 bucks for like 8-12 oz I think.

[@courtneyrussell3875]

You are correct I used turflon ester on my fescue and kbg lawn. Takes care of Bermuda easily. People are overthinking and overspending on killing Bermuda

[@visionquest414]

Hope you enjoyed the weekend. When would you estimate the lastest you could overseed a lawn in brooklyn, new york? Thanks :)

[@ryan.coogler]

Do the pyl-driver. Plylex + Quinclorac

[@Slick1020]

No. University studies show Turflon Ester with Pylex is the most effective. Pylex has a video on this via KZbin.

[@TurfMechanic]

That would probably be pretty effective if there was a lot of crabgrass mixed into the space as well. In this space I only had a tiny bit so the Pylex/Turflon mix would make more sense for me. I didn't apply PE to this space this year which has given me a nice spot to run a number of projects on undesirables in the lawn. :D

[@KamiKomplex504]

My definition of a weed is anything thorny, rose bush? Weed. So if I ever saw this I would have to go with it. Foothills of N Colorado doesn't see much Bermuda though but was seriously considering seeding Yukon Bermuda.

[@TurfMechanic]

yeah, you are not alone. The majority of people with lawns just want to see green growth without annoying thorns, stickers, or gangly growth that sticks way above the rest of the lawn. With cool season lawns I'd say that bermuda can be really annoying on the edges of beds, paved surfaces, etc due to the later growth stolons. Not a deal breaker for everybody but it is an issue. For your area I'd seriously look into some of the buffalograss varieties. They are super cold and heat tolerant but they are even more drought tolerant than bermuda in those full sun zones. Colorado is increasingly seeing drought every year, if you don't mind the stolons then Buffalo can solve a lot of problems.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I told you, bermuda is the real devils lettuce. Scotts provista kbg

[@TechWizMaster]

up in the montreal area we have crabgrass and quackgrass and some other sh!t but the bermuda like you have i have not seen YET...maybe in a couple years i will, it's warming up so fast 10 years ago we barely had crabgrass and now it's all over the place a major issue and we have acces to NOTHING that can control it.

[@TurfMechanic]

that is scary for the lawn for sure. Especially with how long your days are during the summer. 15 hours of full sun and warm season grasses like Bermuda would have a field day. You're saving grace is the overnight extreme cold temps of winter. If bermuda were to take hold any random summer the freezing soils of winter would kill it off at the root. Crabgrass is an annual which is why it comes back every year but bermuda is different, it seeds but if the roots die in cold winter it just won't come back.

[@TrentDobbs]

I’ll take a long cold winter, and my cool season grass for a $1000 Bob!

[@here2swear]

Hey sir 👋 I have baby grass all over my lawn now where I put down Peat Moss. But there are few bare patches. Is there any point in over seeding those spots over the peat moss?

[@TurfMechanic]

if you have extra seed then go for it. Even thin spots will usually fill in on their own eventually but it takes a lot of time to get full tillering and lateral spread. A bit of extra seed right on the peat moss can help fill in the spots just a bit faster. Not usually necessary but go for it if you can do it easily and cheaply and want full coverage as soon as possible.

[@here2swear]

@@TurfMechanicThanks a lot for that. God bless 🙏

[@jon9509]

I'm down to three patches in my whole yard with the cardboard + glyphosate method. I wish my neighbor would let me take care of theirs and I'd never have to see the nasty stuff again. Wish it was illegal.

[@TurfMechanic]

Can you explain your cardboard + glyphosate method? Do you just surround the bermuda spot with carboard and spray as isolated of a target as possible? Or something else?

[@Slick1020]

@@TurfMechanic His method reminds me of the guy who just used Roundup and q-tips. All it takes is a q-tip of Roundup on bermuda blades of grass or stolon to kill it.

[@gerradgeorge5148]

Do you happen to have any videos or photos you can share of your kikuyu vs your Bermuda? Because when you showed that small one you thought was kikuyu, I’m not sure I could tell the difference either. I’m assuming at some point during its growth, you must be able to differentiate?

[@TurfMechanic]

I'll whip up a small kikuyu vs bermuda video and post it. I have touched on the differences in a number of vids over the past 18 months but I don't think I have a dedicated vid on the topic. Once you see the two and understand the difference it is almost impossible to not notice in the real world. Especially when mature the two grasses are wildly different in appearance and both can be horrible a nuisance too. :D Completly serious, I'll make a rough video today and post it. I'll link to it here to make sure you don't miss it. I'm assuming you live in either socal, hawaii, or AZ...probably in socal.

[@gerradgeorge5148]

@@TurfMechanic wow that’s awesome! Thank you! I actually live in southeast Washington state and I rock a full Bermuda lawn. But as you know it’s not usually desired lol but I was just curious cuz you never know

[@TurfMechanic]

SE Washington is similar to the Klamath falls region of Oregon, high desert that can get quite hot in the summer and cold during the winter but nothing like mid-west northern cold. Cool you have a full bermuda at such a northern latitude! Here's that quick video on kikuyu vs bermuda: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rGa2an2te7F8jMU It's just a vlog so no b-roll or scripting for better info delivery but I hope it is watchable anyway and helpful nevertheless. And just for clarity, Kikuyu grass is akin to a controlled substance in the USA. You can't even buy the stuff in more than just a few states and even in the state of California it's only sellable in a smattering of southern counties. Nobody in my town has a lawn of that stuff by choice. My hat goes off to all the Aussies and Africans that keep Kikuyu in their lawns too!

[@gerradgeorge5148]

@@TurfMechanic oh wow thank you!! I will be watching this right away. Yes i remember I had commented before about it. My front lawn came out really good this year (it’s still green but we JUST finally got out of the 90s so I know that means it’s time for slowdown) but my backyard doesn’t get quite the same level due to it having some shady spots and lots of traffic and use. I’m gonna rye over seed this month and see if I like it better

[@Job-e9c]

Using the Pylex is cool, but in reality, if you had this issue in a space that small, wouldn't it make more sense to just kill everything and reseed? It should definitely be cheaper to do that. Thoughts?

[@TurfMechanic]

It would make way more sense to just kill and reseed imo on a space this small. But for me I need to have experience with these products and tactics for the benefit of people asking me for advice. Thats kind of what i meant when i said i was taking one for the team financially by buying this product and using it. I would probably never recommend someone with a spot this small to buy pylex and do so many herbicidal apps just to control bermuda when a full kill and reseed is so much cheaper. For full size lawns, cost of seed can be very expensive and irrigating seed for even germination can be a pain. Basically the bigger the lawn space is the more likely the pylex option looks best imo.

[@Job-e9c]

How does the bermuda growing there compare to the bermuda you are purposefully growing on the other side of the driveway? I know you thought that one was probably hybrid, but you think this one is common. It might be interesting to compare them.

[@TurfMechanic]

I'm not convinced that the unwanted bermuda is any different than what I'm trying to grow on the other side of the driveway. There's surely some common bermuda in the mix that has seeded in by wind but on the whole I think it's all the same stuff. If you remember I had TONS of bermuda in this side lawn last year. I killed it off as fast as I could to start growing KBG so I didn't really ever expect that I got all of it removed last year. Now I'm just dealing with the remnants.

[@jasonfournier]

It would come back again and then you can't just keep killing it all and re-seeding.

[@Cmass9]

Hey Brian. Is is the triclopyr or the fluazifop that injures the KBG? Or is is just the combination? Thanks!

[@TurfMechanic]

The fluazifop injures it. Research shows that low dose fluazifop paired with triclopyr will damage kbg but the kbg will recover in a couple months...but I haven't experimented with that in real life. Higher dose fluazifop kills the Bermuda off but also kills the kbg, that's the reason for the major dead spots in this video where I experimented early in the summer.

[@HighDesertLawns]

I'm using Pylex and Triclopyr combo on my TTTF for Bermuda. Last season I did the Fusilade/Turflon combo and it killed mt fescue. I'm doing what the BASF KZbin channel says for controlling Bermuda. Its the 3 app process before the first frost. I have two apps down and am seeing some Bermuda die off with no fescue damage. Putting down Pylex also allowed me to reseed at the same time, but you have to wait at least 28 days before the next app. You have to skip the Triclopyr if you see though.BASF still says it might take multiple seasons for total control. Anxious to see next year what comes back, if any.

[@TurfMechanic]

whoa! That's great to hear in the worst way possible. I'm overseeding TTTF into my back yard as we speak. Currently that yard is bermuda/kikuyu and the plan was to seed in fescue then slowly kill off bermuda/kikuyu with fusilade and turflon. I wouldn't have expected it to damage or kill the fescue. I'll have to carefully experiment at the very least or just use the pylex/turflon option next year. Thanks for the warning.

[@HighDesertLawns]

@@TurfMechanic Weird thing is it says the Triclopyr is supposed to help minimize the damage to the fescue. YMMV I guess. BASF recommends seeding with whatever seed to help grow and crowd out the Bermuda at the time of application. I'll be curious to see how yours turns out.

[@dalewiley9208]

What about Ornamec?

[@ryan.coogler]

It will hamper it, not get rid of it. Plus you have to be exact with the application or it will harm your cool season grass.

[@TurfMechanic]

good question, Ornamec is a fluazifop herbicide like Fusilade. It will be very harsh on the KBG and probably kill it. The dead spots in the space shown in this video is damage from fluazifop. If you had a fescue lawn then I'd be comfortable using the Fluazifop in Ornamec but only when paired with Turflon Ester (triclopyr).

[@SingleStacked]

Let us know if the Bermuda comes back.

[@Slick1020]

It takes 2-3 sessions to kill it off.

[@TurfMechanic]

I will, but as slick said it takes a few applications to work according to the label so I really won't have a good sense until next spring since Bermuda is shutting down in late October normally. A good pre-emergent application next spring should also help prevent new growth via seed blowing in from neighbors yards. It will always be a threat, important part is knowing how to limit the damage

[@shangrilaladeda]

You don’t always get what you pay for

[@Slick1020]

He doesn't know what he's doing.

[@MP99.]

Not for nothing but I seem to somehow kill Bermuda without any chemicals! lol Full disclosure my PH is way high (8.1-8.4)so i know it is a losing battle.

[@TurfMechanic]

haha, well, covering everything with black plastic all summer will do the trick too!

[@MP99.]

@@TurfMechanic Might as well same result!!!! . Put down seed. It goes nuts, fills in nice then dies off before a full season passes. Interesting to watch and frustrating. My kids think it is hilarious, and ask if I am going to water my dirt. So I offed them and used them as fertilizer. Will see if that works!🤣 Sulfur for almost 3 seasons now, lots of humic and biochar, microbial packs mixed with fertilizer, ammonium sulfate has not worked. I am guessing my water is helping cause the high PH but IDK. About to put in green river rock instead

[@eric3434]

Not gonna happen. Should have bought a shaver instead.

[@TurfMechanic]

lol, was that a tease at my scruffy beard!? Perhaps it's time to doll myself up again. :D

[@eric3434]

@@TurfMechanic Looking like Shaggy. That Bermuda is real hard to kill. Even while nuking KBG.

[@TurfMechanic]

@@eric3434 truth on all fronts

[@Slick1020]

You're supposed to mix Pylex with Turflon Ester. Apply 3 applications 21 days apart. The third application SHOULD NOT INCLUDE Turflon Ester because you're supposed to overseed during the third application. You're NOT SUPPOSED to keep cutting the bermuda down, especially the runners/stolons. You want blades of grass and stolons visible so the Pylex can be absorbed. If you're constantly cutting the stolons, how is the Pylex going to reach underground where the stolons tunnel? Please stop pulling up the stolons. You're just making it worse. You're not supposed to do more than 3 applications in a year. Especially after overseeding after the third application.

[@TurfMechanic]

This wasn't supposed to be a tutorial on how to do it perfectly; this is one of the experiments I've been running. I wanted to see the Pylex work all by its lonesome. I've also experimented with a high rate of turflon/fusilade to see just how bad the KBG damage was (it was super bad LOL). I've also experimented with pulling a plug at the epicenter of the bermuda where the stolon growth starts. I place the plug in the oven at 500 degrees for 30 min and then after letting it cool I put the baked plug back. That works incredibly well but it's a very manual task that is probably not easily done over a large area or an area of large infestation. As for the pulling the stolons, you are right, I'd get better kill if I left the stolons in place for the 9 week cycle of three applications but I simply don't want to see a bunch of dead stolons in the yard for over two months. I chose to allow the Pylex to enter the plant for the first week before I started mowing and plucking stolons at their points of growth. I lose efficacy of the application but IMO it's worth it just to not see the dead material in place for so long. Thats just my preference. I don't believe plucking those stolons 7-14 days after applying Pylex makes it worse. Feel free to persuade others reading these comments but I'm comfortable with the method I demonstrated in this video. As I said before, I'm not trying to show the optimal method, just the method I'm comfortable with at this day and time. The more experience I get with bermuda management in cool season grasses I'll start considering making videos about best practices. As for how many applications you do; obviously people should follow label instructions but also people should use their mind too. Not everybody overseeds, I won't be overseeding this area so that is unrelated to my KBG. Also, if I were doing small doses of Pylex throughout the summer (instead of heavy doses) then more than three apps seem reasonable to me. I have the turflon already so next season I'll probably be mixing the turflon in the KBG with the pylex, and in my back yard I'll be mixing the turflon with the fusilade over my fescue. Any triclopyr would do but the turflon ester should be most effective. Thanks a ton for the stimulating comment Slick!

[@Slick1020]

@@TurfMechanic You're not supposed to really apply Pylex during the summer anyway. I guess the end of summer is legitimate. You're supposed to start 9-12 weeks out from overseeding or your first frost for bermuda. Pylex works better if you attack it before going dormant. When you attack the bermuda during hot temperatures, it will still die. But the studies on this matter say it's best to wait. It's okay to spray stolons that are trying to spread out via the edges of your lawn in order to supercharge from the sun. You're pulling up stolons that aren't fully dead. Some still have green in them, which means it's not dead at the roots yet. When you pull up the stolons, you're not pulling it all up. Some roots are being left behind, which is WHY you want to do 3 applications. This is exactly why Pete from GCI Turf Academy keeps having issues. He keeps pulling up the stolons instead of spraying them. If you're not going to film the best practice to eradicate bermuda. You're not really helping the people who subscribe to your channel. I recommend 3 applications and keeping any residual Pylex in a storage bottle to spot spray any bermuda blades and stolons that pop up.

[@Slick1020]

Pylex is not a nutsedge killer.

[@TurfMechanic]

That's right, the halosulfuron I added to the tank on Sept 10 is the nutsedge killer, I tried to make that clear but it's at the very end of the video which not everyone gets to.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

It would have been cheaper buying scotts provista kbg.

[@TurfMechanic]

but then I couldn't kill it with glyphosate! LOL I still imagine sometime in the distant future killing off this entire patch again, once the bermuda truly is gone and filling the patch with buffalograss. I can't put pylex on buffalo so I need to get rid of it before the buffalo goes in. This is obviously a long play plus I get to make cool season lawn content while I wait :D

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

@@TurfMechanic lol

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

@@TurfMechanic scotts provista kbg is a scam.

[@jasonfournier]

I've never seen a curb between the neighbor's lawn. You are going to need to reseed part of the KBG.

[@TurfMechanic]

those curbs and separators are fairly common around here (socal) due to the stolons. Half of the lawns here are fescue and the other half are kikuyu and/or bermuda. A very small minority are St Augustine. The curbs make keeping lawns look tidy without encroaching on neighbors a bit easier. It's not perfect but its an effort. As for the spot, I was thinking about reseeding that one big spot but I think I'm going to just use the proplugger. I'll probably make a 3-4 week project video out of that this Fall. It probably won't drop on the channel until close to Halloween but hopefully there will still be an audience interested by that time of year.

[@pappy906]

Due to the heat and drought going on in my area I've been looking for something to retain water in the soil. I came across vermiculite and was wondering your knowledge about it. I'm hoping to spread it over the lawn hoping it will work its way into the soil. Any feedback you have is appreciated.

[@TurfMechanic]

I've got vermiculite in the garage but I've never put it on the lawn. You are right it probably would help a bit with water retention but the particles tend to be big so it's unlikely to incorporate into the soil well. Certainly it would help with moisture retention but I'd advise you look into biochar instead as particle sizes are smaller so it can work into the soil easier, especially after aeration, and the pores in biochar are smaller giving it more microscopic surface area. If you can aerate the lawn I'd spread either vermiculite or biochar on heavy and then top-dress/fertilize with a lot of alfalfa meal which you can cheaply buy online or in local garden supply stores. That product is straight organic matter which can easily help with soil moisture retention. Compost can be heavy and depending on the source it can burn, alfalfa meal just improves the soil incrementally. Do it a couple times a year and over time the whole lawn should hold moisture better. Also, make sure to mow taller. Having 3-inch leaf blades instead of two inch blades gives more shade to the soil resulting in less evaporative loss. It's the simplest way to keep a lawn from drying out too fast.

[@pappy906]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll give the biochar a shot. Appreciate your videos and watch them all.