How to Kill BERMUDA GRASS | BEST Methods

Please please add to what I’ve mentioned. I’d love to learn what each of you have found to work.
Here are the links to the fabric and staples I used! Super great material. The best I’ve personally ever used. I really like the two layers of the fabric to prevent large and smaller weeds!
Premium FABRIC
amzn.to/3JuAxIF
STAPLES
amzn.to/3jxo0tC
Interested in garden/homestead consulting? Email me at [e-mail]

[@FairyHillFarm]

I live in 7b and work on a no till farm. The only way (other than chemical) is to cover it with a silage tarp (like the ones on Johnny’s Selected Seeds online shop) for at least 3 months during the hottest months. It does kill it completely. Then you just have to worry about it encroaching on the edges. Best to leave a tarp barrier. Tarp cannot be the woven kind. It will survive. I’ve seen Bermuda rip through the toughest of woven tarps. Thanks for the vid! Needs to be more info on Bermuda. Can be so defeating

[@cameroneverhart6443]

So much this! I was going to suggest silage tarp too. I've seen bermuda grass weave itself THROUGH the woven fabric. Unreal.

[@rachelhall4808]

Bermuda has been kicking my butt for 3 years and also because I have refused to use chemicals. I basically have to restart every year and it’s becoming a more and more of a bummer each year. It’s sucking away all my enthusiasm for gardening each time I have to restart a bed. I have found myself in an isle staring at round-up (which I hate with all my being) wondering if it would be worth it just to eradicate the Bermuda. I’m going to go look at silage tarps today!! I’m in Texas so we get above 100 for so long that if it lives through that…. Well…. I’m definitely going to cry about it.

[@cameroneverhart6443]

@@rachelhall4808 yes I think that's the only to kill it. For next growing season I'm going to put silage tarp over an area that I want to become my next bed over spring and summer and then compost plus wood chips during the fall...

[@KARMA-jr6uk]

​You basically have collect the root when you start plowing the ground because it's all about roots not the seeds if you remove all roots it will never come back in your land it's up to you how you Remove those roots you can use manual labour or use machines@@cameroneverhart6443

[@brad238899]

You may be interested in a video done by Oklahoma University. They found that clear plastic after watering the area thoroughly and completely covering the edges so there's no transfer of air. It essentially uses the water and the greenhouse effect to steam it to death. 😊

[@dwighthires3163]

I agree with you that Bermuda Grass needs to be starved. It takes an awful lot to starve it. A thick layer of compost and mulch of 4 inches or more, (preferably 8+ inches), coupled with nearly daily pulling of shoots eventually starve it out but you must be faithful to near daily weeding for several months. Each shoot sent up drains the roots of energy which can only be replaced through photosynthesis. If each shoot is pulled before it sends photosynthesized energy back means the roots are drained of energy, little by little.

[@BamboozledUS]

I know we live in a "no-till" time, but the truth is, I love to till. I moved to FL where invasive grasses of all kinds are the constant enemy. I bought an electric tiller and put it in the dirt, and raked out every living thing, tilled it again, raked it out. I compost separately from my growing beds for now, and intend to till periodically until the grasses are gone. "No-till" is one method and does not work for every situation. Organic gardeners utilized tillers for many years with great success. We need to think out-side the box and do whatever works for the situation.

[@jodieziegler1061]

Charles is in the UK and he has Bermuda grass in his new area he's developing that he's struggling to get rid of, so it can even get the better of the best. Good video thanks Benjamin 😊🇦🇺

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

I've never been able to get rid of it, but manage it with initial quack dig (deep thin shoe tine thing), deep rake x2, gather residue to burn & put in raised beds (no frame). Keep covered with deep mulch to choked out or pulled if needed. Good luck.

[@NB_Bex]

I put down a layer 4 inches thick of wood chips straight on top of the Bermuda. I pulled the shoots (not too many) for a year. They came out easily. It's been 5 years and they haven't come back.

[@iartistdotme]

MOVE! Best way for sure. There was a little bit in a truck load of composted cow manure 14 years ago. I had never seen it before but It grew like crazy and has taken over most of my 1 acre lot. I did make a tiny garden after hand pulling it and then weed cloth and gravel. It just came back under the gravel using the nutrients from the dirt accumulated as I walk on it. They don't need much food or water. The gravel works a little but it still comes up through it from time to time from the edge. Maybe dump bleach on it? I tried that in the driveway but no luck. BUT: Four years ago, I made two slightly raised, no till beds where there wasn't as much bermuda grass. I did as Charles Dowding described with thick cardboard, 6" of composted wood chip mulch and IT WORKED with 3" old cow manure on top! I planted in it about one month after laying the foundation and it worked. I did put weed cloth down the paths but also 6" of pine straw covered by cedar chips making it sun proof as you said. The paths also remain clean except once in a great while, some will creep over the the edge and dig their stupid, persistent, nasty little nodes from the cleanways and presto, bermuda grass! But it seems very easy to pull if done quickly! I'm in Florida where it can be a year round menace.

[@MyLove-uj8zi]

I put down card board, them covered with wood chips. Worked for a few years. Then it starts to grow over to the sides.

[@dr.rev.lindabingham]

Blessings to all!

[@bethanyfields4706]

I'm wondering how much pigs, sheep and chickens could help in areas BEFORE you garden them.🧡

[@lennapelayo3252]

My chickens took it all out nothing left but dirt now

[@carolmcintosh949]

Looking for the link to the fabric you use! ? ? ?

[@gelwood99]

The only way I have eliminated it is to soak the soil and hand pull it. Slow for sure but it eventually works. I found a pressure wand for $20 at Lowes like would be used to clean gutters and stick it in the ground forcing water deep into the root zone and gently pulling up every single piece. We had it grow through a huge sweet potato when we were digging them in my parent's garden so their roots will go deeper than several inches. Crazy! It can be pulled up and look dead and next thing you know, it is rooting again.

[@tracybruring7560]

I don't see the link for the fabric you use

[@susannielsen8688]

I'm sure Bermuda is a very nice place. How did such an obnoxious weed become associated to it? I had woodchips dropped on my lawn before I could lay cardboard down. My shovel and I dig up any devil grass (that should be the name!) as it comes up, getting every piece of root possible. The maintenance is getting easier all the time. The tricky part is getting all the roots up near the concrete curbs, since the roots come up from under there. They are NOT shallow roots! Would vinegar discourage them? California, zone 10.

[@dorothythorpe6183]

I assume the "devil grass" evolved to grow through sand so it became hardy and aggressive. I snoozed and now it is threatening my fruit trees and I'm concerned about my leach lines (?). Also California, zone 10.

[@VictoriaYoutube12]

California zone 10…. How I relatively dealt with it. Rented a sod cutter from Home Depot, roughly $75 per day, threw that all away… not compost. Straight threw it away. The I hand raked and pulled on my hands and knees for about a week. Ran my new sprinkler system trenches etc. pulling anytime I saw it pop up while doing my new landscape, I also used galvanized aluminum roofing metal to set up my edging around my new grass area to separate it from the flower beds (use minimum 14 inch deep edging with as few breaks as possible as Bermuda roots while majority is in the top 6 inches, can get down to 6 feet 💀). Eventually after about a month, I reseeded with a cool season grass, once that grass was established I sprayed bioadvance on it once every 3 weeks any weeks that the weather was above 50 degrees, and pulled we needed when I was out and about in the garden. Now going into season 3 post this entire ordeal, I have very very very minimal Bermuda grass still popping up, and one spray of bioadvance in January then around April tends to take care of it completely. I’m hopeful that given the steady and definite decline in it popping up/reoccuring it should be dead completely by the end of this season. And I mean I probably have less than 5 Bermuda pop up each year total.

[@DianeMoseley-qc9tu]

I have a full lawn of this grass I only have half moon shaped and lawn it is hell to strim would I be better of using a blade strimmer for this how to get rid of it please

[@user-hz7kv6js6l]

I live in zone 9b sw Florida. Initially, I covered my garden using landscape fabric. The grass made its way through the fabric, and it was a nightmare to pull up. Never again. I gave up on part of my garden and just covered the ground with black plastic to kill the grass. I left that on for the summer. The grass died back, and then I covered the ground with thick cardboard, and then I multch. I was pulling bermuda grass today. I think it's gonna be an ongoing chore that you gotta keep up on. Over the years, it has gotten better by covering spots with cardboard and multch.

[@PANTTERA1959]

Here's some alternatives:1.Isolate the area and put chickens on it for a year.2. Burn it with a torch every week until it runs out of root energy. 3.Till it deep,rake it,tarp it for several months,repeat 1 and 2.

[@gelwood99]

Tilling it is a bad idea because you have created millions of new root cuttings.

[@KARMA-jr6uk]

Those roots can live without water and sun for 8 or 10 years so good luck with that

[@vikingrobot4179]

I just pull it out as it grows. I try to get the crown roots and then pull again when it comes up. It’s so invasive I can’t get rid of the crap especially in my yard.

[@rhopag]

I've been experimenting with boiling water. It seems to work.

[@roblancaster2036]

Under my beds I cut the fabric for the worms to go through 1 ft from the outside then I put a few layers of thick brown cardboard that would keep the Bermuda at bay for maybe a year or two and rot away so the worms can come through.

[@EnricoPitea]

I would try to just put compost and seed with clover or vetch very dense

[@AngelaSissySnyder]

I have a couple half whisky barrel planters and set it directly in the Bermuda. I kid you not the Bermuda found its way through the bottom came up 2 1/2 feet through the soil and emerged out the top in the middle of my plants. That stuff is mercenary and my hubs protects it from me like it’s something to do. SMH 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@bryannakvinda8411]

Best way is to get a product called ram board from Lowes is a really compressed thin hard card board use it instead of fabric and mulch but mulch with leaf litter or spring grass clippings before everything goes to seed few inches deep first then mulch with wood chips four inches deep or you have to flip the top four inches right before a hard freeze to kill the rizome roots

[@patmaier6917]

Looks nice. Dislike that nasty grass!

[@user-mf5yn5mn5x]

What about solarization

[@russeellbowman9498]

Give up on direct soil use. Plan raised beds with thick black plastic and 18 inches of uninfected soil and compost on top. Allow excess water drainage 3 inches above ground level and weed eat next to the raised, sealed bed. Use PVC pipe with holes drilled in them placed throughout the raised bed for aireation. You are creating a huge uninfected planter. Still, seeds can drift into the bed. Keep an eye out and dig immediately around this and throw it all away importing new, uninfected planting material. For trees and bushes, dig deep hole and bring in new, uninfected soil. Plant the tree or bush. Place one or two aireation tubes next to the plant and line the hole with back plastic first. Cover around the plant with black plastic and pavers. Line around the hole with a weed barrier at least 4 inches high and weed eat around the plant. You are creating a bottomless, in the ground planter with the bottom too deep for this noxious weed to get into your tree or bush. In the south east USA, we use cardboard and pine straw to surround trees and reinstall every few years when it breaks down, eventually raking it all away to start over when it gets too thick. This is the only way direct soil planting works here. Also, planters elevated on a vertical garden works, but be careful to avoid baking sun on the side of the planters. For planters, use gravel or wood chips at the bottom, drill aireation and drain holes 2 inches up from the bottom to allow some water retention at the bottom of the planter and yet allow drainage and aireation. We have farmers here that use plowing and heavy use of chemicals and fertilizers with roundup resistant genetically modified seed, from cotton, soy beans, peanuts, and corn. This gets into our food supply, but bulk food would not be possible without it, so growing your own is still the best using organic methods. Costs are going up for this industrial farming method, and some farmers are loosing money each year, unable to afford to stay in business. Food supplied using conventional modern farming is on the way out, and small organic farms will have to sustain us in the future as in the old days but with new techniques. The transition will be traumatic, so smart folks will learn how to prepare both individually and as a close knit community.

[@kkp4297]

bermuda grows deep. depends how well the area is watered. Can go 1-2 FEET deep. I have deeply watered tall fescue, and the invasive bermuda grows deep as well. A sod cutter is not sufficient.

[@russeellbowman9498]

Wood chips over black plastic was uncovered after two years and bermuda grass came back! So, I will try mow, roundup, solarize, rototill, solarize, rototill until all parts in the soil have depleted their reserves (on a small 20x40 plot). Then trench around the garden so it will not invade from the sides. But still seeds drift in, so patrols with roundup every month are required. All that trouble for a 20x40 garden plot, but it is small enough for intensive work. Besides this, everything else is elevated on cement blocks with boards on this and planters on the boards. No bermuda grass will invade this elevated part of the garden, and if it does, the planter contents is removed and replaced. Next step is vertical gardening, but that will take gradual improvements over time because of the expense.

[@NB_Bex]

By the time you're Bermuda free, you'll be dead from all the roundup. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@tracybruring7560]

I use the same fabric that living traditions uses; weeds still drill up through that and bermuda creeps in from the sides along the top; what i did not do is to flame weed the ground before i laid the fabric; i would recommend that step first.

[@ashes2beauti]

Cardboard down first & then the eco fabric

[@arinten1316]

30% vinegar?

[@Heatherreseller]

Vinegar does not kill Bermuda but it does kill fescue fast

[@donyarborough4561]

Cover with 2 or more layers of cardboard and mulch on top. Fabric works too but you’re going to have trouble with digging because it doesn’t rot and will be there for decades. The cardboard will kill it and will rot by next year. Until you get it all it will spread back. I call it crab grass.

[@tracybruring7560]

no matter how much cardboard you put down it will not kill bermuda or johnson grasses

[@donyarborough4561]

@@tracybruring7560 I have it on one side of my garden and each year I put down card board with mulch on top and it stops it from coming any further towards my garden. It’s coming from my yard that I mow and since it’s all over it I don’t try to kill it all. I’m just keeping it from getting in my garden.

[@NB_Bex]

​@@donyarborough4561 same here! And it's working well. Cardboard, heavy mulch, and paying attention.

[@robertnoraas2636]

lots of fire

[@sdmanning10]

I enjoy watching but the camera movement to too quick and hard for me to watch. Congratulations on your baby soon to come.

[@trnsfererr]

There is no way to kill it off it’s the devil

[@RUACOINCIDENCETHEORIST]

That looks like crabgrass no?

[@thatbitch3350]

Did it work??