Isn’t it the bane of most of us at this time of year?
Bermudagrass becomes rampant during the warm and humid months of Summer throughout the Southeast.
It seems at this time of year everybody is looking for some answers on what to do with this stuff.
So, here goes!
First of all, let’s describe the difference between Bermudagrass and Crabgrass:
- Bermudagrass: has a bright green coloration during the Summer months, and is fairly low growing unless allowed to go to seed. It spreads via seed production, and also via Rhizomes (underground runners) and Stolons (above ground runners). These Rhizomes and stolons are what make Bermuda such a tough plant to get rid of.
- Crabgrass: grows during late Spring and into Summer, and will readily achieve tall, dark brown seed heads. Reproduces by seed production. Grows in clumps, with the stems radiating outward from the center.
So, if it’s growing in a clump, it’s Crabgrass, if it has runners, it’s Bermudagrass.
Okay, now that we’ve got that part out of the way, let’s talk about control.
The absolute best way, of course, to control this weedy grass is to have a super healthy Fescue lawn. A healthy, vigorous, and dense lawn will choke out any competing weed grasses, and that includes Bermuda. Of course it’s a lot easier said than done to have a healthy and vibrant lawn year round in our neck of the woods. It takes a lot of work and patience! It can, however, be done. There are a couple of basic steps that can be done to improve your chances of success.
- Keep your grass mowed high, at least 3″. Not only will this keep your lawn healthier during excessive hot periods, it will also help to shade out young bermuda shoots, making it harder for them to establish.
- Fertilize your lawn in the Spring and in the Fall, but don’t feed it during the Summer. This, again, is twofold. Fescue lawns like a rest period during the Summer, and really don’t need fed. Bermuda, however, puts on it’s best growth during the Summer, and putting fertilizer on your lawn at this time of year is only going to encourage that growth.
- If you are watering your lawn make sure you are giving it deep and infrequent waterings rather than frequent shallow ones. Shallow waterings are great for Bermudagrass, but not so good for good root establishment of Fescues.
Be aware that getting a healthy lawn won’t happen overnight, and in fact can take several seasons to achieve, but if you are willing to put in the effort, it can be well worth it.
How about chemical control? Well, there are basically two choices when it comes to chemical control of Bermuda.
- Total kill of all vegetation using a glyphosate product (Round Up, Killzall)
- Suppression using a Triclopyr product (Turflon Ester)
If you decide to go the total kill route it’s important to keep in mind those rhizomes & stolons we talked about earlier, and a pretty wide area around your target treatment zone should be covered to try and catch these as well. Multiple applications will probably be needed, with intervals of two to four weeks between each one.
Turflon Ester is a superb chemical for suppressing bermuda, but it needs to be applied about once per month throughout the growing season. It may even need to be done in the following season also.
Now, if all of this sounds like way more work and effort than you have the time or the inclination for your other choice is of course to simply allow the bermuda to continue to grow in your lawn. After all, it is actually quite pretty looking when all the Fescue around it is looking brown and yucky during the hot Summer months.
If you really want to do this approach right, you could even throw down some Annual Rye in the Fall, so that you have a good cover during the Winter months when the bermuda goes dormant.
Just remember to keep a nice deep and clean edge on your lawn to stop it from creeping in to your natural areas!