Getting rid of bermuda grass in garden

[Cheryl Saney]

I bought dirt from a dirt company to make raised beds for gardening and it looked good. Now I have a really hard time with grass, no matter how much i pull and pull it keeps coming back. Is there something i can use that will control it but still allow me to plant veggies?

[jmeier]

I throw about eight inches of hay or straw on top of any weed in my garden. It has worked pretty well.

[Cheryl Saney]

Thank you so much for suggestion. I will try it and see how it goes. Anything is better than weeding. :lol:

[ljmcdm]

I[size=18] have found if I use 8 or so layers of newspaper (the black & white print, no colored ads) & cover it with a layer of compost that it really breaks down the soil (black clay is what I have) & then I can work down & pull up long underground roots. Then when I am able to use my garden fork on the clay, I will dig down & turn over a large chunk of soil & really get down to the main bermuda root which has to be removed or you will be pulling weeds forever!

[Cheryl Saney]

Thank you so much. I kinda knew that somehow those roots (and they are strong) was going to have to come out. It really is sad tho, as I have the prettiest grass in garden and a dead lawn of St. Augustine. :roll:

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Okay, I'm confused. How can you have the prettiest grass and a dead lawn?

[Tony M]

David-
I think she is saying that the grass in her lawn looks bad but the grass in her garden looks great. That tells me one thing; she needs to put more of what's in her garden on the lawn. I can relate to her experience. I put 1/2 to 1 inch of compost on about 300 sq ft of lawn. The adjacent 300 feet got nothing. This is a country house, no water, no fertilizer, nothing. The compost part of the lawn looks beautiful. The clay didn't even crack this summer. The only grass on my property that looks better is growing in the vegetable garden.
Tony M

[Cheryl Saney]

You are correct Tony M. the dirt I bought from dirt company had bermuda grass seeds in it and thats whats growing in garden. The lawn on other hand is another type grass that is used in lawns in neighborhood. And since I water garden more than lawn......garden is thriving and lawn isn't quite so lucky. And in answer to planting both...bermuda is a long, willowy grass, where the one in lawn is short and full bladed. It looks funny when the two grow together. Since garden dosen't have borders and the bermuda hasn't taken over lawn, I assume its because it cannot tolerate a clay soil that is in yard.