Getting rid of Bermuda grass?

[48simple]

I'm planning a large landscape project in my backyard. The plan calls for a lot of flowering beds with trails weaving around them. I want to get rid of 100% of the lawn it is mostly Bermuda grass. Any ideas?

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

Cover it with mulch. Lots of mulch. Bermuda needs full sun and can barely get out of it's own way if it gets too long. If you cover it with 4 to 6 inches of mulch that will take care of it. I guess I would scalp it first so there is nothing that might poke up through the mulch to get to the light.

In order to get that much mulch, the best thing you can use is chipped tree trimmings from the tree trimmers in your neighborhood. Give that material a full year with regular moisture and organic fertilizer (4 times) at 10 pounds per 1,000 square feet, and you'll have the richest soil on the block. 1 inch of mulch takes 3 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet. If you have 2,000 square feet to cover with 5 inches of mulch, you'll need 30 cubic yards.

You will likely have to pull weeds if they sprout in the mulch. Fortunately there is so little structure to mulch that it is easy to pull them out by the roots.

[Cathleen]

I thought I heard something about removal of Bermuda Grass from flower beds on the Radio show. Dr. Garrett said something to the effect of putting dry molasses on the soil the newspaper on top of that & water it in to kill the Bermuda grass. Is this correct? :?

[pstevens1]

If you have someone who wants the Bermuda or if you can use it somewhere else, I recommend renting a sod cutter. I have done this on four different occasions to remove Bermuda to make larger beds. It worked great! In the spring, I would keep an eye out for bermuda cropping up but it was easy to pull up.

Running a sod cutter is a bit of a chore but it is also kind of fun.