I have recently spent a lot of time digging out bermuda grass roots from a neglected shrub bed and layering compost, 5 sheets newspaper and very thick cedar mulch. I put the newspaper and mulch as close to the shrub trunks as I could. The job is almost finished. Now I'm wondering if there is any danger of the newspaper and mulch preventing the proper air circulation around the base of the shrubs? Should I remove some of the mulch and newspaper from the base?

dirtgranny

You probably could have skipped the digging and just started with the layering. Bermuda needs sunlight, so when you shut off the sunlight with mulch, it usually dies. Or if nothing else, the mulch makes is much easier to pull out the bermuda if some of it peeks through the mulch.

What will happen is that the Bermuda will grow over the top of your newspaper and mulch and root quite happily in your mulch. We tried this with our berries - scalped the ground with a mower on the lowest setting, covered the area with 4-5 sheets of newspaper/cardboard, and then a thick layer of shredded leaves.

It is now a wonderful bed of Bermuda grass!!! There is no winning with this stuff!!!!