help, help, help.....what can i do to get bermudagrass out of
my vege garden (raised beds)?????? vinegar?, corn gluten meal? ....the leaf
mulch i used last year was loaded with bermuda grass seed......i feel
so dumb for using it....anyway...shuda, woulda, coulda.....thanks for
any help....

Stop going off to the kicking machine. I doubt you brought any seeds in and even if you did, the bermuda grass would probably be there anyway. It is one of the most noxious weeds we have and can grow almost anywhere.
I hit the bermuda grass in my veg garden last year with 10% vinegar, 20%, both mixed with orange oil, and a couple of other concoctions. None worked long term. I hit one clump of bermuda 5 weeks in a row. It burned it every time but it came back. What would happen if I hit it 10 times?
I just came from a visit to Boggy Creek Farm in Austin. They grow and sell Organic vegies. Check out their web site. The biggest problem they have is bermuda and nutsedge. They are trying something new this year. They put down thick landscape fabric; set cedar boards on top of it to create raised beds and were just starting to fill the beds up. They ran soaker hoses inside the beds.
I don't like the landscape fabric and it doesn't work long term. But that’s their plan.
Here's what I am doing as we speak. My garden is 100x30'. I just removed every stem of bermuda with a sharp flat shovel down about 1 ½ inches. I rented a tiller and cultivated the soil about 12" deep. I am buying solid concrete blocks to form a border around the garden since much of my bermuda crept in from the lawn. I am trying raised beds for half the garden with 6-8 inches of cedar mulch in the pathways. If Bermuda does pop up I should be able to pull it out of the loose soil easily. I will put cedar mulch inside the raised beds also.
You asked about Corn Gluten meal to control bermuda. Doesn't do a thing for bermuda. Actually it does, it fertilizes it and helps it to grow.
Tony M

I think bermuda grass is the alien that will take over the world. Once you get it, you can never get rid of it. Yes, it makes a nice lawn but you can have ONLY lawn! A few years ago I sunk 12" wide fiberglass panels around the edge of my garden - standing on end mind you so they went 12" deep into the soil. The bermuda grass just went deeper and came up on the other side. So a barrier would have to be deeper than 12". I spend most weekends pulling bermuda. I suppose it's good exercise.

You guys have it right. That stuff is great if you want it but heck if you don't! I have had some success using several (that means 5 or 6) layers of newspaper covered with mulch. It cuts way back on the problem but doesn't eliminate it. However, if I can but back on 80% of my bermuda pulling, that's 80% more time I can do something fun! So there's another alternative for you.

I once read in the southern living mag ..where someone tried digging a small trench and then filled it with mulch to try and keep bermuda from filling in his garden area so fast ..... guess this might have to be done every year .. but was wondering if anyone had success with this technique

I have been experimenting with a weed burner with a 5 gal. propane tank attached. First I used a scraping hoe that cut off the stolons, then I laid waste with the fire. Each time it comes back , it's not as vigorous and I get a strange sense of satisfaction sending the burmuda off with fire. Hope it helps someone else. Be careful if you have a hay mulch and keep a hose handy.

While planting veggies in my garden this morning I was bemoaning the state of my antique rose garden. The bermuda grass has all but ruined it and I've lost hope!!!

Oh, but I do have the most beautiful stand of bermuda grass growing up and over my mulch pile

Would appreciate any suggestion you all might have as to how to control it.

two solutions::

either use that orange oil and vinegar mix and just keep on applying it till it finally dies.. or..

use one of those products like roundup that will do the trick ...

very selectively used and in moderation, why not???

drk, I'm trying very hard not to use Roundup! But have not had great results with the vinegar/orange oil solution

Thanks for the reply!

Why not? Check this out for very good reasons you should NOT use it:

at http://www.dirtdoctor.com/org_research.php

PESTICIDE RESEARCH ALERTS

ROUNDUP
(The above titles are a little more than halfway down the page in the above link).

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/view_question ... et_theme=0

http://www.naturescountrystore.com/roundup/index.html

http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsaf ... 051503.cfm