I have a 4'x16' raised bed for vegetable gardening. It is 1' above ground and is completely overtaken by Bermuda grass. The roots go all the way down under the bed. I can't even till it because of all the rhizomes and runners that just wrap around the tiller and stall it out. I've hand dug the whole thing with a shovel and it's still impossible to get it clear. It's almost like I don't even have dirt, it's all Bermuda. I wanted to start planting my fall crop soon but don't know if I'll be able to in this condition. I've tried reading elsewhere online about ways to eliminate the Bermuda grass, but if anyone out there has any ideas please share them with me.
Thanks
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RyanInMesquite
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- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 2:12 pm
- Location: Dallas area
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PepperManiac
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- Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:52 pm
- Location: Grapevine, TX
Have you tried Round Up? I've heard that is effective in killing grass. After using that (if you haven't tried it already), I would raise the bed about 4 - 8 more inches (I use landscape timbers), remove the existing soil, and replace with a weed barrier on the bottom, then new soil to fill it up. I have a weed infestation in my soil, so at the end of the summer I'm going to raise mine more (it's sinking) and do the same thing.
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
I got rid of Bermuda grass at our previous house by sifting the dirt. (Yes, there are photos, but not online.) This was in the actual yard, not a raised bed.
I made a sifter from 1x2s with 1/2-inch hardware cloth staple-gunned to them in a rectangle just a bit bigger than the top of the wheelbarrow. I shovelled the dirt onto the sifter/raddle. The roots and other Bermuda grass pieces that didn't fall through went into the yard waste; the soil went back into the ground.
The three days of work I performed were effective for the remaining 12 or so YEARS we lived at that house.
I highly recommend it: non-toxic and pretty long-lasting.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
I made a sifter from 1x2s with 1/2-inch hardware cloth staple-gunned to them in a rectangle just a bit bigger than the top of the wheelbarrow. I shovelled the dirt onto the sifter/raddle. The roots and other Bermuda grass pieces that didn't fall through went into the yard waste; the soil went back into the ground.
The three days of work I performed were effective for the remaining 12 or so YEARS we lived at that house.
I highly recommend it: non-toxic and pretty long-lasting.
Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9
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Gary350
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- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Bermuda grass is just about impossible to kill. In the spring I usually till my soil every day for about 2 weeks. It can be as dry as the desert and you think it is dead then it rains and the stuff comes up. I keep a 3 ft border around all 4 sides of my garden that I can till Bermuda grass keeps trying to creep into the garden from the yard. I hoe and till it too. I dig down deep with a shover if I get all the roots it won't grow back. I buy 50 lbs of cattle salt for $5 and mix it in a 25 gallon trash can with water. This time of the year when it is hot, dry and not much rain every thing is easy to kill if you give it a drink of salt water. I don't like putting Round up on or near food that I eat.