How to Get Rid of Bermudagrass Without Killing Sod

LESLIE: Rich in California needs some help in the yard with how to get rid of bermudagrass. What’s going on?

RICH: Yeah. I put – I bought my house about six years ago and I put sod in the front yard. I rototilled it.

TOM: OK.

RICH: And the Bermuda grass has taken over.

TOM: Oh, boy.

RICH: How do you get rid of Bermudagrass without killing the sod or any other plants that you have?

TOM: Well, there’s a product by Bonide – B-o-n-i-d-e – called BurnOut Weed and Grass Killer. It comes in a ready-to-use spray applicator. And that’s specifically designed to get rid of Bermuda grass.

Now, in some cases, when it’s intermixed with the grass you want to keep, you can’t split it out. So what you end up doing is waiting until the fall, when it’s cooler, and you spray the weed-killer product and then you wait for the weeds and the lawn in that area to die down. And then you seed right through that.

So you don’t have to take up the lawn; you can seed right through the dead lawn now and then have it come back up in the spring next year. But that can only be done in the fall, because it takes that long for the roots to grow deep enough so that when the summer rolls around, there’s plenty of water available for that grass.

So, that’s one approach: BurnOut. And it’s made by Bonide and you can find it pretty much across the country, in garden stores and home centers and such.

RICH: Yeah. I do have one question. I bought some stuff that you have to mix it with so many gallons of water. Can you over – if you don’t mix it correctly, can you end up killing your sod if you don’t mix enough water with it?

TOM: In any event, with all of these products there, they may be available as concentrate. And you do absolutely need to follow the label directions, in terms of that concentrate-to-water mixture to get rid of Bermudagrass.

And if you make it too strong, it could have adverse effects. Is it going to have an adverse effect for you on that day? It may or it may not. But it’s real important that you follow the manufacturer’s specifications on that. They put a lot of time and energy and expense and technology into making sure these mixes are designed to perform consistent with those instructions. And so, you kind of ruin that chemical balance if you don’t mix it with the right amount of water.

So, I would definitely make sure you follow the letter of the instructions on that.

RICH: OK. Yeah. It pretty much took over my yard.

TOM: Alright. Alright.

RICH: I used to have the green grass in the wintertime. I was the only one.

TOM: Yeah.

RICH: Now, it’s not no more. And I spent a fortune and it’s the city side that has the Bermuda grass and – from the sidewalk to the street.

TOM: Yep.

RICH: And so but – OK, I’ll look into that, you know? I thank you for very much for taking my call. I appreciate it.