I'm going toxic.

Who's you callin' a Ho?

Let me just stress the imporance of proper use of toxic chemicals. You want to be sure to get the job done right the first time, so you don't have to spray any more of that crap than you have to. We greenies tend to have little experience with biocides, and use them improperly and unsafely. Interestingly, you want to spoil that grass for a week or so before you kill it... that will make sure it absorbs all the herbacide... I stole these good tips off of some random web site:

Water the Bermuda grass thoroughly to encourage it to grow. Herbicides work best when the plants are actively growing.

Wait a week, water the Bermuda grass in the morning.

The following morning, thoroughly spray the Bermuda grass with an herbicide that contains glyphosate. Make sure you follow the package directions for diluting the herbicide. Spray the grass thoroughly, making sure you cover all the leaves.

Wait at least three days to give the herbicide time to be absorbed and spread through the plant tissues.

Now you can yank, clip and mow, because the herbicide has spread into the roots.

Keep watering deeply every few days, as if you were trying to grow the best lawn on the block.

Give the survivors a week or so to grow some leaves, then spray them with the herbicide again.

Repeat the cycle of water, herbicide, water, herbicide until the sprouts stop appearing.


Patrol the area for the next two or three growing seasons and apply herbicide to any new sprouts. The roots of Bermuda grass can be as deep as six feet, and they persist for several years.



About Glyphosate
Glyphosate kills plants by shutting down an important metabolic pathway. Insects, birds, and animals do not have that pathway, so glyphosate is safer to use than some herbicides. However, follow the precautions in the instructions for diluting, applying and cleaning spray equipment.

Glyphosate was first introduced by Monsanto as Roundup® but the patent has expired and it is available from various manufacturers. Regardless of the brand you purchase, the active ingredient for all glyphosate products is exactly the same. For the most cost-effective herbicide, look for a brand with the highest concentration of glyphosate, then dilute it according to the package directions.

CAUTION: Glyphosate kills almost all plants, and even a small amount of spray will retard their growth. Do not spray herbicides on breezy days. Protect the plants you do not want to kill with a shield. I slide paper bags over small plants and drop a box or trashcan over larger ones, spray the neighboring weeds, then remove the shield.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 24 2007, 08:05 PM) [snapback]501867[/snapback]</div>

The plant equivalent of the cockroach.

I've just learned to live with it. Its pretty hard to eliminate because it sends shoots (rhizomes) out in all directions, so if you kill it in one location, it will just pop up somewhere else.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 24 2007, 08:05 PM) [snapback]501867[/snapback]</div>

Bermuda grass is the cockroach of the plant world. I recommend Round-Up and remember to make sure the stuff is not in a dormant mode by watering it for a couple days, let it dry out a wee bit before spraying, so the little buggers are thirsty. Then when they least expect it BAMM!! Give’em a good spraying of Round-Up and let the greedy bastards suck that stuff in. It will kill the plant all the way down to the roots. Don’t pansy nice person around with something that might not be harmful to other plants because multiple applications of chemicals that don’t work the first, second or third application are worse environmentally than using something like Round-Up. Just take your time and don’t spray on a windy day. Do this 2 or 3 times wait 24 hours and start watering again then after 5-7 days anything that survives help it get back to a fat and sassy state before BAMMMM! hitting them again! Then after everything seems dead deep roto-till the ground and give it another spray. Do this while it's still hot and hit it once again just before growing season in the spring after it warms up a bit. OK are you still with me? I do have experience in this so don’t forget next spring to lay down a Pre-emergent Weed and Feed type herbicide but only in the areas that you want grass. Finally lay down turf, the pre-emergent won't bother stuff that has already started growing. After I got rid of my entire yard of Hybrid Bermuda I replaced it with a creeping fescue which patches it self, and be sure that if you have a gardener that he uses a mower that has never been close to Bermuda. Better yet find a gardener that doesn't mow Bermuda at all seems that stuff will infest his equipment. I hope your neighbor's don't have Bermuda cause the stuff will spread itself by seed (which can get into watering systems, creepers and through the roots. :angry: <_< If none of this does it I have one last solution that requires you to cover the yard with plastic sheets and gas the bastards out, MooHhaHAJAahAhhajajaHAhAHaa. . . . [attachmentid=10880]
Wildkow

p.s. BTW you can actually drink Round-Up (Glyphosate) and others like it but remember it is a Federal Offence to mix stuff like herbicides in greater concentrations than the directions recommend.

 

What is it about the Bermuda that you dislike? We have a lawn with Zoysia and I hate that grass since it gets so thick the mower starts to dig in and then I get bare spots. I have to cut it down to the dirt twice a year to make it look good. The Bermuda we have never seems to get that thick and is always easy to mow. Are you changing to something different other than grass?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 24 2007, 11:44 PM) [snapback]501922[/snapback]</div>

It's more expensive pre-mixed. Get the concentrate it is very easy to mix. BTW you really need a maniacal or diabolical laugh if your going to say “dead , dead, dead.†Sorry those are the rules and I'm just doing my duty by informing the Mod's.

Wildkow

 

I can sympathise, Godiva. I've had a running battle with crab grass for years, and the only place I've had any enduring success is where I've ripped out the lawn entirely and replaced it with garden beds. But poison is going too far. Before you succumb to the forces of evil and join the dark side, how about another pet? Bermuda grass is sold in pet stores as gourmet food for bunnies, and they'd probably like it even more if it was fresh. They love dandelions, too. A small wire enclosure will keep your new friend(s) from hopping too far, and it can be moved around so the grass gets eaten, but not your roses. Rabbit droppings make excellent fertiliser, which you can use to encourage the life forms you want in your garden.

Either that, or you could harvest Bermuda grass and sell it to the pet store.

 

Maybe Poast would work. It's an herbicide that ONLY kills grass. Your ornamentals needn't be scared, from what I understand. Bermuda Grass is noted as a target enemy in the link.

http://www.greenbook.net/docs/LABEL/L26409.PDF

Of course, there are lots of "California" specific rules noted in this attachment.

Most herbicides come in different strengths. If you have a farm supply store near you, you can get very high concentrate herbicides. I did this for our land. I needed an herbicide for woody species. The cautions noted on the label have me horribly afraid of the stuff. I haven't used it yet but I'm supposed to wear goggles, gloves and clothing that's not absorbent. It can remain active in the soil for up to a year and harm neighboring plants through rain run off. So as an earlier poster pointed out, far better to do research for your specific problem so that the quantities of toxins that need to be applied are limited as much as possible.

What you could do is call a conservation organization, an agricultural division or the Department of Natural Resources that engages in land restoration. They'll be able to give you effective pointers with the handling of this species as they're probably encountering it in their activities.

Here's something else I found concerning herbicides specifically for grass:

"Grass-Selective Herbicides. These herbicides include the active ingredient sethoxydim (Grass Getter), fluazifop (Fusilade, Ornamec, and Grass-B-Gon), or clethodim (Envoy). Fusilade and Envoy are only available for sale to licensed pesticide applicators, the others are sold in most retail garden outlets. This is not a complete list of all retail products; look for similar herbicides with the same active ingredient.

Early spring is the best time to apply a grass-selective herbicide. For best control with these herbicides, make the first application in spring when new bermudagrass growth is less than 6 inches in length, then re-apply the herbicide before the regrowth reaches 6 inches again. Additional applications on regrowth may be needed through the spring and summer. It is important to be consistent with treating regrowth in order to eliminate the weed, but read the label of each product for information on the total amount that can be used per year per area. The best control is achieved when the bermudagrass is growing vigorously, has lots of leaf surface and is not drought stressed, is not dusty, and has not been damaged by insects.

Treating Around Ornamentals and in Turf. These herbicides can be used safely around most, but not all, ornamental trees, shrubs, and flowers. The product use labels include lists of ornamental plants that can be injured by these herbicides. Do not use these herbicides near ornamental grasses. The herbicide Fusilade can be used to kill bermudagrass in fescue turf when label conditions are followed."

Also, if you have any water tables around the site of application, that should dictate what type of chemicals you'll apply as some are safer for aquatic species than others.

Good luck.



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hyo silver @ Aug 25 2007, 10:02 AM) [snapback]501959[/snapback]</div>

If you keep a bunny outdoors, you'll need a very secure enclosure that allows bunny a place to escape from predators and to deter predators from accessing a bunny snack. Bunnies can die quickly of fright. They're very sensitive to this and will usually die of fright when outside more frequently than they would of actually being attacked by a predator. A simple chicken wire mesh just wouldn't cut it if you have predators around.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ 2007 Aug 25 08:32 AM) [snapback]501968[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I learned my lesson with this as a child. The dog couldn't get in, but he didn't need to. The 'roving cage' idea works best during the day, ideally in an enclosed yard with somebody home. Even better is to have it part of a rabbit run that leads back to the hutch. Godiva's dog might be convinced to stand guard, I don't know.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ 2007 Aug 25 8:38 AM) [snapback]501971[/snapback]</div>

How do you feel about a drip water system, instead of sprinklers? Each plant gets its own tiny adjustable head, and the grass gets none. Larger areas of smaller plants can be watered as a group, without soaking the entire yard. The grass may not instantly disappear to the Bermuda Triangle, but neither will it be encouraged by the watering. I assume in San Diego it's already got all the sun it needs. Around here, we have all the water we need, and things grow fast when the sun comes out.

 

As Greenkeeper said, Glyphosate (RoundUp) is the best solution. When I worked in landscaping, back in the 1980s just after it was introduced, we used to renovate lawns by following the steps Greenkeeper outlined. After spraying, the "lawn" would start to die out, and a maintenance crew would go in and cut it. An additional spraying was applied if new green stuff showed its head, and then it was seeded over with a blue/rye mix.

Glyphosate does not have much of a residual, and quickly breaks down (within hours IIRC). Its probably safer to use than any of the "natural" herbicides out there. It doesn't contribute to contamination of run off water, etc.

Grass is pretty wasteful from an environmental standpoint, especially in arid areas where you have to water it. There's a cost to using that water, pumping it up over the mountains and depleting the Colorado River of its natural flow. You'll use much less water in your gardens, and a drip system is a great idea. You can convert existing sprinkler systems to drip systems in some cases by using sprinkler heads that allow you to attach numerous pieces of drip tubing.

 

Godiva, I understand. If I ever have the opportunity, the local groundhog is dead--even if I have to run over it in the Prius.

I presume glyphosate would handle poison ivy. How effective would it be against a "big" tree?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Aug 26 2007, 04:28 PM) [snapback]502466[/snapback]</div>

You can snag a big tree by taking a bow saw and girdling it about an inch deep all the way around a few feet up from the ground. If you spray round up in the cut, these combined efforts will kill the tree. I did this in my yard on a very weedy species and the first cut/spray killed it. I left the snag standing for the woodpeckers. When it starts rotting, they'll (and other species) will use the snag for nesting.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SSimon @ Aug 27 2007, 10:46 AM) [snapback]502782[/snapback]</div>

You probably couldn't risk doing that in California ... our houses are too close together. If the dead tree can fall on your neighbor's house or his Hummer, you're responsible for any damages.

Girding a tree is usually, by itself, successful in killing it. It was the method the native Americans used to clear forests (girding / fire). The best advice in urban areas is to call a tree service, have them remove the tree and grind the stump. Use the grindings for mulch.

Palm trees are in a special class, as you can sometimes get landscapers to come and remove them (sometimes you can get paid for them too, especially Queen or King Palm trees).