Control of Invasive Bermuda Grass

Bermuda grass can take over lawns and then invaded flower and shrub beds. The grass creeps along the ground, rooting wherever it touches the soil or mulch, forming a dense mat. It has a strong root system that can grow more than 4 feet deep. For the landscape contractor or maintenance professional tasked with getting rid of Bermuda grass, experts have a few facts and treatment suggestions.

DON'T: Trying to get rid of Bermuda grass by tilling or cultivating it will only spread it faster because cultivation chops the stems into segments and each segment becomes a new plant.

DON'T WAIT TOO LONG: Once the weather starts to cool, the grass will go dormant, and spraying won't be effective. Because there will still be seed in the soil and beds, you'll have to be vigilant in 2012 as well, or it will get re-established.

DON'T: No chemical will kill Bermuda grass seeds in the soil.

DO: Contractors have to retreat the area for years to kill new Bermuda grass seedlings. A ''scorched earth'' weed spraying, repeated several times, is the best way to start.

DO: Selective control in lawns and gardens is much more difficult. The only practical solution for precise control is a selective Bermuda grass killer for lawns, based on fenoxaprop-p-ethyl. Two applications a month apart starting in July for control, but it's easy to use and kills not only Bermuda grass but crabgrass, foxtail, sandbur and some other grassy weeds. It will not kill lawn grasses and, with a few exceptions, it won't harm other types of plants in your landscape.

DO: After the second application of Bermuda grass killer, reseed the lawn with good grass seed turf-type tall fescue blends for most lawns.

DO: Re-seed a day or two after spraying Bermuda grass killer.