[Arid_gardener] Invasive grass

[Shawn Rutledge]

Yeah in places where it freezes hard for the winter, Bermuda grass
does not grow too well, and I think most of the grasses that do are
annuals; they propagate by seed rather than by sending out aggressive
runners that invade other spaces.  (Stray seeds could grow in places
you don't want, but mostly just in the spring, and a blanket of bark
or other mulch probably helps to prevent it - like you see in those
magazines.)  Here it's an ongoing battle.  When you try to pull it
out, any stray pieces of root that break off will grow again.  You can
just let it grow around the bushes and use the weedeater once in a
while to keep it short enough.  A concrete curb that goes down deep
enough might be able to keep it out of a flowerbed or garden area (as
long as you keep it edged next to the curb so that the runners don't
just go right across the top).  Don't even bother with bricks or wood
edging - anything that has cracks, or that doesn't go deep enough, the
grass roots can easily get through in short order, and you have just
increased your maintenance by trying to maintain a porous border like
that.  (I see some neighbors trying and it is frustrating to watch.)
The runners will go underground where you can't see, or above ground
or both - whichever way they can.  You can use Roundup to kill it
periodically.  Or just kill it all (keep hitting it with Roundup over
a period of months or years, because it will keep trying to come back)
and plant something else.  We have neighbors who have managed to do
that, and their front yard is now full of flowers and vegetables,
which IMO is a much better use of the space anyway.  Maybe I will try
to do that too eventually.

Bermuda doesn't like shade though, so under dense tree cover you will
naturally have bare spots.  Pine needles also have a mild herbicidal
effect, so the bare spots will tend to be bigger under pine trees,
especially if you leave the needles lying there.

On 7/29/07, Jackie and Bill Harrell <Confidem at peoplepc.com> wrote:
>
>  Dear Arid Gardener,
>
>  I have in-the-ground garden beds which have given me problems with invasive
> burmuda grass.  And I'm really not SURE it comes from outside the
> beds...often it seems to sprout from right in the middle.
>
>  Anyway, how do gardens I see in magazines have grass growing right up to
> the garden bed in a pretty line!!!  Is that a different kind of grass from
> ours here in Phoenix?  Or do they have a secret?
>
>  Is there a successful way to keep grass from encroaching into the beds?
> What works?
>
>
>          Sincerely, Jackie