For some people, Bermudagrass makes a nice lawn. It requires little care or maintenance so is perfect for them.
Others don’t like the invasive nature and the fact that it is only green during the warmest months, greening up late in
the spring and going dormant “turning brown”, early in the fall or late summer.
In Tall Fescue or Kentucky Bluegrass lawns, Bermudagrass is a tough weed that requires persistence and a plan to eradicate and
replace. The bottom two images show Bermudagrass invading a vegetable garden and a landscape bed.

Control

Control of Bermudagrass is dependent on where it is causing a problem. Below we will describe three different ways to address Bermudagrass depending on what you want to do and where.

First, in the yard you have two choices, kill everything and replace that part of the yard, or suppression and try to keep it at bay.

Killing everything so you can seed or sod the area almost guarantees you will get rid of the Bermudagrass. You have to follow the instructions and make at least two applications of HiYield KillZall. Research has shown to start spraying 6 to 8 weeks from when you intend to seed or sod. In Kansas this would be late July. The grass must be actively growing for it to be effective.

Spray the area thoroughly. Wait two weeks and scalp the area, (Mow as short as you can and pick up the debris), this will allow sun to reach down into the turf to allow any living grass to recover that you may have missed. Wait another two weeks and spray again with HiYield KillZall. Two weeks after that, you may seed or sod.

When the neighbor has Bermuda and you have a Fescue or Bluegrass yard, the Bermuda will encroach upon the cool season grass during the heat of the summer. In this instance you don’t want to kill it all off and re-seed. In this case you can apply HiYield Triclopyr Ester (formerly Turflon Ester) or HiYield Triclopyr 4. When mixing either of these products for Bermudagrass you MUST add HiYield Spreader Sticker to the mix, or it will not work. The other important detail is you need to make an application each month of June, July and August. If you do this for 2 years you will starve the grass of food and it will actually start dying back. If you are only going to spray once and forget it, it will not work.

Finally, if Bermudagrass is invading the landscape bed or the vegetable garden, apply either Fertilome Over the Top or HiYield Grass Killer. Again you MUST add HiYield Spreader Sticker to the mix or it will not work. On Bermudagrass it will work very slowly so be patient, occasionally two applications maybe needed, 2 to 3 weeks apart.