Question
QUESTION: I have always used the grass b gone by ortho and it seems that it isnt available anymore. Can you help with something that really works. I live in west texas. I have a problem with the bermuda grass getting into the flower beds and taking it over. The grass b gone was the only product I ever found that wouldn't hurt my roses, flowers, or ornimental grasses.

ANSWER: Sue, this is the Organic Gardening Department.  I would not be caught dead with a bottle of Grass B Gon here.

This stuff may give not give you any problems, but I guarantee it will give your local Earthworms a headache they won't forget.

That's not good.  Roses, Flowers and Ornamental Grasses need those Earthworms and the microbes that surround them to thrive.

Now, Sue, I know you can purchase Grass B Gon on Amazon.com.  But consider instead a good, thick mulch.

Besides blocking weed seeds from touching down, a healthy mulch piled over a layer of landscape fabric will conserve moisture and keep roots cool in the hottest Summer afternoons.  Best of all, it encourages growth of Earthworms, beneficial microbes and friendly Fungi.  You need those to get the healthiest Roses.

Give it some thought.  And if you have any questions, let me know,

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Will the heavy mulch control the burmuda grass from taking over the flower beds? That is the biggest problem I'm having right now.


Answer
Bermudagrass is one of the most death-defying onerous mega-headaches on the 21st century gardening brain.

In some places, it's called 'Devil Grass'.  Others call it 'Couch Grass'.  Still others call it 'Bermuda Grass'.  I call it The Weed From Hell.

All amount to the same dense, deep-rooted perennial creeper, Cynodon dactylon.

You must be living up North.  Because in warmer climes, homeowners grow entire lawns with this.

Not in Bermuda.  Like many other places, they recognize it as one of the most rampant, invasive species ever known to man.  They feed it to cows in India.  It's the first green plant to recover after a brush fire in Africa.  It makes great soccer and football fields because people can stampede all over it, and nothing will happen.

I feel your pain.

Get yourself over to Lowe's or Home Depot this weekend. Get one of those big, tough fabric mats -- a black fabric-like roll of special material.  These are designed to let in air and water and fertilizer in one direction.  So you can water and fertilize your Roses and vegetables and flowers just like you always do.  THE GREAT THING about this material is that NOTHING can grow UP from underneath.

Why is this important?

Bermuda Grass sets seed without mercy, and these seeds -- there are thousands of seeds produced every season -- scatter and sail through the air, landing wherever, waiting decades (yes, DECADES) for just the right conditions to spring into action.  One of those conditions is Light.  No Light, no Weed.  This is explained in the study below, 'Light Requirement for Emergence of Turf-Type Bermuda Grass Seed', published in the 2008 Arkansas Turfgrass Report:

turf.uark.edu/research/research%20series/568/Light%20Requirement%20for%20Emergence%20of%20Turf-type%20Bermudagrass%20Seed.pdf

Lay the fabric down carefully, cover it with a few inches of your favorite mulch, and you're done.

Now, this is just the beginning.  Because Bermudagrass spreads all over the place -- sideways.  You can read more about it at Blue Planet:

www.blueplanetbiomes.org/bermuda_grass.htm

Which is why, in addition to a mulch, you also need a physical barrier around the perimeter of the fabric drop -- a deeply set barrier to prevent the roots from creeping all the way under the fabric to the end, and establishing a life in your flower bed.  A thin sheet of aluminum (which won't rust), driven down the edges until it is not visible aboveground, will block them out permanently.

I would also recommend a buffer zone of several inches where you concentration on preventing surrounding Weeds from crossing into the flower bed.  No way you'll have a single Bermudagrass blade sprouting unwanted with this setup.

Lots of preparation, I know.  But the results are worth it.  A dream come true.  The end of Bermudagrass as we know it.

Any more questions?

THE LONG ISLAND GARDENER