What a dilemma! I don't know that I'd have a solution. Someone else may, but to post pictures just copy and paste the HTML Code that is under your Photobucket photo into the message box and your pictures will appear. The links you gave above didn't work for me.

The links you gave worked when I left off the [IMG] at the beginning and end.

Not sure how hot it needs to be and for how long it has to be left in place, but I've heard that you can kill off grass and weeds by covering with black plastic and letting the sun bake them. But I know you want to get started now.

Another thing you can do is spray with Ortho Grass-B-Gone or strong vinegar. I've never tried the vinegar, but Grass-B-Gone takes about three weeks to really kill the grass.

But the grass has to be actively growing for Grass-B-Gone to work. Sorry for taking so many times to say anything ... LOL

Garden pix

Thank you Roselee!

You'll be fighting that landscape fabric for years to come... and the grass will grow right up over the fabric. Or at least that's what happened to me. Lasagna on top of bermuda doesn't work either. The ONLY thing that would work is Round Up, which you don't want to use if there are plants in there, or Grass Be Gone. There are a couple of grass killers that are specific to grass. Just gotta read the label to make sure it won't kill ornamentals.

Having fought Bermuda grass in my yard, I would wait until the Bermuda emerges and then spray it with RoundUp. Wait a few days and then spray the area again. In my experience, that's the only way to effectively kill Bermuda grass. Landscape fabric is no deterant. The Bermuda will grow right up through it and believe me that's a real bugger to extract.

Carla in Rowlett

To use it this year, roundup is the way to go. I have covered bermuda with cardboard/newspapers and mulch. Then planted through holes but the bermuda will come up as well and it takes a few years of persistence to get rid of it all.

I also did landscape fabric many years ago and never again. It didn't stop the bermuda and just held onto any that I tried to pull up.

RoundUp. Spray when the grass is actively growing, wait 5 or 6 days, spray again, wait 5 or 6 days, spray again. After about 2 weeks, you should be able to do whatever you want. I watched my poor neighbor try a sod cutter to remove the bermuda then plant beds. Now, I can't remember what his FACE looks like. ;-)

I did the RoundUp to a solid VERY healthy lawn bermuda 3 years ago. I have NO problems with bermuda re-establishing.

I agree with RoundUp. Great stuff and you can plant a few days after you use it. Only problem is that it needs to be a little warmer than it has been for it to work. Better living through chemistry!!!!

Round-Up or you will have it forever .......... ask me how I know !!!

J.D.'s three application method with Round-Up is the way to go. I would cut it down to no more than about 4" tall, and wait for it to start actively growing before starting the applications.
Jim

thanks, Jim, I left out the mowing down. You want all of the grass growing actively so you can get the roots. If you leave ANY roots...............you'll have bermuda.

Does anyone know of where there might be information on whether grass only killer, like Grass-B-Gone, is less toxic than Roundup? I remember reading that broad leaf weed killer is a plant hormone that makes the plant try to grow too fast so that it dies making it a less toxic alternative than Round-up, which has the same ingrediants as Agent Orange. Hopefully grass only killer is less toxic also.

While trying to find that information I saw this:

"Roundup has long been promoted as being safe for humans and the environment while at the same time effective in killing weeds. It is therefore significant when studies begin to show that this herbicide compound is not as safe as its manufacturers claim.

"In the late 1990s, a Swedish study published in the journal Cancer revealed links between glyphosate exposure and the development of non-HodgkinÂs lymphoma, a form of cancer. Scientists warned then that with the rapidly increasing use of glyphosate the rate of this otherwise rare cancer could also increase.

"More recently a group of scientists from the University of Caen, in France, found that human placental cells are very sensitive to Roundup at concentrations lower than those currently used in agricultural applications. The study of Ontario farming populations showed that exposure to glyphosate nearly doubled the risk of late miscarriages. It also found that the ethoxylated surfactant used in the Roundup formulation studied doubled the toxic effect of the glyphosate.

"In 2002, French scientists found that Roundup activates one of the key stages of cellular division that can potentially lead to cancer. There is also research that shows that even brief exposure to glyphosate causes liver damage in rats. The research indicated that glyphosate acted in synergy with the surfactant used in Roundup to increase damage to the liver.

"In the US, the amount of 2,4-D applied to soybeans more than doubled from 2002 to 2006. A known carcinogen, 2,4-D was a component of the Vietnam War defoliant Agent Orange."

While using Roundup in the garden there would probably be less exposure than what Vietnam veterans experienced, but still it would be wise to use Roundup very carefully on a windless day, plus change clothes and shower immediately after using it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Behind the label: Roundup Weedkiller ...

I agree totally, Roselee, any and ALL chemmicals should be used per label instructions. One thing I found while applying, don't pressure up the tank too high. A fine mist drifts worse than a lower pressured heavier spray.

I would start over, but use Roundup a couple of times, then cover with newspaper/cardboard, then soil with nutrients, then mulch. This has worked for me; you still will get some weeds, that's inevitable, but it sure turns that clay soil into some nice gardening material! Also makes the weeds easier to pull... works for me! When I see the worms in the ground after doing this, plus the fact I'm on overload as far as what is good and what is bad, then seeing the results in the plants I grow, I don't get too excited. Whatever works and you feel good about it...

I did the black plastic last year in one bed and the newspaper, soil, then much in another, both worked well...No grass came through, only wild morning glories which seem to plague every inch of my lot(*&%$#@). I wouldn't recommend leaving the black plastic in place and planting through it as a landscape fabric substitute like I did though: it doesn't seem to degrade evenly and bits pop up through the mulch and look trashy. Any grass that may come back should be easy to pull given what you originally made the bed out of.