What type of grass do you have? If bermuda it will probably grow back from the roots if you don't use roundup.

It's probably bermuda, socalgal :(

@Nil13 preemergent applied on top of the mulch or on the surface of the dead turf? Or both?

You could solarize, if you don't mind the time it takes.

Hah! Nuclear weapons won't kill Bermuda grass.

preemergent goes on the surface of the soil. not the mulch. I've had burmuda growing under plastic in a bed that I was solarizing. It laughed at it. If it's not growing, rototill it up and let it dessicate completely.

If it is bermudagrass, I recommend watering it to get it growing and then roundup it. Do that 3 times. That stuff is a PITA that will grow out from under a foot of mulch.

I've heard of stories where it has been found growing under cement. I guess that is why they call it Devil Grass.

Rototilling breaks up the pieces of bermuda and spreads it. Rototilling is NOT recommended for bermuda, if that's what you have. On fescue it might be okay.

I speak from experience, having done it the wrong way - rototilling and picking it out by hand. After 7 years, there is still a patch that comes back, and I water very little because I planted low water use shrubs such as salvias and lavender.

Most effective is spray, wait, water, spray new growth, and wait again. It usually takes at least 2 rounds to get rid of bermuda. I did this on a narrow strip next to my house, and it worked quite well, although it did not take care of the bindweed.
Removing bermuda grass

I hand turned and sifted all my soil and then did the spray kill, water and repeat. My friend just sprayed and watered and it took a little longer and a whole lot less work. He used more spray though, so it was more money. I don't think you can avoid spraying if it's Bermuda. Also, there will be dormant seeds in the soil so I would turn the soil at least where you plan to dig or plant in the future to see if anything sprouts after you have finished killing off whatever was growing initially. We planted groundcover thyme and Mexican Heather in his parkway and had Bermuda seedlings that we had to hand weed. It was a pain.

Thanks kittymoonbeam. Hand weeding bermuda seems counterproductive as you can never pull out the whole root, it snaps off before you can, no matter how moist/soft the soil is. Also there are always runners, stolons, rhizomes. I'm thinking about buying Ortho Grass B Gon which is a selective herbicide just for bermuda. Can be played in beds without worrying about wind drift killing your plants.

nl13 bermuda can grow through a foot of mulch? How... is... that... even possible?! Where does it get the energy to do that?!

what many are doing in N. California is cover the grass with cardboard and on top of the cardboard put mulch. It will smother the grasses and the cardboard will eventually be chewed by the worms etc in the ground when it rains. Result dead grass.

oh yeah, bermuda is tough stuff. It is astonishing what it can grow through.

I have a South African veldt grass 100x worse then Bermuda. Bermuda isn't much of a re seeder by comparison. So I've had Roundup work well on it. The Veldt grass is ONLY killed of by Roundup. You can never pull it out- as its roots wrap around nearby plants so well, that you pull out the good plant too!

Luckily,Round up doesn't seem to harm C&S. You could never pick that grass out of spiny plants.

remember Roundup and other weed killers can remain in the soil. If you want to plant something later you may be taking a chance.

Roundup breaks down very quickly and doesn't remain in the soil.

I've never had a problem planting after using glyphosate and I've done a few turf removals for clients.

The drought is now 5 years old, not a couple.

I took out Bermuda grass the old fashioned way- with a shovel. I would dig as deep as the spade, pull it up, shake out the dirt and throw the clumps away. It was hot dirty work. For about a year blades of grass would poke their heads up and I'd either yank them or pour boiling water on them. Two years later and we have no grass .

no chemicals were used in this process...

Folks, can't I apply a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent the Bermuda grass from growing?

pre-emergent is used to stop the bermuda grass seeds from germinating. It does nothing to the plant.

Pre emergent might be helpful if the Bermuda had made seeds in the past. Those seeds can survive years in the soil. Cardboard helps a bit but won't kill it completely. My neighbor has a Bermuda lawn that dies back in a place where the hedge casts heavy shade in summer. It's bare dirt there. When the angle of the sun changes, the light slants in under the hedge and the grass returns. If you kept enough cardboard on it, it might work eventually, but I would prefer spraying it before it goes dormant in the cool season and be sure that it's all gone before I planted anything.