Subject: Bermuda Grass

From: Milogic <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 13:00:50 EST

Jennifer,

Down south, they call bermuda grass "horizontal bamboo." 

You may receive myriad suggestions ranging from killing off the planet to get
rid of bermuda grass to quiet conversations with the devas thereof. Probably
either will work providing you are a true believer. I favor conversations with
the devas--see Machelle Small Wright in VA for directions to the devas.

When I get ambitious enough for a major confrontation, I go out and scalp the
plot as best I can with one of those Japanese little sickle like things. I
pile the whole mess up in some artistic arrangement on the cleared plot and
let it compost itself. I plant red clover, wheats, oats, favas and alfalfa and
buckwheat and anything else with some positive energies associated with it on
the composting pile and everybody has a wonderful time during the process. All
this cacophony of vegetatioin while hungover may be a bit like the hair of the
dog. The outcome sometimes is that the bermuda grass is intimidated enough to
sue for peace and promise to exercise restraint as long as I hold off
destroying the planet. Seems like a decent trade, now. 

Sounds sorta like the kind of thing permaculturalists may get with, no?

And if all that doesn't work, I check my lines to the devas for static. One
guarantee I can make is that the whole business is more fun than mowing
bermuda often and close which is the better way for Americans with front lawns
to deal with it. Neighbors may not like it, the cacophonous compost pile
approach, though--narrow minded folks, that is.

Milo Clark
Berkeley CA USA

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From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 14:21:32 -0500

Use care when dealing with Devas, and and keep your sense of humor engaged
(always a good idea, anyway)... I love Devas for cosmic conversations, but
they're quirky little characters and as far as getting work out of them,
they are more apt to give you what they think you need than what you think
you want... 

If you use the cardboard trick, be very careful with the laps and wet the
cardboard to keep it in place before covering with dirt or it'll shift and
let the 'horizontal bamboo' escape. 

Remember the dictum -- when dealing with any non-clumping bamboos, of which
bermuda grass is one of the true potentates -- "Once you open a can of
worms, the only way to put them back is to use a larger can".

Jack

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From: Jack Rowe <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 14:21:32 -0500

Jack

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From: YankeePerm <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 20:12:54 EST

In a message dated 1/12/98 11:22:22 PM, you wrote:

<<
Does anyone have any experience in successfully removing Bermuda grass?

Someone had once suggested to layer cardboard down on top of it to block
the sunlight, and even punch holes through the cardboard and plant
mangles or the like.  Obviously, this particular type of grass is very
tenacious and the roots can go very deep into the soil and will travel a
great distance to search for and seek out light.  

Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated.

Jenifer White
Central Valley, California

(it is raining quite heavily now, so the ground is very soft, if not
saturated.)>>

Jenifer:

Hogs will uproot it.  It may take a few years as the stolons go very deep.
I've hit water table where I've dug deep here, and still there are stolons.
Sheet mulch will have to be repeatedly reapplied as the grass punches through.

You could also use the area as a poultry run.   They will suppress any kind of
grass over time.  It is otherwise a very difficult problem.  However I find
that in inner zones I'm not troubled by it much--just pull and remulch as I
putter around.

For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since 1982),
Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses,
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and now correspondence
courses via email.  One is now underway.  Next Live program:  Paraguay,
8/10-22/98. Internships available. Copyright, 1997, Dan & Cynthia Hemenway,
P.O. Box 52, Sparr FL 32192 USA  [email-masked]  

We don't have time to rush.

A list by topic of all Yankee Permaculture titles may be found at
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