Do you have a garden bed surrounded by Bermuda grass or dollar weed? These are very tough weeds that can easily infiltrate your garden bed. Both grow very easily by lateral running roots. I find that Bermuda grass, dollar weed, and torpedo grass are often the hardest to eradicate in garden beds. They are all very hardy and prolific growers.

While our business typically promotes avoiding chemical management of plant and pest species, thoughtful and precise chemical management of these weeds may be essential in controlling garden beds. Some invasive species and tough to kill weeds may NEED chemical management. What is worse... allowing invasive plant species to grow and thrive or chemical management that would potentially destroy a localized ecosystem? While we often stay away from chemical management, in certain circumstances we have to ask the question.... Which is worse? Infiltration of these plants or the chemical that prevents infiltrations? This is an important topic when addressing invasive species. Is the risk of invasive species spreading worse than the risk of chemical management?

For plant species such as dollar weed, Bermuda grass, and torpedo grass regular mechanical management (hand pulling) is essential in controlling their spread in unwanted areas. But for gardeners that can not devote the time and attention to mechanical methods.... chemical methods may be of better use. With that being said, chemical methods should be very target specific. Meaning... that when spraying herbicides we should have a few goals in mind.

1. Selecting an herbicide that specifically targets the unwanted plant species

2. Spraying an herbicide precisely and directly on the unwanted plant species instead of a broad spray over the entire area

3. Resulting to chemical spray only when mechanical removal has proven to be inefficient or impossible.

In this video we show what it is like to hand pull Bermuda and dollar weed in a mulched bed. This bed is intended for blackberries, blueberries, and mulberries. All other plant species are to be removed. In this video you can appreciate how difficult it may be to mechanically remove these weeds. This is because of their laterally running roots that can propagate the plant out of sight from the gardener.

Do you have any experience with Bermuda grass and dollar weed removal? If so, comment below to keep the conversation going. We'd love to hear from you!!