My New Bed - Neighbor's Bermuda Grass

 I'm establishing a brand new bed that borders my property and that of
my neighbor's. His lawn is overrun with bermuda grass.  Is there
anything I can do to keep his bermuda grass from meandering into my new
bed?  Can some kind of barrier be driven into the soil to keep it out?
If so, how deep must it go?  Would a raised bed with black plastic
stapled at the bottom as a floor be effective? Are chemical weapons of
any use? Perhaps a hydrogen bomb?

-Fleemo

 fleemo17@comcast.net wrote:

Bermuda grass is insanely invasive.  It is very deep-rooted and reproduces
by seeds, rhizomes (below ground), and stolons (ground level).  The
standard answer to "how do I control it?" is "asphalt" (and new, uncracked
asphalt, at that).

Any attempt to hand-pull is more an act of propagation than eradication.  
Any bit of root that survives will start a new plant.  If your neighbor is
casual about mowing, you will also have seeds to consider.

Your battle will be on multiple fronts.  A raised bed or even just timber
edging should keep stolons from creeping into your bed.  If you use a
copper-impregnated, water- and air-permeable mulching fabric in your bed,
the copper will help prevent germination of seeds already in the soil and
any that arrive later.  

I would leave a double-mulched (fabric + wood chips) 'killing zone' with
no plants between your property boundary and the bed.  Besides giving you
access to the back of the bed, you can also get out there with the Roundup
and discourage the Bermuda grass during the hot summer weather that makes
it feel feisty.

RE: the black plastic lining the raised bed.  Imagine a very large
container with no drainage.  Not plant-friendly.

Good luck.

-- Karen

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 Karen, thanks so much for your thorough response.  :)

So is there anything to combat the rhizomes, or is my battle primarily
with the stolons and seeds?

-Fleemo

 You will be fighting the rhizomes and stolons the most.

On 26 Jan 2007 14:23:48 -0800, fleemo17@comcast.net wrote:

 
Google <bermuda grass puller> for some relatively new tool options.

On Jan 24, 3:36 pm, fleem...@comcast.net wrote: