Re: hydroponic Bermuda grass

Alessandra,
I can relate to your trials and tribulations with
Bermuda Grass, and found your story entertaining for
someone not faced with your problem in my own garden,
but I have had to deal with this weed many times in
client's gardens...  My recommendation remains to try
and poison any area infested with Bermuda Grass with
applications of "Roundup", and repeat several times as
required.  I usually try to treat for weeds before
doing any new plantings, as it is much more difficult
to eliminate Cynodon from existing plantings than in a
new garden setting.  I would also recommend that any
Cynodon lawn be contained by a solid edging such as a
150 mm wide by 300 mm deep concrete mowband, which
will help to greatly reduce the creeping stolens from
getting into adjacent flower beds.  Mowing frequently
to prevent self-seeding is also a good idea.

It was interesting to me to see how widely the Hybrid
Bermuda grasses are used as lawns along the Costa del
Sol of Spain, and usually without any edging at all
between edge of lawn and flower/shrub borders.  I
wonder if the hybrid Bermuda grass lawns are really
that much better behaved in Europe, or whether this
was simply an oversight on the part of the garden
designer/contractor?  Even with a hybrid Bermuda grass
lawn here in Northern California,(which isn't very
common except for golf courses), most people would
always install with some sort of barrier as a mow
band.

Best of luck dealing with your rampant Cynodon!! 






- "Vinciguerra, Alessandra" <A.Vinciguerra@aarome.org>
wrote:
> Some time ago, I remember, during one of our
> recurring threads concerning
> this weed, somebody asked where did Cynodon dactylon
> come from. Well,I can
> answer now. Books say it is a Mediterranean grass,
> but I am able now to give
> some more infos. When the Almighty, in His
> imperscrutable sense of humor,
> decided to create the worst weed of the Universe,
> not only He thought he
> would lure Americans into  believing that it was a
> highly desirable turfgrass, thus giving us Europeans
unending reasons to
> laugh... He also decided
> that at the end of XX -beginning of XXI century,
> somewhere in Central Italy,
> there would be a gardener who would need some
> lessons in the matter of
> humility and patience, and so He settled the origin
> or primigene point, from
> where bermuda grass spreads all over the world,
> HERE, in my garden. I am
> positive about it, because here cynodon shows every
> possible mutation; it
> grows horizontally, vertically, and every other
> fourth or fifth dimensions
> you can imagine, it is immortal and powerful.
> 
> The reason for this slightly paranoid message is
> that I am just back from
> the garden, where I witnessed the most incredible
> demonstration of
> toughness, adaptation and power from this weed.
> Let me explain. I have a pond, and all around it,
> despite my efforts,
> Bermuda grows rampant, trying to smother all the
> marginal plants I
> optimistically grow there. It is a never ending war,
> and very likely Bermuda
> is going to win it. Having been out for a week, I
> set today to weed the pond
> sides, and I found that Bermuda had sent its stolons
> into the water. Here,
> far from rotting and dieing, these stolons kept
> growing (mind, UNDER water),
> developing at each node healthy aquatic roots, you
> know, the kind of white
> and fleshy roots you get when you root a cutting in
> water. The roots had not
> managed to reach the muddy bottom, they just floated
> in the water; then they
> sent young leaves towards the surface, so I actually
> had little bermuda
> blades punctuating my pond. When I set to remove the
> stolons, I found some
> that were 1,20 mt/ 4 ft long! I had never heard of
> this ability to become
> aquatic, or really hydroponic, in cynodon. I was
> even half admiring this
> immense strength from the dreadful weed, but I could
> not help thinking how
> will I ever be able to stop it?
> It was like seeing the Alien invasions, or something
> equally nightmare-ish.
> Well, I had to share this with people who will, I am
> sure, understand my
> frustration.
> Thanks for reading it through!
> Alessandra
> 


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