And today’s lesson, boys and girls, is all about Bermuda grass. The scientific name for Bermuda grass is Cynodon dactylon, though it goes by many names besides Bermuda grass, such as quickgrass, devil grass, twitch grass, and couch grass. It is a weed found all over the world, probably originating in sub-Saharan Africa or perhaps on islands in the western parts of the Indian Ocean. It’s called Bermuda grass because it was introduced to the USA via Bermuda. Although around here, Bermuda grass is used for lawns because of its tolerance for sun and heat, it is considered one of the world’s most invasive weeds, one moreover, that is almost impossible to get rid of. Not only is it hard to kill, it spreads by so many ways that containing it is an exercise in frustration. Its roots go down deep, sometimes as much as six feet. It spreads by rhizomes, which are long runners below the ground that pop up in unexpected places. It spreads by stolons, which are runners above ground that root themselves as they travel. (I’ve found them as long as eight feet, creeping beneath my front ramp from one garden area to the other.) They spread by seeds, and since every part of the plant is biologically viable, it also spreads by grass clippings.
So why this lesson? Because why should I be the only one to suffer with my Bermuda grass struggles!
That weed grass is taking over one section of my yard, and to be honest, if I’d known it wanted to be there so badly, I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of digging up that area and planting a “real” lawn. I’d pretty much given up trying to control the Bermuda grass the past year or so and just let it do its thing, thinking that it at least was green. But this year, the grass went to seed, and I didn’t want my whole yard overtaken by that invader, so I’d been pulling up what I can. It turns out, the grass seed heads sprout at the end of the stolons, so I’ve been able to get rid of a lot of stolons that have been interweaving itself through the grass I planted. I realize I’m not getting the roots, but by pulling up the long stolons, I’m keeping them from rooting in other places. At least that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
The area that I’m trying to clear isn’t that big, but when I’m searching the lawn inch by inch, it seems huge! Unfortunately, by the time I’ve worked a bit pulling up stolons, I’ve used up my energy for the day, and so the weeds are taking over my garden areas. And yikes — the spurge is everywhere! It’s funny — this is such a hostile environment so in many ways: shimmeringly hot summers, frigid winters, winds all year, low moisture, and alkaline clay soil — you’d think nothing would grow, but the plants that like it here, really like it. Unfortunately, many of those plants are weeds that are extremely hard to get rid of.
Still, for all that, my yard looks pretty darn good!
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Pat Bertram is the author of Grief: The Inside Story – A Guide to Surviving the Loss of a Loved One
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