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RE: Request for some practical tips.



Nice posts regarding weed ecology and control. 

As the original post had to do with control of a bermudagrass lawn or 
bermudagrass pasture to establish a 4,000 sq. foot garden in Oklahoma 
City where it is HOT and DRY.... perfect growing conditions for 
bermudagrass.... there are few options in my opinion.  One of the old 
common names for bermudagrass was "Devil's Weed" for good reason. 

>From a practical viewpoint, I see only two alternatives to Roundup 
that are feasible at the 4,000 sq. foot range:  

1.  Cover crop and tillage sequence.. may take 2 years in a sequence
of winter cover cropping, spring tillage and establishment of 
next sequence -- either a smother crop or smother crop mixture, or a 
summer row crop that produces shade accompanied by inter-row tillage 
or living mulch....  followed by winter cover crop establishment in 
September.  Repeat sequence.

2.  Geotextile weed barrier.... will take around 2 months to turn 
bermudagrass into an albino plant growing underneath the black weed 
barrier....  expending all its carbohydrate root reserves, sending up 
new green shoots which soon also turn to albinos and die from lack of 
sunlight.  A 4500 sq. ft roll of geotextile costs about $300. 

Note:  In a drought year such as 1998, the bermudagrass may go 
dormant and fool the geotextile mulch....  in this situation it may 
be necessary to irrigate the grass to encourage growth and subsequent 
dieback.  

Steve Diver



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