Could some one give me any ideas for getting rid of grass out of my flower beds? I have one big bed with tulips and daffadils in.
The other is a corner flower bed with mums, lilies, dailies. I have tried round up and weed be gone. I have pulled grass till I can't stand it anymore. I'm running out of ideas. I know salt water kills grass and weeds but will it hurt the flowers. All ideas will be appricated, Thanks... Jody

 

What type of grass? This is important to know, as each type reproduces in differant ways.

 

Fast I have to say love the taz. I live in a subdivision that use to be an apple orchard if that help in any way. Sorry that all I know abot the grass.

 

Thanks for the Taz compliment.
Take a close look at the grass you have in your yard/flower bed. Does it have runners on the top of the ground? If so, you have a type of bermuda grass and it is a pain in the butt. This is how it regenerates itself, is through the runners. In order to keep it out of the flower bed, you have to stop the runners. I have done this, to some point, by the use of borders which stick down into the ground about 4 - 6 inches. The runners don't go over the top and the roots can't go under it. You will still have to keep pulling grass, but not as much or as often, because there is already grass in the flower bed.
If you don't have any runners, than just a border would stop the grass. You have to be sure to mow the lawn before it seeds and bag it up, to prevent new seeds from getting into the flowerbed.
I would think that your local nursery would be able to tell you how to better control the grass in your area. Take a sample of the grass to them so they have an idea of what type of grass you are fighting against.

 

When you pull the grass up there are roots running all over the place. I have talked to the local nursery and they told me round up but that didn't work. The flower bed on the corner is the one I'm trying get rid of grass. I started two summers ago it is only half way full of flowers. I wonder if I dig out all the grass and put new soil down if that would help some.

 

I'm sorry. It sounds like you do indeed have bermuda grass and the stuff just will not die. My Dad went through all kinds of stuff to get rid of what he had and it seemed to always come back. He finally went as far as putting down some sort of ground killer, nothing would grow for two years! After that, he reseeded and preped the soil, and finally got the results he had been looking for.
This stuff is pretty nasty grass to get rid of, but it can be done. You have to take some pretty drastic measures. Keep asking people, maybe someone out there will have a better answer, I don't.

 

Hi JLC

My 2 cents worth from above the border - Trying2Help is right about getting rid of persistant perennial grasses - we have Quackgrass up here and it's the same type of problem (long roots that are almost impossible to control)...

Tried digging clumps, separating roots, etc, but if you miss the TINIEST piece of root, back it comes...

One thing that I've done is used the Roundup concentrate and paint it on the grass blades with an artists brush or small (1/2") painter's brush - A lot of work and it still takes a LOT of persistence, but if you keep at it, the populations will decrease. The brush also gives you the control to get in between flowers and even into shrubs...

Good Luck

Howie

 

i deal with grassy weeds all the time i am surprised to here that roundup isn't working...
the only other product that i know of that is supposed to be effective against bermuda grass is the active ingredient"fluazifop-p-butyl" wich is the active ingredient found in ortho's grass-b-gone.
you want to apply this product when the weeds are actively growing and i would recomend adding a "sticker"which is also available at your local garden center.
apply only when your sure you won't be having any rainfall for 2 or 3 days.
if this works and you manage to kill it off you can use the pre-emergent corn glutin(yes this is real corn glutin all organic and believe it or not of all the chemical weed preventers that i know of it is the only one labeled for bermuda grass).
hopefully this will help keep any new seeds from germinating.
p.s. the only company i know of that actually manufactures corn gluten as a weed pre-emergent is a comany called 'concern',maybe you can find them on the web.
good luck,I think your gonna need it.
-CT. arborist

 

here is my $.02...
i have the same thing..bermuda!
i have the metal border which helps but does not do the job. here is my annual ritual.
1. now (before emergence), i pay a guy to come "turn" my bed.
2. use my edger to keep a couple of inches between the grass and the border.
3. spray round up a week or two before i plant any flowers.
4. designate 30 minutes every 2 weeks to pull any grass i see.

i am not an expert, but this keeps it nice enough throughout the summer, a little work in the late winter/early spring saves ALOT of work during the summer.

 

ahh hell, I wish i'd seen this earlier.... I got bermuda grass everywhere.... My ex ole landscapin boss used to have us spray roundup on it... well it kills it back a lil.
Poast is the best thing. It only kills grasses so your tulips and whatever should be safe, mind you I wouldn't go spraying directly over the plants any more than neccesary.

Havn't you ever wondered about folks that just have a hill or bank planted in juniper, how they keep that grass outta it? I've maintained a few with just a wee bit of Poast.
I imagine you could buy it without a chem license, but I'm not certain, I've never seen it anywhere. I go to a chemical warehouse and get all my stuff, Poast is like $150 for 2.5 gallons.

For nutgrass use Basagran.

R.Wyrm