Kill bermuda grass?

[pppldj]

Does anybody know a way to kill bermuda grass around the base of figs and other fruits without killing the fig bush? Does Preen work?

[WillsC]

Smother it or Glyphosate I suppose. Edge it with something deep to keep it out?

[pppldj]

I may do similar to that. I may take sheets of cardboard and line the ground under it and spray glyphosate underneath the cardboard and leave the cardboard in place. The shade should take care of what remains in the center.

[nkesh099]

Had the same problem many times. Few applications of Round up will take care of it.

[pppldj]

Good. My entire yard is planted with this grass.

[rayrose]

I keep 5'-6' wide weed free zones around all of my trees and keep them mulched in pine straw.
Any weeds or grass that might pop up get zapped with Roundup.

[Chrisk]

I don't see how the grass would effect the fig tree in a bad way. I would mulch heavily around the base and let it be. The shade of the tree and drip line should do the trick naturaly. The fig roots feed a lot deeper than grass . Best of luck with whatever you deside to do.

[Chrisk]

If it really bothers you I guess you could score/outline the radius you want cleaned with a shovel around the base, pull off the grass and mulch. I wouldn't want my tree to soak up any kind of chemicals like that.

[Dave]

How about a rubber mulch tree ring comes in all different sizes inexpensive and no chemicals

[lilfiggy]

nice idea rubber mulch ring i use cyprus mulch around my trees.

[jmaler]

Mulch - six to 12 inches deep, six to 12 feet diameter.

[pppldj]

Lots of good ideas and thoughts. Thanks for all of the input. I don't think that the grass really hurts anything. It just grows very fast and is very hard to keep out. It becomes unsightly. It is a lot of work to keep it down on everything that I grow. The roots can go anywhere from 4 to 8 feet deep. It spreads underground. It will push through deep mulch. I think with time, Roundup and mulch will be my answer.

[m5allen]

I have been known to be a little paranoid about stuff like this, but no way I am putting Roundup around the base of an edible.

[COGardener]

I concur.

[Rewton]

What I did to a decent sized area of my lawn that I converted from grass to non-edibles is to:
1. in the Fall cut as low as possible with a lawn mower and trimmer
2. lasagna mulch over the area with manure, compost, shredded leaves, cardboard and hardwood mulch over the top (about 4-5 inches deep total)
3. in the Spring when occasionally bermuda grass came up I pulled it out; this went on for a few weeks; I think that weakened it but it kept coming back here and there; I finally spot treated the new bermuda sprouts with roundup using a foam brush soaked in roundup on the leaves; this minimized the amount I had to use. After two spot roundup treatments I haven't had a problem since and it's been over a year. This area is isolated from the rest of my yard (including some bermuda) by edging that is about 6 inches deep and so far new bermuda has not invaded the bed. My yard is not solid bermuda grass though. It is maybe only about 10% bermuda grass.

I do think that figs and other fruit trees really benefit from having at least a 3 ft diameter grass-free area around them.