How to Get Bermuda Out of Shrubs

Removing a Light Bermuda Grass Invasion

• 1

  Dig carefully with a trowel into the soil around the roots of the shrub to follow each sprig of bermuda grass to the rhizome it is growing from. If there are just a few strands of bermuda growing up into the shrub, they can be methodically removed in this fashion. A pointed trowel works well to slide vertically into the soil along the stems of bermuda and pry up the rhizomes from below.

• 2

  Loosen the soil with a digging fork in a 3 to 4 foot swath adjacent to the shrub in the direction that the bermuda grass is creeping in from. Remove any rhizomes found in this area to prevent re-infestation of the shrub.

• 3

  Monitor the area on a weekly basis and continue to remove new shoots of bermuda as they appear. It is not possible to get every bit of rhizome that is entangled in the roots of a shrub, but if the green growth is constantly removed, the strength of the rhizomes will eventually be depleted. The key is to prevent the grass from photosynthesizing in order to slowly starve the root system.

Removing a Heavy Invasion

• 4

  Dig out the rootball of the shrub when it is dormant in late winter. This is the only way to assure that all the bermuda rhizomes can be found and removed.

• 5

  Remove the bermuda rhizomes that are entangled in its root system. It is safe to remove all the soil from around the roots at this time of year as long as the roots themselves are not broken or damaged in any way. Shake the soil off of the roots if it is dry or use a hose to spray it off.

• 6

  Use a digging fork to loosen the soil in the area where the shrub was growing. Try to find and remove all the bermuda rhizomes for at least 3 or 4 feet on either side of the shrub.

• 7

  Replant the shrub in its original location. Give it water whenever the top 1/2-inch of soil is dry during the next growing season to ensure that it re-establishes its root system successfully.