Hello from the Texas Hill Country!
I'm a newbie to the board and to organic gardening and I have also read posts on this board and others to how terrible bermuda can be...I didn't plant it!! I just need a little clarification on a few items.

Land is about 5 acres with stand of Live Oaks, Red Oaks, flameleaf sumacs, native grasses and wildflowers and a thin layer of soil with plenty of rock strewn between. The property has never been cultivated and is considered to be Native Pasture.

My project will be to convert the lawn area - about 1/4 acre into a mix of native grasses (buffalo and side oats gramma from seed) and wildflowers. The yard is gently sloping but could be prone to heavy run off if there was no vegetation. Within the immediate yard area - closest to the house I have bermuda growing along with weeds and our native texas limestone rocks . I have been told to get rid of the weeds in preparation for the buffalo grass and do this by using corn gluten or a product called Finale. I plan on converting the yard into 4 sections - 1 per growing season. So in saying all of this here is my question:
Will corn gluten kill bermuda?
When I kill all of the weeds and bermuda with corn gluten(hopefully) what do I do about the little soil I do have to keep it from washing down the pasture?
How long do I wait before planting the buffalo and side oats gramma since they will be planted from seed?
I plan on bringing in compost and a little soil but how long do I wait to do this?

Thanks in advance!
Jeff

Corn gluten will not kill bermuda. Gluten will work as herbicide on weed seeds and will then become fertilizer for bermuda and other grasses. If I had bermuda and risk of loosing top soil, I would stick with bermuda instead of risking loss of top soil. Compost is great idea no matter what you do.
Robert D Bard

This may sound strange but I think your best bet at killing the bermuda will be to wait until it is growing great (no earlier than June) and smother it with compost at a rate of at least 5 cubic yards per 1,000 square feet. Just pile it up and hope for the best. You're going to have it coming back from now on, so maybe you should adjust your goals now.

Maybe you will have better luck with buffalo grass in the Hill Country but in town here, it usually looks like an ugly weed demonstration patch.

Would you consider just growing forage mix of grasses and clovers? If you get the right ones, you can have year-round greens. Check with that seed place in Fredericksburg (sorry can't remember the name).

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum

hi ............. here in the denton/dallas area ...when is the right time to put gluten down ........... last year ... I think I ended up fertilizing weeds .....

Fall & late winter/early spring are the two times gluten is usually used as a pre-emergent. There is no set date because it depends on the weather. Your best bet would be to listen to Howard on his sat/sun radio show. He always gives recommended dates regarding the current season. Dates should also appear on these forums as the season progresses.

I found one as I checked the posts:
http://www.dirtdoctor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2711&highlight=

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The "soap" you use is normally chemicals, etc. Use real SOAP !!

Does corn gluten truly break down and fertilize bermuda?? I have not used it, but was going to put some out early spring. If it fertilizes bermuda, I don't want it near my beds!!! Bermuda doesn't need any help in North Texas!

Corn GLUTEN meal absolutely fertilizes. It will have no herbicidal effect on living grass. The only herbicidal effect it has is on seedlings. Bermuda does not spread from seed that effectively.

The best thing I've seen for bermuda in beds is serious mulch - 3 inches or more. You can smother bermuda with that much mulch but some will persist. The stuff the grows up through the mulch can be pulled out easily from the loose mulch.

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David Hall
Moderator
Dirt Doctor Lawns Forum