# Controlling bermuda in Zoysia



## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

I have palisades zoysia, this is generally very thick and prevents invasion from my neighbors hybrid Bermuda, I dethatched bit late in the growing season and this thinned out my lawn the grass and is now leggy allowing the highly fertilized Bermuda to creep in.

I am planning on treating that area with Fusilade II and triclopyr ester.

my worry is that the zoysia currently may not be strong enough to handle these herbicides as its still recovering, but I don't want to wait too long either for bermuda to continue the invasion.

so option would be for me to throw some nitrogen, RGS and humic acid to stimulate growth and then hit with herbicide or flip the regimen to herbicide followed by N/RGS/humic acid.

open to suggestion


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

This sounds like a @Greendoc question.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Zoysia is relatively indifferent to Fusilade+Triclopyr. This is what drives Zoysia growth and recovery. Water and temperatures. Not N, not whatever magic in a bottle you were sold. My guess is, you actually de thatched too early. I avoid touching Zoysia in the period of slow growth in early spring. Furthermore, other key to Fusilade+Triclopyr having maximum efficacy is low mowing. In high cut Zoysia, I would do this: cut the N and supplements because they benefit the Bermuda more than the Zoysia. Cut back on the water a bit. The Zoysia will become dominant under conditions of low fertility and less water.


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## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

@Greendoc thanks for the insight, will cut it short and then apply fusilade+triclopyr followed by my experiment with n-ext RGS since it does not have any N.


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## Dupe (Jun 4, 2021)

I remember reading the headline and coincidentally ran across this video today. But damn, @Greendoc this is incredible info. Put you on payroll!

Zoysia Lawns: How to kill Bermuda


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## gkaneko (Dec 11, 2018)

I gotta hit my zoysia with fusilade/triclopyr too. Bermuda is still hiding among the zoysia. Zoysia is getting super thick right now but the Bermuda is still meshed in there.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Greendoc said:


> Zoysia is relatively indifferent to Fusilade+Triclopyr. This is what drives Zoysia growth and recovery. Water and temperatures. Not N, not whatever magic in a bottle you were sold. My guess is, you actually de thatched too early. I avoid touching Zoysia in the period of slow growth in early spring. Furthermore, other key to Fusilade+Triclopyr having maximum efficacy is low mowing. In high cut Zoysia, I would do this: cut the N and supplements because they benefit the Bermuda more than the Zoysia. Cut back on the water a bit. The Zoysia will become dominant under conditions of low fertility and less water.


@Greendoc do these rates look about right to you for Fusilade, triclopyr, surfactant, and water?

.07 fl/oz of Fusilade II
.75 fl/oz of Triclopyr Ester
.5 fl/oz of non-ionic surfactant
.75 gallons of water

All this will cover 1,000 sq/ft for me using a red XR teejet tip.


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## gkaneko (Dec 11, 2018)

I replied in the other thread. The surfactant amounts seem low?


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## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

not sure about the surfactant, but other mentioned rates are what i have come across in these forum. my hi-yield surfactant states to use 5-10ml/gal for herbicide which is between .2-.4 fl/oz


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Is this the Triclopyr that everyone is using? I asked DoMyOwn.com about it and they said not to use it on warm season grass...?

Just want to make sure I'm not about to apply the wrong product


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## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

Lawn Smith said:


> Is this the Triclopyr that everyone is using? I asked DoMyOwn.com about it and they said not to use it on warm season grass...?
> 
> Just want to make sure I'm not about to apply the wrong product


this is one of them, this is what i plan to use, their product label states it can be used in zoysia grass to control bermuda, the active ingredient is the same.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Just sprayed mine...


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## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

Lawn Smith said:


> Just sprayed mine...


Applying mine on Friday. Will pray to the deer God. Hopefully you took some before pics, post an update later.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Viru said:


> Lawn Smith said:
> 
> 
> > Just sprayed mine...
> ...


Well about an hour after I sprayed we had a pop up shower and got 1.5" of rain lol. I guess I'll give it a week or two and see if it's done anything before I reapply.


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## socerplaye (Jun 14, 2018)

I'm dealing with some similar issues. The majority of my front yard is zoysia and we have Bermuda on the other side of the driveway and the backyard. I've been mowing at .65" and bumping up to .75". I'm coming off my first application of PGR and am thinking I'll let the zoysia rebound as I try and tackle the Bermuda in it.

I was going to either hit it with the flail blades or the delta blades to try and get the runners up as well but now I'm thinking I should wait until after I see the application take effect on the Bermuda and power rake to get as much of it up as I can.

Sorry if I hijacked the thread but it sounds like we're dealing with the same issue.

Thanks,

Billy


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

socerplaye said:


> I'm dealing with some similar issues. The majority of my front yard is zoysia and we have Bermuda on the other side of the driveway and the backyard. I've been mowing at .65" and bumping up to .75". I'm coming off my first application of PGR and am thinking I'll let the zoysia rebound as I try and tackle the Bermuda in it.
> 
> I was going to either hit it with the flail blades or the delta blades to try and get the runners up as well but now I'm thinking I should wait until after I see the application take effect on the Bermuda and power rake to get as much of it up as I can.
> 
> ...


I don't think you're hijacking it at all. We're all in the same boat so the more the merrier.


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## UFG8RMIKE (Apr 21, 2019)

Lawn Smith said:


> socerplaye said:
> 
> 
> > I'm dealing with some similar issues. The majority of my front yard is zoysia and we have Bermuda on the other side of the driveway and the backyard. I've been mowing at .65" and bumping up to .75". I'm coming off my first application of PGR and am thinking I'll let the zoysia rebound as I try and tackle the Bermuda in it.
> ...


Add one more to the list. I have all the chemicals I need, just can't find the time to treat as consistently as I need to on a vacation home that is always rented out. Plz post results, interested to see how it goes.

.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Looks like we might have some activity. This is two days after application and there appears to be some brown appearing and the Bermuda blades have some grey spotting on them. We got about 1.75" of rain the past couple of days too though so it could be a fungus. Not sure.

I'll keep you guys updated on how it progresses.


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## Viru (Apr 11, 2020)

Looks good, glad to see there is no discoloration in your zoysia.


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## NorthAus (Feb 8, 2020)

I had common bermuda coming up through my zoysia for a year or two after I laid the zoysia.

The zoysia essentially smothered out the bermuda and it is all gone now. I pulled the odd piece that I saw (they were mostly apparent after scalping, because the bermuda comes back much quicker) but I suspect the zoysia would have crowded it out naturally over time regardless.

Those herbicides look much faster however. Just don't panic if you don't get every last bit as I suspect the zoysia will get it anyway.


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## Lawn Smith (Jun 8, 2020)

Well I think she's working. These pictures were taken today and you can definitely see the bermuda dying off. The zoysia looks like it's brown but I think that's from aerating and cleaning up the plugs this morning (it turned into a bunch of mud).

All in all i'm very happy so far. It's a great feeling seeing it dye off!


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## UFG8RMIKE (Apr 21, 2019)

Awesome.


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## socerplaye (Jun 14, 2018)

I finally got around to spraying yesterday and my zoysia already looks a little yellow today but the Bermuda still looks green, hopefully the Bermuda starts to feel the effects. I did a mix rate that was more in the middle of surfactant, fuselade II, and triclopyr.


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