Dealing with weedy Bermudagrass.

Hello Permie friends! I am in the process of turning a small annual garden into a perennial one. The space is approximately twenty feet long and three foot wide. Six months ago I planted three blueberry bushes. Two on the sides, one in the middle. My plan is to plant asparagus between the bushes and maybe a few strawberries.
I have reservations due to super weedy Bermudagrass. It runs during hot weather making growing perennials difficult. I’m not so much worried about the blueberries though. It’s the asparagus and that causes my concern. I’m afraid the Bermudagrass will choke it out. I have strawberries growing other places and the grass really takes a toll on them.
At the moment there’s a few annual veggies in the garden. When the weather cools I plan to give the area a thick layer of cardboard covered by mulch. That won’t really effect next summer’s grass issues though.
Last year I figured out a way to grow great annuals even in problem areas. Once the annual is up I mulch around it with cardboard and grass clippings. About a month later I lay down a larger area of cardboard and more grass clippings. That takes the plant through its entire growth cycle while enriching the soil for next season. I’m just not sure what the best way is to handle a perennial which will be subjected to constant attacks.
The first two pictures are of the Bermudagrass itself. The third is one of my tomatoes with cardboard and grass clippings.

Following! I have this problem with my asparagus bed. My asparagus is even in a raised bed and that grass climbs up through a few feet of dirt. Weeding it out disturbs the asparagus and in five years, I have yet to harvest a stalk because the grass is crowding it or it's pouting because I bothered it while trying to pull up all the underground roots. I tried planting rhubarb with it, which competed pretty well with the grass but also competed too well with the asparagus.

I hope someone has some good suggestions!

Jenny Wright wrote:
I hope someone has some good suggestions!

I don't think a hydrogen bomb would kill the stuff.

One thing I remember that I've posted before that came from the book Ivverich und Ender is that asparagus has an extremely high tolerance for salt (I think it originated by the sea). Salt can typically be added until nothing but asparagus can grow, basically. Though I'm not sure if Bermudagrass was an issue for the writer. I bet it's fairly resilient to it as well, as a hunch.

That’s interesting Jordan, thank you. I’ve considered giving it the Ruth Stout treatment. Maybe I can keep under control long enough to get a harvest. I do wonder how the asparagus would handle things long term though.

Scott Stiller wrote:That’s interesting Jordan, thank you. I’ve considered giving it the Ruth Stout treatment. Maybe I can keep under control long enough to get a harvest. I do wonder how the asparagus would handle things long term though.

I'm pretty sure they do it indefinitely. They probably leave it until the salt leeches away enough that they start seeing other weeds sprout. I suppose a small amount of weeds might be good for a better polyculture. Here's the main submission I was thinking about:

We have several acres of asparagus. [!!!] ...If shoots have already appeared salt helps real good in controlling weeds, and does not hurt the asparagus. Put it on real thick and it will even kill grass that is very hard to pull or get rid of.

Ruth stout method sounds good. Another contributor said that the crowns tend to grow upward about an inch a year, and it's important to mulch enough to keep up with that for them to produce well. Spindly spears are a result of roots being too shallow. It also says to leave the old plants until next spring then "drag them down" i.e., chop and drop and the seeds will help keep it populated.

I happen to be someone who loves Bermudagrass. I don't know that it makes a difference though ours was Coastal Bermuda.

We use metal edging that is half buried which has worked for us. That is not to say that it is not necessary to keep the Bermuda in check by watching to make sure it is not sneaky and grows over the edging.

How would the asparagus do with cardboard and 6" of wood chips rather than grass clipping?

I personally would not use bermudagrass clipping if I were concerned about the grass choking something unless the grass clipping was well-dried.  With Bermuda, there is too much of a chance that a seed might sprout or that the Bermuda would take root from one of the clippings.

I am looking forward to reading how others are dealing with weedy bermudagrass.

This is all very interesting. Salt, who knew? Since I already have blueberries planted I will skip that suggestion in this bed. I have another I plan to try it out on though. It’s overrun with clumps of tall fescue (another weed) and horse nettle. I would take great pleasure in seeing their demise!
I very much appreciate these great comments!

Hi there Anne! I believe we were posting at the same time. Great minds do think alike 😂.
The Bermudagrass here is so omnipresent that I don’t believe the a metal edge would work. It’s already everywhere.
Getting wood chips where I live is very difficult now that I don’t have a truck. I’ve come to rely solely on grass clippings and mowed leaves for mulch. Ruth Stout was right, just keep adding.During the summer I use the Bermudagrass clippings to stunt what is growing underneath. Since it’s already in all gardens I don’t worry about spreading it around.
I do keep a bottle of white vinegar on hand to knock it back. A small spray on a hot afternoon will stunt it pretty well.