posted 6 hours ago
Good morning, I'm in the Coastal Plains of NC working with a recently reclaimed patch of woodland area.
The spiny amaranth, pokeweed, and poison ivy have been difficult to deal with, but we're making headway slowly.
However, the common bermudagrass seems to come back thicker and thicker each season.
We intend to use this small plot to feed ourselves and our chickens.
So we've been using fire instead of chemical herbicides for weed control. But this method does nothing to harm the bermudagrass.
Based on just a little reading of negative allelopathic interactions, I'm considering overseeding with annual ryegrass or winter rye this fall. Then after manual removal of that rye, I'll follow up with seeding sorghum in the spring.
How likely would this combination help eliminate common bermudagrass on this plot after one year? Will I have to do this multiple years to remove the bermudagrass with this method?
Are there better alternatives to accomplish this goal?
I also compost in addition to feeding my birds. If I can accomplish multiple goals at once (like feeding the soil microbes or inhibiting root knot nematodes), that's even better. But my priority definitely remains common bermudagrass removal.
My zone is 8B, with high humidity for 8-9 months of the year.
The plot is full sun (8+ hours), with soil pH between 5.0-6.5 depending on the specific sand/red clay ratio in a given spot.
Irrigation is not a problem at all, since this area holds water well (good organic matter), and it's downhill so it receives all the runoff (there's a swamp 100 feet behind it).
Thank you kindly.
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