Bermuda grass control in Zoysia and St. Augustine lawns
 

It looks like there is a relatively new combination of herbicides available that is capable of controlling the Bermudagrass that mixes in with the Zoysia and St. Augustine lawns of the types here in The Villages. It's a combination of stuff called Fusilade II and Recognition.

My pest control/lawn guy doesn't offer it. The guru on YouTube (in the Tampa area) who's been documenting his use of it says the combination has been hard to come by, but that it should eventually become available at SiteOne Landscape Supply. There are two such stores located pretty close to each other over in Leesburg. Probably an interesting story behind that.

Anyway, curious to know if anybody has tried this combo or even been successful in finding the chemicals locally. I had looked into something similar a while back based on a different YouTube guru in NC, but it seemed that those herbicides couldn't be shipped to Florida - or something like that.

Comments on YT suggest that the volumes available for purchase might be more suitable as a "shared" purchase by several lawn fanatics.

Syngenta
 

Recognition herbicide: A powerful, flexible tool for St. Augustinegrass and zoysiagrass lawns | GreenCast | Syngenta

The metcamifen folks.

Since all three are "approved" lawn cover types in The Villages, I'd just embrace the new growth and start a lawn-fashion trend. From a distance, no one can tell which kind you have growing on it anyway.

Do you know what type of St Augustine grass you have? If you have the Scott’s ProVista, it’s glyphosate tolerant and you can spray/kill the Bermuda (and weeds) without harming the St Aug. There’s lots of info on the web about it. Make sure to not use Round Up, they moved away from Glyphosate. So try Amazon or Tractor supply for the Glyphosate.

Not SA
 

Good info. But, I have Empire (pretty certain that's the "brand") Zoysia, not St. Augustine. I *have* been seeing some St. Augustine lawns around that look much thicker and darker green than I've ever seen anywhere else. So, if this zoysia experiment fails. . .

Embracement
 

And a most logical embracement it would be. However, this zoysia in my front lawn areas here that *don't* have significant Bermuda infestation is just *so* wonderful that I must have it - if I can make it work without *too* much trouble. If you felt this stuff with your bare feet. . .

Be sure to check the rules in your district. Our district only allows whatever was originally planted so you can't make a change. Don't know if ARC would overrule and approve the change or not.

Got it. Thanks.

Grass
 

Make sure it isn't torpedo grass. if it is don't let it get into your planters! Tractor supply has a product by Image you can spray on your grass, and it is safe on Zosia.

Torpedo and licensed professionals
 

Thanks. Been learning about torpedo, too. Nasty stuff, apparently.

Checked out the products I mentioned on the OneSite website and see that both are currently available. However, they look to be "regulated", so are apparently only sold to "licensed professionals". Emailed them about it. Guess I'll be researching that further, but did find this page: https://discover.pbcgov.org/coextens...al/License.pdf Guess I ought to contact Sumter County. Found this: Sumter County - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences - UF/IFAS

sumter@ifas.ufl.edu
352-569-6862
7620 SR 471 Suite 2
Bushnell, Florida 33513-8716

Let's see what an email to them yields.

Interesting.

I'm fighting an invasion of Bermuda into my 20 yr old St. Augustine. Just last week, I called one of the largest on-line suppliers of lawn chemicals and was told there was no product available to control Bermuda that will not damage St. Augustine.

The next day, our landscaper sprayed four areas of St. Augustine with the worst invasion of Bermuda in preparation for removing the sod and replacing it with new St. Augustine, all at significant expense.

I hope that this thread continues and people report on their success/failure to control Bermuda grass.

Bermuda grass is used on golf courses, and of course the seeds fly in with the wind.
And yes, I got an infestation of torpedo grass, either I just call it all grass, or I spend lots of money because of mother nature and golf.

So i am choosing to spend time NOT using chemicals and am hand weeding the torpedo and inserting st augustine plugs in areas with lots of torpedo grass. As far as the bermuda, pfft, i let it grow because I am not spending thousands living in a golfing community and worrying about different grasses flying in from golf course creation.

I stand corrected , Recognition mixed with Fusilate II seems to be the answer to our Wild Bermuda grass issue.

I have Bermuda growing in a corner of my yard. I had looked at recognition too but I thought I read something about the Saint Augustine grass having to be a certain type. I also read you have to be very careful to apply the correct amount.

I think I am just going to do as another poster said, spot treat the worst areas and replace it with Saint Augustine plugs hoping it crowds it out. I wish it wasn't in my front yard though. When I spot treat it, I'll have to let it sit for up to four weeks before I plant the saint Augustine so I'll have dead spots in my front yard for a time.

Not all St Augustine is created equal. Some herbicides labled safe for St Augustine are also labled unsafe for the variety most commonly used here, called Flortam. It’s a mess.