Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is a warm-season perennial recognized for forming dense, wear-resistant turf in hot climates, making it popular for athletic fields and golf courses. However, for homeowners, its aggressive nature often transforms it into a problematic, invasive weed. Its bad reputation stems from its unique growth structure, deep-seated resilience, high maintenance demands, and seasonal aesthetic drawbacks.
Aggressive Growth and Spread Mechanisms
The remarkable ability of Bermuda grass to rapidly colonize an area is due to its dual system of horizontal growth, utilizing both above-ground and below-ground runners. The plant produces stolons, which are creeping stems that grow along the soil surface, rooting at their nodes to form new plants as they spread outward. This above-ground network allows the grass to quickly cover bare soil and creep into adjacent areas like garden beds and flower borders.
Rhizomes are underground stems that store energy and sprout new plants, enabling the grass to spread vertically and horizontally through the soil profile. The combination of these two structures creates an incredibly dense and difficult-to-penetrate sod layer. Any mechanical disruption, such as tilling or weeding, can inadvertently break these runners into small fragments, and each fragment can potentially root and develop into a new, separate plant.
Extreme Resistance to Eradication
Once established, Bermuda grass is notoriously difficult to remove completely due to the resilience of its root system. The underground rhizomes can penetrate deeply into the soil, protecting the plant from superficial removal methods and environmental stresses.
The rhizomes function as a significant energy reserve, storing carbohydrates that allow the plant to recover quickly from damage, including close mowing or the application of herbicides. When the above-ground growth is killed, the stored energy enables the rhizomes to rapidly sprout new shoots, making single-treatment eradication attempts ineffective. Complete removal often requires a multi-year effort utilizing repeated chemical treatments timed to the plant’s active growth phase or exhaustive manual removal to sift out every remaining root fragment.
Demanding Requirements for Healthy Turf
Even when intentionally grown as a lawn, Bermuda grass presents significant challenges due to its high maintenance requirements. To achieve the dense, uniform appearance seen on golf courses, the grass must be maintained at a very low cutting height, typically between 1 and 1.5 inches, often necessitating the use of a reel mower.
The grass also has a high demand for nutrients and water during the peak growing season. It requires frequent applications of nitrogen fertilizer, often every four to six weeks, to maintain its deep green color and vigorous growth. Furthermore, to prevent drought-induced dormancy, the turf needs approximately one to 1.25 inches of water per week, demanding significant supplemental irrigation. If these high inputs are not consistently met, the turf quickly thins out and becomes susceptible to weed invasion.
Competition with Desired Plants and Winter Dormancy
The aggressive growth habit of Bermuda grass makes it destructive when it invades flower beds, vegetable gardens, or shrub borders. Its dense network of stolons and rhizomes forms a thick, smothering mat that directly competes with surrounding plants for water, sunlight, and soil nutrients. This vigorous competition can starve slower-growing garden plants, severely limiting their growth and overall health.
Bermuda grass is a warm-season grass that cannot tolerate cold temperatures. When soil temperatures drop below 50–55°F, the grass enters a period of dormancy. This causes the lawn to turn a straw-brown or tan color that can last for several months. This prolonged period of an aesthetically unappealing lawn is a major drawback for homeowners who desire year-round green color.