Lawn care question: getting rid of fescue clumps in bermudagrass lawn

UpTheMiddlex3Punt

All-Conference
May 28, 2007
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I purchased my home last summer and the sod the builder put in must have had some fescue mixed in because I now have a crapton of fescue clumps growing in it. Advice seems to be to either dig up every damn clump or to spray them with roundup and also kill the bermuda (or wait until winter if I don't want to do that). Is there anything that works that doesn't require me putting on a hazmat suit (I'm fine with gloves and a mask) or having to have a special license to purchase it? I figure the local hardware stores aren't going to have anything, but anything I should be able to find within a 50 mile radius of Huntsville, AL.
 

RebelRH

Freshman
May 2, 2013
105
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I am not a lawn expert but I would give MSMA a try. We can buy it in North MS. It works for me. You can just do some small area sampling before hitting the whole yard.
 
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mcdawg22

Heisman
Sep 18, 2004
13,313
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I am not a lawn expert but I would give MSMA a try. We can buy it in North MS. It works for me. You can just do some small area sampling before hitting the whole yard.
MSMA all day. It kills any non Bermuda grass weeds in my lawn. I wish they had a broadleaf equivalent. I know they “do” but none seem to do as good as a job as MSMA does on the the thin leaf stuff.
 

Turfdoc992

Redshirt
Oct 3, 2022
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MSMA (active ingredient Mono Sodium Methane Arsonate) is no longer labeled for homelawn use but your yard might be an extension of the cotton field out back or it could be a roadside. Try making the tall fescue unhappy. Lower your mowing height, Tall fescue does not like to be mowed low (drawback - you will have to mow more often). Be judicious with water - Tall fescue requires more water than bermuda. Use glyphosate when bermuda is dormant - have to wait until next fall and winter.
 
Nov 16, 2005
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Wait until early next spring and spray your yard with roundup before the Bermuda comes out. That’s the easiest thing.
 
Nov 22, 2023
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MSMA (active ingredient Mono Sodium Methane Arsonate) is no longer labeled for homelawn use but your yard might be an extension of the cotton field out back or it could be a roadside. Try making the tall fescue unhappy. Lower your mowing height, Tall fescue does not like to be mowed low (drawback - you will have to mow more often). Be judicious with water - Tall fescue requires more water than bermuda. Use glyphosate when bermuda is dormant - have to wait until next fall and winter.
I agree, this is a case where you may be able to mow for the yard you want. Set mower at 1 or 2 inches and fescue will decline. Bermuda will love getting cut weekly at an inch. I guess the username checks out, Turfdoc.