Bermuda Grass

I spent most of the day working in the garden. The rest I spent, as all sensible human beings do on weekend afternoons, taking a nap.

For those of you facing wind chill factors and nine-foot snowdrifts, I know it is difficult to believe that fall and winter are the best vegetable growing seasons in southern California. I also know that you think all southern Californians are spoiled ninnies who are nuts for complaining in valley girl voices about the two days last week when the inland temperatures were over 100 degrees. Yes, it will soon be November in the land of the sun-damaged brains.

Here in America’s finest city we have a back yard that we refer to as a garden. In reality it’s a third of an acre of bermuda grass. I hate bermuda grass. One of my favorite organizations is “Food not Lawns.” They get it.

We’ve battled the bermuda grass for three years. The first year, the owner of our local gardening store, came out to consult with us on the yard. City Farmers is a wonderful place. We like them because they are on the correct green path. Organic and drought resistant plants, organic soil and amendments. When the City Farmers’ guy saw the bermuda grass, he suggested we buy lots of Roundup. Just kill it.

Of course, my sister the former organic cow farmer wouldn’t hear of that. So, we bought all of this black plastic and anchored it into the ground on top of the bermuda grass in a benign effort to do what the Roundup would have accomplished.

In small areas where we planted vegetable and flower beds we used recycled white wood chips from the county dump. Someone told us the white chips were from a wood that prevented the growth of the bermuda grass. That’s what they think.

Bermuda grass has what I call the mother lode. If you mow it down and then hoe the remainder out, you may have to go down a foot or so to find the mother lode. But there she will be in all her glory. Lovely ivory roots spreading out in every direction with brown wiry stragglers bunched into a knot. The stragglers are totally resistant to being dug up and tossed away. Sometimes the roots spread out for several feet. It’s like entering a maze.

I’m a large woman and I’ve learned to place the hoe under the knot and use all of my body strength to pull it out. I think to myself, I just lost five pounds. What I’m losing is the bermuda grass battle.

Note: Gardening is one of the great joys of homeownership. This is one in a series of articles on gardening in southern California. For more information on purchasing a home visit My Home Down Payment.