Weed fabric/grass problem

[EPThorn]

So i tilled up a portion of my backyard to put some rubber mulch and a playground for our little ones.

Today i noticed a few blades of grass come up through the mulch. I moved some mulch only to discover a lot more bermuda runners ready to come up.
I though i did everything i needed: till up the grass, liberally spray with grass killer and preemergent, a 6 inch deep barrier b/w grass and play area.
That damn bermudas resiliency is pissing me off.

Short of pulling the mulch aside and laying concrete, what else can i do to prevent the grass from taking over.

 

[LITNIN HORN]

Did you put polyurethane down before you spread the mulch?

 

[EPThorn]

No i didnt. I hadnt heard of that (Im a novice at this).
How is it supplied? how is it applied?
If it is some kind of relatively easy treatment, i wouldnt mind moving the mulch and putting it over the fabric. The play area is only ~260 sq ft and about 4-6" deep.

 

[LITNIN HORN]

It comes in rolls...it's black plastic. Home Depot or Lowe's should have some. I would go with a 5 or 6 mil thickness. You should spread it out over the area, then pin it down so it doesn't slide around under the mulch. You shouldn't have weed issues after you do this.

 

[EPThorn]

OH...its just the black plastic. Darn big words confusing me.
I didnt want to lay plastic originally because i didnt want water to pool, but i probably have no choice now that the bermuda is creeping. Although, I guess i could lay the plastic in a way to channel water to areas of the fabric where no bermuda is poking thru and soak those areas with some ortho ground clear.

 

[7Titles]

I think you can put down fabric/plastic that will let water pass thorugh.

 

[brntorng]

Costco usually carries the landscape fabric cheap, but it may be too late in the season for them to have it. HD or Lowes will have it. Overlap the seams by a good amount to eliminate any chance of gaps in the coverage. Use long galvanized spikes to hold it in place. You definitely don't want to use solid black plastic due to the pooling problem.

If you do eventually get some bermuda grass coming up through the fabric and mulch (unlikely), don't pull it. It won't help. Give it a shot of Roundup and let it die. If you don't want the herbicide residue around your kiddos, put on rubber gloves, saturate a small cloth with Roundup, and manually apply it to the emergent grass.

 

[AustinBat]

I don't know if this works - it was too much trouble for me - but I was told by a nursery to dig down about a foot, and cover the whole area very thickly with newspapers. They said that would kill the bermuda, and the newspapers would eventually decompose.

 

[Ignatius]

In reply to:

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[bevosayshi]

What exactly does "bermuda runners" look like? We have St. Augustine and what appears to be bermuda spiking up in areas around the yard. Just curious.

 

[TexasEd]

if you don't get a tight enough fabric bermuda and nut sedge can grow through landscape fabric.

Use plastic