Bermuda encroachment in collars/approaches

This past summer has been the best for warm season turf that I have seen in a few years.  Both the zoysia and bermuda grass that we have are in great shape.  Bermuda grows much faster than zoysia and does create some difficulties when it sends out runners into collars and approaches.  We have normally treated the collars a few times by this time of year but we had not made any applications until yesterday.

The temptation for many is to pull the runner out of the green or collar which sometimes can be easy but  other times will create an unsightly mess and leave voids in the turf.   We will be making a couple of chemical treatments and will doing some verticutting with a seeder to regenerate new bentgrass into these areas and disrupt the growth of the bermuda.  You will notice the bermuda grass beginning to lay on the existing ground without being tacked down except where it originated out of the ground.  Be patient, and don't pull the runners.  The mowers will cut them off.

Below is a link to last years post which has more detail regarding this problem.

http://geccgcm.blogspot.com/2009/08/bermuda-runners-in-greenscollars.html

A collar on the practice green which has been over run with bermuda.  This should improve over the next month as the chemical does its work and we seed into the area with new bentgrass.

Bermuda runner I am holding with long white roots.  The chemical will reduce the roots which do not allow it to tack down to the surface.  Existing plant roots will be pruned away by the chemical leaving the plant vulnerable to moisture and nutrient deficiencies and winter kill.