Best Weed Killer for Bermuda Grass: Safe Picks by Weed and Season

Which weed killer is safe on bermuda grass?

What is the weed, and is the bermuda green or dormant? Those two answers pick the product. A selective herbicide controls the listed weeds and leaves the listed turf alone at label rates. So the first check is the label: bermudagrass must appear in the list of grasses the product can be used on. The table below combines Clemson Extension's product table for warm-season lawns, UGA Extension's home lawn bulletin and the product labels:

Do you have a weed this table does not name? Our guide to johnsongrass in bermuda covers that perennial grass. A photo diagnosis can narrow down a weed you can't name before you spend anything.

The best weed killers for bermuda grass, ranked

This ranking is for a typical home bermuda lawn. It goes by how many common weeds a product handles, how much room it leaves for error on bermuda, and when you can use it.

1. Celsius WG: best overall post-emergent. Its label lists common and hybrid bermudagrass, including Tifway 419, TifSport and Celebration. It controls many broadleaf weeds and some grassy weeds, and Clemson names it as the only post-emergent to use during spring green-up. Its label says it is intended for licensed commercial applicators, and UGA lists it for licensed applicators only, so you can ask a lawn service to apply it. Do not use it on bahiagrass or a cool-season grass.
2. Prodiamine (Barricade): best pre-emergent. It stops crabgrass and annual bluegrass before they come up. It suits a lawn that had crabgrass last summer or poa last spring. Do not use it on areas you plan to seed in the next few months.
3. Quinclorac (Drive XLR8): best rescue for crabgrass that broke through. The Drive XLR8 label rates common bermudagrass highly tolerant and hybrid bermudagrass moderately tolerant. It needs an adjuvant, and methylated seed oil is the one the label prefers. For some weeds, the label times a second spray 14 to 21 days after the first.
4. SedgeHammer (halosulfuron): best for nutsedge. Clemson lists halosulfuron for yellow and purple nutsedge in bermudagrass. Spray nutsedge while it is actively growing in summer.
5. Three-way broadleaf mix (2,4-D + dicamba + MCPP): best do-it-yourself pick for broadleaf weeds. It handles dandelion, clover, henbit, chickweed and wild onion. Clemson's best range for broadleaf sprays is 65 to 85°F in spring and fall. For winter weeds, UGA's schedule calls for days above 50°F. Use the bermuda rate on the label.

What to spray on bermuda grass in November and winter

Is your bermuda still green, partly brown or fully tan? Part the grass and look at the soil surface. Any green leaf or green runner means the lawn is not completely dormant, and you should treat it as green grass. Clemson warns that South Carolina lawns may not go completely dormant in a mild winter.

• Winter broadleaf weeds. Clemson's warm-season weed calendar says to treat winter broadleaf weeds from November to January with a post-emergent on mild days. UGA puts a number on it: its schedule calls for a three-way product in late November or December, when temperatures are above 50°F. Small weeds are easier to kill than large ones. Henbit and chickweed are on the Celsius WG label and on three-way labels such as Trimec Classic.
• Half green, half tan. Some products must not be sprayed while bermuda is going dormant. UGA says Surge must not be applied in the fall transition between active growth and dormancy. Read your bottle for a line like that before you spray a lawn in this state.
• Wild onion and wild garlic. Clemson says to treat them in November and again in February with a three-way product. UGA adds 0.3 oz of surfactant per gallon of spray when treating wild garlic. You may need to repeat the next November.
• Cold weather limits. The Celsius WG label says not to apply it if a frost or freeze is expected within 48 hours. It also says to spray actively growing weeds, and that symptoms are slow when the soil is 65°F or cooler. For more on spraying in cool weather, see our cold weather weed killer guide.
• Glyphosate on dormant bermuda. Clemson says non-selective products such as Roundup can be used safely on bermudagrass that is completely dormant. Check the active ingredient on the bottle. Michigan State University Extension says Bayer has removed glyphosate from its consumer Roundup products and the new bottles look almost the same as the old ones, so look for glyphosate on the label. It also warns that glyphosate may delay green-up in the sprayed spots. Clemson's annual bluegrass factsheet adds that some South Carolina poa annua is becoming resistant to glyphosate.
• The second fall pre-emergent. Clemson's bermudagrass calendar applies a fall pre-emergent in September and a second one 8 to 10 weeks later. If your first went down in mid-September, the second is due in mid-to-late November.
• No nitrogen. Clemson's bermudagrass calendar says not to apply nitrogen from September through December.

Poa annua that is already up

Is the bermuda dormant yet? That decides the product. A pre-emergent will not kill poa that has already come up.

Pre-emergents: stop crabgrass and poa annua before they sprout

When do crabgrass and poa annua germinate where you live? A pre-emergent works only if it is in the soil before then. Clemson gives these timing rules for warm-season lawns in South Carolina. Other regions shift by a few weeks, so watch your soil temperature as well as the calendar.

Clemson says most pre-emergents last 6 to 12 weeks, so a second application 8 or 9 weeks after the first gives season-long control. Water granular products in with about 1/2 inch of irrigation right after you apply them.

Use the rate on the label of the exact product you have, because the two common bermuda pre-emergents do not share a rate:

• Barricade 65WG (prodiamine): 1.0 to 2.3 lb of product per acre on bermudagrass (0.36 to 0.83 oz per 1,000 sq ft). The yearly cap is 2.3 lb per acre, and it counts every application, including a fall repeat. On newly sprigged or plugged bermudagrass, the label limit is 0.80 lb per acre (0.30 oz per 1,000 sq ft).
• Dimension 2EW (dithiopyr): 1 to 2 pints of product per acre per application, and no more than 6 pints per acre per year. Common and hybrid bermudagrass are tolerant, but the label says not to use it on Tifgreen (328).

Annual bluegrass can become resistant when you use the same pre-emergent group every year. Clemson's annual bluegrass factsheet (HGIC 2325) puts prodiamine, dithiopyr, pendimethalin and benefin in one group and indaziflam in another, and it advises you to alternate between the groups.

Do you plan to seed? A pre-emergent stops grass seed too. The Dimension 2EW label says seeding within 3 months of one application may fail, with one exception: overseeding bermudagrass with perennial ryegrass 8 weeks after an application, or 6 weeks if slight ryegrass injury is acceptable. Barricade 65WG is stricter. Its only short-wait exception is for lawns in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas overseeded with perennial ryegrass after 0.58 to 1.0 lb per acre, applied 6 to 8 weeks before overseeding. Its overseeding table starts at 4 months at its lowest listed rate of 0.75 lb per acre and runs to 12 months in the South at 2.30 lb per acre. Use our overseeding calculator once the wait is over.

Post-emergents: how to spray without hurting bermuda

Why does a "bermuda-safe" spray still brown a lawn? Check the timing and the temperature first. Clemson's guidelines for post-emergent sprays on warm-season lawns:

• Spray most broadleaf weeds in spring or fall, when air temperatures are between 65 and 85°F. Turf damage is more likely in hotter weather.
• Do not spray during spring green-up. Wait until the lawn is fully green. Celsius WG is the one exception Clemson names.
• Make sure the soil is moist. A drought-stressed lawn gets poor weed control and more injury.
• Do not mow just before or just after you spray.
• Spray when no rain is expected for at least 24 hours, and not on windy days.
• Spray young weeds. Repeat only at the interval on the label.

Celsius WG has its own label limits. Its three rates are 0.057, 0.085 and 0.113 oz of product per 1,000 sq ft, and the weed tables on the label tell you which rate each weed needs. For a spot or zone spray, mix the rate into 1 gallon of water, which covers up to 1,000 sq ft. Do not apply more than 0.17 oz per 1,000 sq ft in a year. Do not use a spray adjuvant above 90°F. The label sets no temperature ceiling for the herbicide alone, but Clemson advises spraying below 90°F to reduce injury.

Metsulfuron (MSM Turf, Manor) controls tough broadleaf weeds and bahiagrass at very low rates and is labeled for bermudagrass lawns. The MSM Turf label warns that some yellowing or stunting can follow an application, and it says not to apply it to turf less than 1 year old.

Two products need care on a bermuda lawn you want to keep. UGA says some atrazine brands are labeled for dormant bermudagrass only, and Clemson's table lists atrazine for centipedegrass and St. Augustinegrass. Do not put atrazine on green bermuda. Mesotrione (Tenacity) bleaches bermuda, which is why it is part of the program in our guide to killing bermuda grass in a fescue lawn.

Is the lawn new? Clemson says it is best not to use any herbicide in the first year after seeding or sodding. If weeds become a real problem in a seeded lawn, use half the rate, and only after the lawn has been mowed four times. In new sod, wait until the grass is visibly growing and spreading, and use half the rate until it has been mowed three times.

Weed and feed on bermuda

Mistakes that injure bermuda grass

• Spraying during spring green-up. A lawn that is half tan and half green is at its most sensitive. Mow and bag the weeds until it is fully green, as Clemson advises.
• Spraying quinclorac or 2,4-D combinations in summer heat. Clemson's limit for the quinclorac combination products on bermuda is 85°F.
• Using glyphosate on bermuda that still has green tissue. "Mostly brown" is not "completely dormant." Part the grass and check before you spray.
• Treating the whole lawn for a few weeds. Spot-spray the weeds you can count. Broadcast only when weeds are spread across the lawn.
• Stacking pre-emergent applications past the yearly cap. The Barricade 65WG cap of 2.3 lb per acre per year counts the spring and fall applications together.
• Buying before you identify the weed. A sedge, a grassy weed and a broadleaf weed need different products. Check the leaf and stem first.

A thick bermuda lawn leaves less room for weeds. Clemson's bermudagrass calendar feeds bermuda in the summer growing season and stops nitrogen from September. Our fertilizer calculator turns a nitrogen rate into pounds of product, and our bermudagrass guide covers mowing height and watering.

This guide combines the Extension publications and product labels linked above. It does not report a field trial. Product rates come from the labels; always follow the label of the product you buy.