Last spring I build some raised beds (several levels) to grow vegetables. They are in an area that once had Bermuda grass. I thought I had it all killed but apparently not. I grew up through the raised beds. The Bermuda grass is dormant now. Is there a way I can kill it off before spring planting?
Welcome and tell us where you are.
I call bermudagrass Metastasisgrass, Grass-out-the-[posterior] etc. in tribute to its virulent nature.
My honest, good-friend-on-the-shoulder advice here is to forgo a vegetable garden for now and focus on getting rid of the [whateveryoucallit] grass. I've found pulling it to be a total waste of time.
There are justifiable concerns about using things like roundup, too, at least in places where you are growing edible plants.
One possible way, that the pros use, is Methyl Bromide, BUT that is nasty stuff. It's been banned here in California, from what I hear. (They used to use it to "tent" houses for termites, and it works, whoo-ee.) It's a gassy fumigant that kills everything (bugs, weeds, fungi), which the local strawberry growers either still use or used to use. They'd gas the soil, let it air out, then plant away. Apparently it's still available:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=methyl+bromide&crid=3IP3C0DDAV76D&sprefix=methyl+brom%2Caps%2C198&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11
I've tried the black plastic mulching approach, and all you do is beat it back for a while; there's ALWAYS holes in the plastic for the grass to come up through, though it beats heck out of ordinary mulch.
Let us know where you are, what you do, and what happens, and if you have any other alternative method that works.
And now a public service announcement:
USE METHYL BROMIDE WITH EXTREME PARANOID CAUTION
