I have a lawn fescue and Bermuda grass. I’d like go overseed with clover this fall but I’m concerned the Bermuda is going to choke anything else out. It isn’t native here and it gets into everything. Killing my lawn first isn’t really an option as the Bermuda will creep back in. How can I move toward a more sustainable yard with this awful Bermuda going wild?
Yeah, Bermuda grass is the devil, is extremely hard to get rid of, and will out-compete clover and most other ground-covers. You’re probably always going to have problems with it creeping in no matter what you do. It won’t out-compete shade-loving plants in shade though, and can’t out-compete taller plants.
If you don’t mind chemicals, I’ve used a grass-selective herbicide (fluazifop or clethodim can’t remember which) to kill Bermuda grass in a rock bed and it worked ok (took many applications).
I’ve also suppressed it by sheet mulching with multiple layers of cardboard and 4"+ of woodchips on top. Still required some weeding after a while.
I’ve never tried it, but I’ve seen people kill grass by covering it with a dark landscape fabric. However, I think this would take many months to kill Bermuda grass.
Also, I’m not sure clover thrives where Bermuda grass does. Where I live, clover dies in the summer (too hot), and doesn’t like full sun in spring and fall.
Personally, I’m slowly replacing parts of my lawn by adding and expanding beds (sheet-mulch + woodchips), and planting fruit-trees and perennials in them. This seems more manageable to me than trying to do my entire lawn at once (I have a fairly large lot). I walk around the beds about once a week and pull any weeds I see, and pull weeds in beds I routinely walk by whenever I see them.