Burning is good for stressing the plants and clearing the [thatch] so you can come back when the regrowth is 4-6” high and treat it with [herbicide]. Getting all that thick dead foliage out of the way first will enable you to get the herbicide on the new green shoots where it can be readily absorbed. It doesn’t do any good to spray old yellow or brown leaves that are too worn out to pull the chemical into the root system. Since it takes a whole lot less herbicide to spray just the green leaves, burning or mowing the thatch first will save you money too.
What you don’t want to do is burn cogongrass, then leave it alone! That will just encourage it. Burn it, give it a month or two to put energy into fresh growth, then attack it again. And keep coming back again and again until every last bit of it is dead. See [Control Strategies].
And be careful! Cogongrass is extremely flammable. Don’t try to burn it without the supervision of an experienced [prescribed burn boss] who understands this fuel type! The flames can shoot 10-15 ft high and quickly escalate into a fast-moving unmanageable [wildfire] that can endanger forests, homes, and lives. This is not your ordinary grass fire! [Insert photos.]
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