Getting Rid of Nut Grass?

cdoss

January 4, 20120 found this helpful

Nut grass is not a true grass, it's really a sedge. It not only spreads from seed, but also underground tubers. I've been dealing with it for a while now and I can tell you this is not a battle, it's a war. You'll be fighting for a few seasons and you will have to be diligent. I'm getting results using a variety of methods.

One area of my grass was so badly infested that I decided to use Round-up. I carefully sprayed on every nut grass plant beginning to sprout. Then, when I saw more, I sprayed again. I did this through the entire summer. By fall, the whole are was dead, including the "good" grass. Then in the fall I planted new grass seed.

The following spring, I over seeded the area to fill in a few thin areas. I've noticed nut grass here and there in that same area, but it's much thinner now so I treat at the beginning of the season with Ortho Nutsedge Killer for Lawns. There are other similar products at the big box stores as well. In areas close to my garden, I used a combination of the smothering technique and constantly digging up any plants I saw.

The key is to get the tuber (nut), however, pulling the green stuff will force any left behind nuts to grow new plants and if you do it enough times, the nut will run out of nutrients and not grow anymore.

I have heard of people using sugar to change the soil to something that nutgrass does not like. I have not personally done it, but if you're concerned about using chemicals that are bad for pets/kids/gardens, you may want to do some research.

Mary Jane Martin

January 9, 20120 found this helpful

I have had most success using bleach. I spray the nustgrass with straight bleach. This is not ideal if there is "good" grass also growing in the same area but by holding the spray nozzle low and on the nutgrass, I manage to spray only the "bad" grass.

shelleyt

January 2, 20120 found this helpful

Most grasses can be covered with a tarp in the heat of summer and then scratch out the roots since many can just be driven into dormancy, but at least they will be easier to remove in this state.