Any ideas what this is getting into my lawn. It started last summer and it really took hold this spring (northern Ohio). Weed killer has been no help. Kinda looks like a very coarse grass but crab grass preventer does not affect it. How to kill this stuff without replanting the whole lawn?
I can't put a name on it, but the only effective fix I know of is the use of a general herbicide to the area or digging it out. Around here people like to dig it out. Personally I have very little. I don't use the regular commercial fertilizers and I let my grass grow longer during the summer and good general car tends to favor the blue grass in my lawn not the course grasses. I might suggest a third approach. Use a good rubber glove (chemical proof) with a cloth glove over that. Dip it in the general herbicide and brush it on just the grass you want to kill. Do in when you don't expect ran for 24 hours.
I didn't look at your pictures, but crabgrass preventer only stops seeds from germinating, as crab grass is an annual. It will have no effect on perennial coarse grass, nor will it help if the crabgrass has already germinated.
My lawn, particulary near the street develops coarse grass. I find crabgrass killer works just fine on it, without hurting my fine grass. But it is crapshoot; might not work at all, or it might kill your grass. You have to remember that it is all grass.
Scott's has a site where you can try to identify the grass
I think what you're showing in the pictures is a very light green colored course bladed grass. It appears to be the same stuff I've been battling for years. My infestation started when I spread a bag of tall fesque grass seed one spring. It must have contaminated the bag of seed. I havent been able to get rid of any of it.
The best luck I've had is to nuke it in the fall with glyphosphate (roundup) and then wait until springtime and see what resprouts, then nuke it again.
On the plus side, it appears to be a very shade tolerant grass. It grows under trees where I've never been able to get any kind of grass to grow before. I sort of leave it alone there. That kind led me to think its some variant of a creeping fesque.
dickm
Doesn't you camera have a 'close-up' setting? Mine has one called 'macro'.
No macro, but how is this?
I'm fighting exactly the same thing too, only I know approximately where it came from: My nephew, kind soul that he is, gave me some grass seed without telling me it's what the road crews use on the shoulders of roadways. It wasn 't too hard to kill most of it off, but that grass stayed.
I have started to have success though, with Weed-B-Gone's mixture that kills broad leafs and leaves actual grass alone, so it said on the bottle. It worked last summer but it was late in the year so I don't know how permanent it was. Now that' spring's here I'll be able to get a better gauge on it, but so far there's a lot less of it than there was last spring, so I'm suspecting that's progress. I consider the test done; now I"m gonna spend a little money and try the whole yard. FWIW.
Pop
Looks like rye or wheat kinda stuff. Thick stalk, uncomfortable stepping on?
later,
tom @
I am not a grass expert but what I think you have is one of the coarser clumping fescues.
If I am right the only way to get rid of it is spot spray and wait for it to die and then resow whatever you like. The roots on these clumps go down about 4-5" even in clay soil and if you try to dig it out and miss a section it comes right back. It is a very hardy grass.
Of coarse the other option is to transplant plugs and let it take over the yard:))).
Colbyt
Did you do any overseeding last spring and was it in these general areas? It looks like it's just another type of hardier grass which is taking over your lawn. Crab grass preventer won't help as it's already rooted and since it doesn't look like a broadleaf I don't think a crabgrass killer will work either.
There's sorta two ways you can go. One is to leave it alone and it will take over the whole yard. The bonus is that it's already proved itself a happier grass in your soil. The other is to use a spot herbicide to kill it but you won't be able to grow anything else there till at least fall.
There's a third option which I tried a couple of years ago and it worked for me, but it's tedious and it might not work here. It's also a small lawn. I dug up the unwanted grassy areas using a sharp edged shovel around the perimiter. Then I dug a hole about three inches deep to catch most of the roots. Then I sprayed a broad spectrum herbicide. I left it overnight to let the top of the soil dry out. Then I filled the holes with topsoil and planted my desired grass with a starter fertilizer. My theory was that by the time the new seed had rooted down three inches the herbicide would be inactive. Anyway, it worked.
Steve Manes Brooklyn, NY
Ditto. Kentucky Bluegrass contains multiple types of grass. One of these is Fescue. Typically an older Kentucky Bluegrass lawn will eventually do what your lawn is doing. You can slow it down by making sure your lawn is fed and stays watered well, but you can't stop the spreading of a dominant grass like fescue forever.
True, but if you can change the conditions of the lawn to one that blue likes better, then it can take over the fescue. While it is not likely you will be able to get rid or all of it as some areas are likely to still favor the fescue you can do a lot. That is where I am today. I have far less of the rough grass now than I had a few years ago.
My neighbors who try to physically remove the clumps don't seem to be doing any better and most are not doing as well.
I still have a few clumps of other finer grasses and I seem to be very slowly gaining on them as well, I may try a little surgical work on them and see what happens. :-)
" Ditto. Kentucky Bluegrass contains multiple types of grass. One
Kentucky Bluegrass is exactly that, bluegrass, not fescue. If you buy a bag of seed marked as kentucky bluegrass, it should not contain fescue. It's true that mixes will have blends of grasses like fescue and bluegrass, but these are sold that way, not as true bluegrass.
"There's sorta two ways you can go. One is to leave it alone and it will take over the whole yard. The bonus is that it's already proved itself a happier grass in your soil. The other is to use a spot herbicide to kill it but you won't be able to grow anything else there till at least fall. "
You can use Roundup ot kill weeds/grass and reseed a week later.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.