Nut Grass

I live in North East TX, and this rascal drives us all "nuts". Maybe that is why it is called nut grass? I have farmer friends that won't even help till up an area for someone until they check to see if nut grass is present as all it takes is getting it on one blade of a disc and then you spread it like wild fire to any area the disc touches after that. It is my understanding that each time you pull up this plant, you are planting a little nut like growth at the root end of the plant. Thus never getting rid of it.

Anyone know about this noxious weed and how to fight it without chemicals?

I fight this scourge in NW Ohio. My neighbors let it run rampant. I just pull, pull, pull. I havn't tried round-up. The nasty weed comes up through the good plants where it knows it is safe from herbicides. Here we call it nut sedge. It spreads by both seeds and underground runners. I never ever let it seed. With the neighbors I get the runners constantly. It also forms little "nuts" at the roots, hence the name nut sedge. I did finally lick it in the front yard after about five years of relentless pulling out about a 4 inch divot around each plant and disposing of dirt and all in the trash.

So far I've found no way to fight it without using chemicals because of just what you described. The Cyperus rotundus as well as Cyperus fuscus, are in my wetlands so I've had to resort to hitting them with aquatic safe herbicides that are very expensive so that they don't build up in the tissues of herps and fish. Basically, they are non-lethal to the inhabitants of the area in which you apply the chemical. Perhaps you might be interested in considering a product such as Rodeo or AquaMaster for your terrestrial area. If you want to look up information on your Nutsedge, try searching under Cyperus rotundus as that might be the one you have. That's one nasty invasive. I fear I will never be rid of it. I do also have a few native sedges. At least that is what I am told. One of them is C. esculentus but I'm finding that to be somewhat aggressive. I suppose it serves its purpose by taking up space that would be overtaken by less desirable species. I am not too good at indentifying sedges and they all start looking alike to me after a while.

Thanks guys! Misery LOVES company...................:)

You know, it's always amused me, to some extent, that wildlife enthusiasts and hunters will pay big $$ for chufa seed/tubers to plant as a foodsource for turkeys - I've done it; and typically, it's a short-lived crop in a foodplot situation, dying out or being consumed out of existence within a couple of years. But in a lawn/garden setting the same plant, C.esculentus, is a scourge.
Turkeys (deer & raccoons, to a lesser degree) and hogs will pretty effectively eliminate it, if you're really into non-chemical methods.
The little tubers are edible - taste kinda like coconut, to me.
When presented with lemons, make lemonade!
Here's a site that details 'horchata', or leche de chufa:
http://www.xmission.com/~dderhak/recipe/horchc.htm

Lucky-P, if you ever vacation in my area, puuuuuuuuuuuuuuulease stop by and pull chufa. All you want absolutely free. My neighbors have loads of it. I don't get the short lived part at all. I have pulling it for 30 plus years with no end in sight.

LOL.
Snapple, I've got plenty of yellow nutsedge, too - it's just not growing where the turkeys are likely to come scratch it up, and eat the tubers!

Seriously, though, I remember paying over $3/lb for chufa tubers 20+ years ago - no telling what they're bringing these days!

On our fifty acres, I fugure we have enough chufa @ $3/lb that we should be able to retire! WooHoo.

Now to find all the turkey growers in my area (none). It's always something........................................back to work..................... : )

Can pulling it really work? I've read that only Sedgehammer will kill it. It's taking over our lawn - our neighbors must be long-lost relatives of Snapple45's as they let it bloom - along with every other weed you can imagine. It is a horrendous weed and from what I've read, not much kills it?

Digging it out worked for me. I've none in the grass, front or back yard. It still trys to come through the back fence from the neglectful neighbor. I have to be vigilant and get it right away. Persistance does pay off. Good luck.

You don't have any now? Good for you!!! When you say "dig it up" do you mean pulling it out by the roots, or actually digging out that section of grass and replacing it with new dirt and new grass? I'm getting to the place where I'm ready to Roundup it and start over this fall with new grass....

I have no experience with the stuff in the link I'm posting below, so evaluate it with a very critical eye.
I hand dug mine each time so much as a blade appeared, always popping it up from deep underneath and looking for the "nutlet" and the runners. That will work, but it's slow and laborious. I didn't remove or replace any grass, although I often left divots that new grass would eventually grow back into.

http://www.outsidepride.com/gardening-supplies/herbicides/nutgrass-nihilator.html

It's so frustrating isn't it.

Thank you so much for the link - I will research that product and see what the general opinion is of it working. If it works, it's much cheaper than the SedgeHammer and I could spray, spray, spray the awful stuff to death. It's kinda like fighting the moles we have here - you have to keep ahead of them and make your lawn as untasty and unfit for them as possible - lots of spraying and lots of mole traps. Somehow, I now understand how a hunter can feel pleasure killing an animal as those little creatures are as annoying to our yard as nutsedge. Thanks again!

You're welcome! The collie pictures are wonderful. Such a beautiful dog. Here's wishing you a nut sedge free lawn and garden.

Thanks Snapple45! Do you have a lot of tulips living in Holland, Ohio? We are three+ hours south of Pella, Iowa, and we've never been to the annual tulip festival. And tulips have been my favs, but coneflowers are heading up the list rapidly! I'll let you know how the products work! Cynthia

Hansey
Roundup is not real effective on nut sedge unless you spray early and often. It doesn't transport through sedge roots very well to the nutlets so while you kill the mother plant, the nuts are still there for growing later that year or next.