Last year I planted some daylilies that I got from a friend but I found that I got a bonus plant with them...nutgrass. I had no idea it was growing because it came up like it was part of the daylily. The only reason I saw it was because sometime in the last 2 days it's produced seeds and was making itself known! I pulled it out, which maybe I shouldn't have done. I found a few more right in with the other daylilies.
WHAT do I do now? They are all planted in an area of my bed that is in front of my Chinese Pistache tree. Should I just dig everything out and try to dig out the roots of the nutgrass? I can't use any chemicals on it that would kill my tree or even other plants around them.
I guess this might mean I have to put off redoing my entire front bed.
I've got nutgrass :(
Oh KB, I hate that nutgrass!
You could try dipping a q-tip in Roundup or Image, hold the top of each nutgrass blade and swipe it. If you get the Roundup make sure it has the surfactant in it to give it more staying power. If you continued this for a while
I think eventually they would die.
Even if you dug up the bed, those little nutlets could be missed and you would have the problem again.
Good luck!
I'm with ya on the nutgrass...it's the ever present thorn in the side of my gardening existance. Worst pest I have.
That and dollar weed have been driving me batty. I have been pulling it all day long.
I've heard the tales about it. That's why I'm trying to figure out what to do ASAP! I'm willing to dig it all up if I have to. I can just pot them or move them to the front bed since I wanted to redo it. I don't want to carry it all over and spread it tho!
Does this nutgrass just come up in various places or does it seek out the plants? My parents had a trumpet vine that they cut down but the monster still lives underground and comes up right in the middle of other plants so it's almost impossible to remove it.
If I try the Roundup with a Qtip, will it leak out somehow into roots of any other plants?! Excuse me a sec.... AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! help
It won't leak onto your other plants, the blade will absorb the herbicide and take it to the bulb. It might take a few seasons, but it does work, I've done it. If you can keep it from seeding that will help, but most of it's reproduction is done by those tiny bulblets.
Paige, it is like Monkey Grass, once it gets started it runs underground and pops up everywhere. There are very few chemicals that will kill it unfortunately and they are very expensive. Plus the risk of killing something else is there too. I think the only way to get it out is to dig and pray.
It prefers sun here--I don't have any problems with it in shady areas. If you are diligent about pulling it prior to it having more than three blades (and even thereafter) you can eliminate it. I have many areas that I have completely eliminated the problem from. Its just tougher in those full sun locations.
Roundup is inactivated by soil and does not travel to other plants through the roots. It will kill the top growth but leave the nut, which will sprout again and again. After multiple treatments, it will die. Pulling repeatedly should have about the same effect. My soil is sandy, so I soak the area and work a weed knife down next to the nutgrass and pull gently. Sometimes I get the nut and and some of the attached underground runners and nutlets. I have even sifted soil trying to get all the nuts out. Think of it as an exercise in patience and determination! If you move any of the plants in the affected area, wash their roots and go through them carefully looking for any nutlets or extra roots. Those underground runners may be as fine as hairs.
I've pulled loads of this stuff out of my beds after it rains. I think I got a truckload of mulch that had it in it and it spread everywhere. I've tried pulling it up once a week and the shoot will come up but with only part of the root. The "nut" and some runners stay in place. Now, after it rains, I take a trowel and follow the runner and try to get all of it out. The same with dollar weed. I've almost eliminated the nut grass from all but one bed, but it's taken a year of diligent weeding. My biggest problem is a large order or daylilies that had bermuda grass in the clump. There is no way to get that out of the middle of a clump of lilies! I've not tried the roundup on individual leaves, but I have too many beds for that to be practical. Good luck with eradication.
I'm going to attempt to dig it out first. Thank God it rained yesterday (of course, I watered on Sat) so the ground will be wet for a few days and I can try and find the nuts.
I do think I'll try to relocate the daylilies to a small bed in the front, that is between a wall and a sidewalk, so if the nutgrass is in them it can't spread from that bed.
Send your prayers this way!