This grass is growing all over my yard. I think it was planted on purpose, but I can't imagine why. It spreads via underground runners as thick as a pencil, on top of the ground as in the photo, and seeds everywhere. Does anyone know of a way to kill it other than simply pulling it out? RoundUp doesn't even make it ill, much less kill it. It can't be smothered by putting cardboard or plastic on the ground.
I'm told it is an Alabama native grass.
The behavior of your pest plant sounds like Johnsongrass, but your picture doesn't look quite large enough to be that species. I can't say that I know any native AL grasses. Grasses are notoriously hard to key out to ID, needing to see reproductive parts...and lemma...and ligules...and auricles...you get the point. Referencing the ag college agronomists at UA may yield good answers.
In any event, you may want to try using a graminicide, an herbicide specifically targeted to kill grasses and grass-like plants. Here's a thread which explains it more fully and offers some chemicals to try; perhaps you've read it already.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/758235/
Hi,
Thank you for the links. I think you are probably right about it being Johnson Grass. On one of those links there was a reference to perennial Johnson Grass having an underground rhizome, and that's what this stuff has.
Karen
