Is Nutsedge Driving You Nuts?

Actually, this grassy weed is not a true grass, it is a sedge and it is called nutsedge. It is a perennial plant that increases in numbers every year. I find the plant interesting in the fact that it has a triangular stem when viewed in a cross section, a trait found in many other sedge plants. In residential lawns, there are two types of nutsedge, Purple and Yellow. They get their names from the color of their seed heads. Nutsedge can be found in both cool-season and warm-season turfgrasses. It can spread rapidly from just one plant and quickly overtake desired turf, resulting in an unkempt appearance. It grows much faster than desired turfgrasses. I took this picture two days after this turf was mowed. You can easily see how it already is growing much higher than the surrounding grasses. Not only does nutsedge produce seeds, it also produces vigorous rhizomes, or underground root structures as well as small tubers, or nutlets, which remain in the ground, even if you pull out each individual plant by hand. New plants will quickly re-grow from the tubers and the problem continues. In the area where I took this picture, there were only one or two plants last year. This year, it covers a much larger area. Controlling nutsedge often requires specialized weed control products that will eliminate both the top growth as well as the underground vegetative plant parts. It can take a year or more to eradicate this troublesome weed. If you have a small patch, you may be able to limit its spread by continually pulling up any new growth, but if you let it go too long, it will quickly re-establish itself. Spring is the best time to begin controlling this plant. By mid-June, it is already producing new tubers that will lead to more plants. Like I said in the title, nutsedge will drive you nuts.