If you’re like most homeowners, you probably take great pride in your lawn and garden. You spend hours each week tending to your plants and flowers, making sure they are healthy and looking their best.
If your lawn is looking a little bit off, you may be dealing with Nutsedge, a pesky weed that can be tough to get rid of.
Knowing what to look for is the first step in getting Nutsedge under control! Nutsedge is a weed that can be identified by its triangle shaped leaves. It often grows in wet, shady areas and can be difficult to remove once it becomes established.
In this post, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about this troublesome weed – such as, what does nutsedge look like, and how do you get rid of it? Keep reading for more information!
What is Nutsedge?
Nutsedge, also known as Nutgrass, is a flowering plant with the scientific name Cyperus esculentus. It resembles grass, but has slightly thicker leaves that are pointed, rather than the normal grass blades. It’s technically a sedge, which means it is a rush plant that grows in damp places and has triangular stemlike stems.
If nutsedge is encountered on your lawn or garden, it’s crucial to remove it as soon as possible. However, how do you know if you have nutsedge in your lawn? The most effective methods for determining nutsedge are by its appearance and location.
Where Does Nutsedge Grow?
Nutgrass thrives in damp soil, though it may also grow in drier soil. It thrives where there is a lot of moisture and spreads to moist as well as flood-damaged places rapidly. It is commonly found near bodies of water, but it thrives in spots where there is a lot of moisture. Similar to how grass grows, Nutsedge grows in clusters and spreads quickly.
Depending on the season, Nutsedge may grow as little as three inches or up to three feet tall. It is most common in the summer since it can outcompete normal grasses and lawn plants for sparse nutrients and water.
It reproduces rapidly, because it can quickly develop extensive tubers underground, which are clusters of new plants that sprout from the bottom of the original plant.
How to Identify Nutsedge
Are you wondering if you have Nutsedge in your lawn? Well, here are the visual characteristics and traits that makes Nutsedge unique and how you will be able to tell it apart from other weeds.
Visual Characteristics
Nutsedge’s leaves are dark green in color and have triangular shapes, making it simple to identify. Their stems and blades may be found in a variety of colors, including green, yellow, red/purple, and even black! Their flowers are usually yellow-green and resemble spikes rather than typical flower petals.
The stem is triangular in form, rather than circular, and has orange-brown roots. There is a popular adage that states, “Sedges have edges.” If you hold the stems between your fingers and roll them around, you’ll be able to tell whether it’s a sedge or grass, because you can feel the triangular shape of the Nutsedge.
Growth Stages
Nutsedge doesn’t look different throughout the different growth stages of its lifespan.
Other Unique Traits
Nutsedge can also be identified from its root system – it has a large, dense root network that reaches deep into the soil to survive dry spells. The roots include a vast and intricate network of fine, fibrous roots and scaly rhizomes with tiny, hard, spherical tubers and attached basal bulbs at the bottom.
Plants That Look Like Nutsedge
Small Nutsedge plants, when they are just starting to grow, are difficult to tell from other weeds such as Cock’s Foot (also called Orchard Grass, Cat Grass, and Dactylis glomerata) and Quackgrass (also known as Couch Grass, Common Couch, Twitch, and Elymus Repens). As a result, it is difficult to detect in an early stage.
However, Nutsedge differs from these plants once the flowers bloom. Quackgrass doesn’t have flowering spikes or petals like nutsedge does, but looks only like large and tall grass, so that will be easy to differentiate between.
Cock’s Foot is closer in appearance to nutsedge, but it has a distinctive flattened stem base, which distinguishes it from many other grasses. It also has larger, fluffier flowers on top, that look more like small cattails, and they are light green, whereas the nutsedge flowers are spikey, small, and yellow.
How to Get Rid of Nutsedge
So, now that you know all about nutsedge, what can you do if it pops up in your lawn or garden? The good news is that there are several ways to get rid of this pesky weed.
You can try one or a combination of the following methods: mechanical removal (e.g., pulling out by hand), cultural control (e.g., keeping soil moisture levels consistent and reducing shade), chemical control (using herbicides such as glyphosate, imazapyr, or bensulide), or biological control (introducing natural enemies of nutsedge into the environment).
The most efficient approach to completely eliminate Nutsedge is with a weed killer, and particularly a post-emergent herbicide. Or, if you want to pull it out by hand, do so with a small spade or garden hoe. Make an effort to dig out the roots as soon as possible, and place them in a bucket with salty water and soak overnight. When you get up the next morning, double-check that no nutsedge is left because if even one plant survives, it will grow back quickly!
Ending Thoughts
Nutsedge can be a difficult weed to get rid of, but with the right information, you can eradicate it from your lawn for good. While it may look similar to other plants, there are some unique identifiers that will help you distinguish it from other vegetation.
Make sure to keep an eye out for this pesky plant and take action as soon as you see it invading your space. Knowing what nutsedge looks like and where it grows can help you eliminate this weed before it becomes too much of a problem.
We hope this article has helped give you a better understanding of what Nutsedge looks like, what conditions it grows in, and how to get rid of it. If you have any questions about how to get rid of nutsedge, please reach out to us for more information. Good luck with your weeding!