These Weeds Have Pushed Me Over the Edge! What Are They?

Question

I have these two weeds, well many more but I have tried, Orthro, Vinegar and Salt, Roundup and they pop right back in all of their glory. Do you know what they are and how to get rid of them? One is like a very tall, very green grass and grows like crazy, the other is a vine of some kind @eclecticloft

Tammy Jones · Answer

Sorry, I don't know, but I'm waiting for someone more knowledgeable to pop in with an answer on numbers 3 and 4. I have that same weed in one of my beds and the roots are very deep and it spreads quickly. Hope someone can help.

Yvette Gerace · Answer

I think 1 & 2 are nutsedge? It's a bright green grass that stands out all over the place in lawns and gardens. I just heard the roots store seeds so when you pull it out you start new ones. To kill it you need something specifically for Nutsedge from any home improvement store. The other I have too, grows quick but easy to remove. Don't know the name of it but it's all over my gardens too. Kind of reminds me of a Jade plant or succulent. I pull em out and make sure no one leaf is left or that starts a new one. I can't get rid of it. Get as much out as you can then use PREEN! It really works!

Karen Dohmen · Answer

The round green shiny leaves is Purslane.  It is edible and used to be cultivated by the colonists because it was abundant and plentiful. Raw in salads, it is slightly bitter and cooked it will help thicken soups and stews.  I dig it out and also spray as it continues to come up.  Be diligent.  You can also smother it with mulch when it is young.

Nancy Dean Davis · Answer

The Purslane is everywhere! I have so much if I pulled it and the Nutsedge up on one side of my lawn it would be bare. That is how bad it is. I have pulled and pulled. Now that I know the name I will look how to get rid of both. Thank you so much. You don't know how much I appreciate the answers.

Lawn Pro · Answer

The first 2 pics are nutsedge.use sledgehammer it will get rid of the infestation.nutsedge are bulbs and will multiply quickly if left untreated

Peg · Answer

There's specific products on the market to kill these weeds, nutsedge and purslane. They take over when the lawn is in poor condition. They are opportunists! Purslane spreads so many tiny seeds. I put Preen, a pre-emergent, on the spot where I pull up the plant because I know there will hundreds of seed left behind. You have to find out which nutsedge you have, purple or yellow. I can't tell from your pics, the tips of the blades are different but you can tell from the seed color, hence their names purple/yellow. These weeds are crowding out your healthy lawn. You'll need to attack the weeds first, then give your lawn a boost of nutrients to get the grass growing to take over. Hopefully your soil is healthy for a lush lawn.

NancyLee · Answer

Someday that purslane might feed or medicate you: Purslane: Edible, and So Much MorePurslane: Culinary Delight of Edible Landscaping http://landscaping.about.com/cs/weedsdiseases/a/purslane.htm And from Mrs. M. Grieve’s A Modern Herbal: 'It was supposed to cool 'heat in the liver' and to be excellent for 'hot agues,' and all pains in the head 'proceeding from the heat, want of sleep or the frenzy,' and also to stop haemorrhages.' http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/p/prugol77.html

Starla Swanson · Answer

Bayer makes a product to kill that nutsedge and won't kill the grass. It's in a bright blue plastic container. It spreads by runners, like tubers, underground. Break off a piece and you think you go it, but unless you get to the end of the runner all you've done is force it to spread further.

House Of Hawthornes · Answer

Thanks for asking this question @Nancy Dean Davis . I have both of these in my yard and they drive me nuts. Now I know where to start to get rid of them.

Kimberly A · Answer

i too have both of them. However the nutsedge is only growing in the middle of my azaleas and gardenias. Does no one know if the treatment to rid them is safe for the plants they have embedded themselves in. I spent 7 hours over 2 days this week eradicating by hand the nutsedge and bermuda wire grass from one of my very large beds and still think that stuff is winning.

Mary-Jo Westbrook · Answer

Get the nutsedge when it's little and is small- the bulbs spread so quickly once it's starting to flower, that it spreads like crazy. 
The Purslane can be pulled, but do not just throw it somewhere- it will re-root!
I, join you in the quest to rid my gardens of these tormentors!

Town Pride Lawn Service · Answer

The best ingredient for nut sedge control is any product with sulfentrazone as it's key ingredient. The product translocates to the tubers and kills them. 2 or 3 apps at 2-3 week intervals puts a big damper on nut sedge and green kylinga. Sulfentrazone also has a preemergent effect on nut sedge as well. Hire a reputable professional to apply to the entire lawn as nut sedge spreads under ground beyond where you see it.

Don't be upset by the appearance of nut sedge after the first spray. Your company did their job, but these are new plants coming from other tubers. That's why you must keep after it. You will have much less next year. Then work on it again.

Teresa A · Answer

The first two photos do look like nutsedge. If you pull it out there is a thing on the root that looks like an acorn and very white roots. Pulling it stimulates the roots! I purchased specialized nutsedge killer from gardensalive.com.

ELizabeth Zimmer-Lloyd · Answer

the 1st two are grasses I pull them, the last is purslane (sp) and is edible, u can make medicine out of it, eat it raw or cook it @Teresa A

Jane Kelly · Answer

Yes the first one for sure is nuts edge...we have it bad this year in NE Kansas. It's taken over several areas of my flower beds & I can't spray it because it's in among some plants...we've even had it get into our lawn some where we had an area sodded. Hate using chemical, but going to have to - in the areas around plants, going to just have to keep pulling. HATE IT!

Judy · Answer

Just a note on the nut sedge (nut grass) once you pull it put it in a bucket or some sort of container & then burn it immediately. Seems like this stuff spreads just by touching the ground....

Doreen Nestell · Answer

Purslane is yummy in salads and gets a pretty flower.

Gail Salminen · Answer

@Nancy Dean Davis I had the weed in the third pic in my veggie garden - a real nuisance all season no matter how much I weeded. What worked for me was to dig it all out, making sure not to even leave one leaf behind. I then put about 2 inches of a shredded cedar mulch, we have raised beds but still needed to control between them. Where they were in my flower beds I did the same thing. They have now been under control for 3 years - I add mulch every spring.

Lori Shaneck · Answer

I think the vine might be bindweed-does your vine produce small white flowers? the roots can go down to 20 feet deep, I have this in my yard and it is very invasive-so much so, that we have to move our veggie garden AGAIN UGH

Valerie Warren · Answer

It's nuts edge. Although it looks like a grass, it's VERY difficult to get rid of. I've used the same weed killers; Ortho, boiling hot water, vinegar and salt. The weed will not die!! I'm at the point of digging up my entire yard before the first frost and leaving it dirt bare. It is a nuisance. If I didn't have it, I wouldn't have to cut my lawn so often. Even thought about setting it on fire! And DON'T pull it. The roots are deep, and if you don't remove all of it, you'll double the weed growth.

Nancy Dean Davis · Answer

The thought of a concrete lawn sounds great! My plan is to get get new top soil, have it professionally seeded, weed stuff used just once then I will take over. I had a spinal fusion in October and cannot bend....well not supposed to but I have to with the mess I have. Now I have a tear in my rotator cuff and surgery in Sept. I so wanted my lawn to be stress free this year. I have worked so hard on it. I want it to look my neighbors velvet lawn. lol

Kelly Quinn · Answer

Yes 1 and 2 are Nut grass or nuts edge, I have them as well. Heres what I found to try and kill it. http://www.ehow.com/how_7824276_use-sugar-kill-yellow-nutsedge.html and http://www.ehow.com/how_5150857_kill-nutsedge-grass.html I havent tried this yet.

Teresa A · Answer

When nutedge first appeared in my flower bed, I thought I had some sort of ornamental grass that got transplanted in. It grew so tall and it flowered. It spread so quickly. Then I found it in the yard. I'd mow the grass and two days later the stuff was 5 or 6 inches taller than the rest of the yard. I just looked in my garden cabinet. 'IMAGE Kills Nutsedge' is the name of the postemergent, selective herbicide I used to get rid of it. The bottle says it works on both yellow & purple nutedge. I bought it online. I was mixed up on my earlier post...I bought moss killer from gardensalive.com. glad I looked for the nutedge killer. Forgot I had the moss killer....have some that needs eliminated!

Joebob · Answer

Nutsedge is common in California. It is stimulated to start growing in areas you never had it before from OVERWATERING. If you pull the plant it leaves a little nutlet in the ground to start the process all over....carefully dig one up and shake off the dirt. A little black nut is attached to the root. Best way to stall the growth is to stop watering...or limit the amount of water that area receives.

Eroque022810 · Answer

Wow,thanks because we have the nutsedge and I had no idea as to why this 'grass' grew so much taller and with wider leaf. I have unfortunately pulled the one in between my peranuals so that I can't undo but in the grass we just mow it. The one in the grass doesn't bother me but the one in the plants that I just dug up and replanted we will just have to deal with next year. Although if it comes up where plant had been then I will deal with it this year. Thanks you so much for asking,sorry about your back.

These Weeds Have Pushed Me Over the Edge! What Are They?

Suggested Project Book

The Top 15 Fall Flowers Everyone is Loving This Season

Other

More

These Weeds Have Pushed Me Over the Edge! What Are They?

Suggested Project Book