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rober49

nut sedge

rober49
9 years ago

last fall I had a mild invasion of nut sedge in my vegetable patch. it must have done well over the winter since it is back with a vengeance. since the garden has been tilled the sedge doesn't have any competition & is starting to look like a lawn. in the past I have sometimes planted white clover between the rows & mowed it. it helped keep weeds down & enriched the soil. anyone think this would help keep the sedge at bay? in the fall after tilling I could do a heavy planting of buckwheat & alfalfa & do a green manure. nut sedge can survive anything. I've seen it thrive under rocks & grow thru 3 stacked bags of top soil.

Comments (5)

  • terry_neoh
    9 years ago

    I have learned to live with it. You can control it somewhat with weeding and cultivating, but it will be back. The good news? It doesn't really do much damage.

  • Donna
    9 years ago

    I can testify that IF you pull it and pull it and never let it get big and lush, you will eventually get rid of it.That, of course, is a tall order in an established patch of it.

    Also, if your ground is soft and has a crumbly tilth, you can dig it out. There are thick runners from the foliage tufts near the surface of the soil and the tufts put thread thin brown runners that go straight down about 4 to 6 inches. These have the nuts on them. If you dig carefully, you can get it out, but you have to get both kinds of runners. I have also had good luck wearing a rubber glove and dipping my fingers into a Nutsedge Killer (Image or Ortho's) and running my fingers through the sedge. Two applications, a week apart, will usually kill it to the root.

    I tend to keep it dug and pulled from my vegetable beds and to use the chemical controls in my flower beds.

    You need to know that the nuts can lay dormant in the ground for years and then sprout in response to wet conditions. So, it's an ongoing fight. I have found if I stay on top of it, over time, I have gotten control of it in my beds. Now, in my lawn? Not so much. I hate that stuff.

    Oh, and don't forget this thing also makes seeds. For goodness sake don't let it make seeds!

  • sunkirst
    9 years ago

    I had an experience with nutsedge a few years back. I had it come up in a couple of long (100ft) beds of carrots. It was miserable weeding, and in the late summer, I tilled it all in and sowed oats and peas as a cover crop. The oats and peas died over winter (as they are supposed to do), and in the spring, I planted some squash, thinking that this crop would help me control the nutsedge. Well, it never came back - not a bit of it. I think I altered the soil with the oats and peas (it seemed much looser and less compacted in the spring). Anyhow, If this helps anyone, I'll be happy.

  • ritaweeda
    9 years ago

    I have hit an area in my plant bed 5 times now in the last month, 3 with roundup and 2 with nut sedge killer, it's still there. The leaves get burned and die back, but then it comes back from the root. I feel like getting my money back on those products, this is ridiculous. I've also attempted to go way down and pull it up by the nut but most times it breaks off before I get it out.

  • rober49
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I've dealt with it before which is why I asked about the green manure. i'll try a heavy planting of clover, buckwheat, & alfalfa this fall & see what happens. I won't use chemicals in the vegetable patch & have had little luck with chemicals for nut sedge in my flower beds. of course there's hardly any in my grass. I have a lot of clover in my lawn which I leave alone as it is the mainstay of the honey bees. when asked about nut sedge on another forum the responder told the person to move...........