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zahzeen

Getting rid of 'onion grass'

zahzeen
14 years ago

Hi,

Does anyone have the miracle cure for getting rid of "onion grass". I think it is actually some kind of chive but it is all over the place. I have direct seeded some vegetables already (beets, onions,carrots, asparagus)but it takes forever to get rid of this grass. I try to dig beneath the "onion" bulb root to get rid of it but about half the time the bulbs stay in the ground (and I assume will grow back). In the next few weeks I'll be direct seeding the "after last frost" vegetables and would like to clear the beds somehow other than on my hands and knees digging these all up (it is extremely time consuming and takes away some of the "fun" of gardening). Does anyone have any ideas. I'm pretty new to vegetable gardening. Even a weed killer that is proven effective would work for me - I'm not yet an organic grower. Thank you.

Comments (5)

  • greenwood85
    14 years ago

    I don't have the magic cure, but it sounds like what you're dealing with is wild onion. You may want to try the Weeds forum.

  • MissMyGardens
    14 years ago

    Hand pulling with the aid of a weeding "Y" tip tool is the only thing I've found that works.

    I use the one my father had when we were kids. On a Saturday morning when my mother was spent after a week with 4 girls she send us outside "to spend time with Daddy". He would offer us a penny for every 2 Dandelions we got out of the grass but ONLY if it had the entire thick root attached. That got old pretty quick so no fortunes were made.

    First year you're pretty sure you've gotten all of the wild onions. By the second year when the green spikes show up here and there you know you didn't get them all. The tiniest piece of bulb will survive. It takes a few years to get what should really be most of them.

    Hope someone on the Weed forum has a better idea than hand pulling. :)

  • zahzeen
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thank you for your suggestions. I will definetly try the weed forum. Newbie in NJ, your parents raised four smart girls! ONE penney for TWO dandelions - it reminds me of my preschool days when got an "allowance" of 2 cents per week but somehow when that ice cream truck came ringing down the street, at least once a week I could "buy myself" an ice cream. Thanks again.

  • tn_veggie_gardner
    14 years ago

    Onion grass? Sounds good....eat it! ;)

  • MissMyGardens
    14 years ago

    Zahzeen, we'd be outside playing all day during summer.

    We'd hear the tinkling bells of the truck, run inside to quickly gather up our change and run back out to get ice cream for 10 cents...LOL. My mother would be yelling "You're going to ruin your dinner!" because the truck always came around 5 PM.

    My father didn't get home for dinner until after 7 PM anyway...and we weren't allowed to leave the table until we cleaned our plates.

    You brought up a great memory!

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