Is it in the lawn, garden... landscape beds?

Yardvaark, yes, yes, and yes.

That's not good.

This is definitely one "nut" I haven't cracked. The only success I've had with it is hand digging it out of a veg./flower garden area. It took 3 major rounds of careful, deep digging and some in-between work over the course of a year to get rid of it all. You must go after the nut... and of course, it's no good for a lawn. Roundup and 2,4-d-based herbicides will not kill it. "Image" is supposed to kill it, but I haven't had success with it yet, however, my trials were not that extensive. Maybe it takes more than a couple of repeats at intervals. Someone else might chime in on that.

The most permanent control of nutgrass is dense shade or a for sale sign out front.

There are garden practices that can be effective against nutgrass over time. But before I can make suggestions I need to know:

Location / climate
Variety, Yellow or purple nutsedge
Soil type, ph
Site particulars: land slope and shading

I've been battling this in the lawn and flower beds as well.. just tons of it in the back yard.

We canceled the service in back because they finally admitted they can't treat it in St Augustine with the chems they use, nor will they treat the beds. What a waste of money that was!

Reading the thread about top dressing the lawn (link found in the discussion below) we're trying to build up the soil and grass to hopefully suppress the nutsedge. It shows up in the wet places and the very dry places as well.. there is no way to pull it--or dig deep enough to get the 'nut' in this clay soil. There's just too much of it to even make a dent.
A neighbor around the corner finally tore out all his back yard beds and let the grass fill in. He was done with the battle. :(

Our front yard is Bermuda and the service keeps it pretty much in check.

I'm on the look out for the product suggested, now is the only window we'll have to get it applied so I better find it soon.

Link to the discussion on the Texas Forum:

Here is a link that might be useful: I don't think I can do this any more

Ortho Max Nutsedge Killer scores 4.8 out of 5 in reviews on Amazon. Haven't tried it myself.

Thanks Whitecap2!
Its easy to find at WalMart so I may start with that in the beds until I can get the other I can use the sprayer with for the lawn area.

All the reviews were pretty good and encouraging to read.

I've heard of people having good success with a product called "sedgehammer".

Reading the reviews on the Ortho Max Nutsedge Killer on Amazon there are several who say the sedgehammer didn't work as well as the Ortho product.

Maybe it depends on the type of nut sedge you have?

If you go over to the Weeds Forum, and check the Nutgrass Warrior thread, you will find there a link to a concise article on nutsedge control released by the University of California at Davis. Unfortunately, the Gnomes of Monsanto and their collaborators haven't come up with a way to kill the underground rhizome.

Reading through it now. Thanks for the heads up. But.. there is no way I can physically dig up my whole yard. In this clay soil it just isn't possible. There is no way to to dig 8 inches deep (the whole yard!) and screen the dirt for the nuts.

Later today my plan is to head out to purchase the evil nasty chemical products so I can start the war tomorrow.

Even if all I do is suppress it, and have to spray the grass twice a year to do so, and spray each little leaf in the beds to kill each little plant-let each time one rears its head, I will do that. I already have to do that to keep the grass out of the flowerbeds anyway.

The alternative is to just let it all go to nut sedge and just keep it mowed. I won't do that either.

Here is a link that might be useful: Nutsedge Warrior Thread

I don't find any of it in the St. Augustine--just in the unshaded bermuda areas. What's giving me fits is a weed I've been unable to identify. It starts out looking kind of like crabgrass, but then sends up a seed stalk, maybe 8 " tall. The stalk seems to be slightly flat, and hollow. Every inch or two a fine, secondary stalk will branch out, with seed pods at the end. These pods are flat, about 3/4th " long, with a dozen or so husked, individual seeds in each pod. I thought it might be wild oats, but the images I've studied aren't matching up.

Thanks for the advice. I bought a product today from calloways that the salesman said he has used and he thinks it is working. We will see...

Aggierose... what product did you purchase?

If you want to beat a certain weed, know the weed!

I live down south where nutgrass is common. Nutgrass is a formidable foe, but it can be beat. If I drive around and look at untended ground, I find places where nutgrass grows and places where there is not a blade of it. Like most weeds, nutgrass survives where the conditions favor it over the plants it's in competition with. For success, change the conditions to give a favorable edge to the plants you want.

Depending what country you live in, whether you use `ortho max nutsedge killer(U.S.A) or sempra/sedgehammer (Australia), DO NOT USE THESE CHEMICALS WITHOUT WETTING AGENT!!! Uptake, Spredmax ( or U.S.A. equivalent) or even dishwashing liquid at 10 mls to 5 ltrs of spray mix is cheap and effective. You are wasting time, chemical and, therefore money without wetting agent. You may possibly get away with only 1(one) spraying. Hope this is a help.

So I've read some of the post and problems people seem to be having with nut sedge. Now the under ground rysom is not going anywhere (yellow) however the key to clearing up sedge visually is proper treatment. (Central Florida btw northern zones I can't help ya) First test ph. Get it as close to neutral as you can

2nd get your moisture retention as even as possible across your yard.

3rd feed feed feed now this may seem counterintuitive but a healthy plant will absorb more "weeds included"

4th. Find a product that's rated for sedges and one that works for your turf. (Bermuda guys IMAGE, PRO SEDGE and SEDGE HAMMER all work well

5th read the lable! And when your finished read it again its very important to know things like when to mow before or after to water in or not... don't just find oz per gallon and have at it

6th pre emerge every 3-4 months depending on you product. Again read the LABLE

SEDGE IS TOUGH but be vigilant and patient arm your self with the right stuff and know how and you'll be just fine

I try to fight it foe two years,now I just dig out whole lawn put new top soil ,new grass seeds,but but the first what grows up it was nutgrass all over my lawn. I can not understand what happen:was it in my seeds or in the new topsoil?

The hard "nuts" of nut grass reside about 6" below the soil surface. It would extremely inefficient to try to get rid of it by removing the soil. Nut grass can be imported in new topsoil. You won't see until nuts sprout.

Have it coming up in the decomposed granite paths in my front yard landscape in south Sacramento; it has, over time, grown up through heavy duty fabric, and wondering if anyone's tried the sifted sugar remedy ? Because yard is a haven for birds and other pollinators, including a family of ground-eating crows, w/birdbath, feeders, etc. and close to a street drain that flows into the river, I want to use least toxic solution; hand-digging now, hoping for easier way!

Sounds pretty hopeless. Here in Cali it came in with the turf. We had no clue. It's rampant in the lawn and in the beds. I've been digging the beds but we live on boulder type soil so it's hard. Even then the nuts go down 8 or more inches. Can Sledgehammer be used on a lawn? We have a mixed fescue turf. There is not much point of getting it out of the beds adjacent if we can't at least suppress it in the lawn.

YES!!! Sedgehammer/Sempra (same Product) CAN BE USED ON LAWNS AND IN THE GARDEN. IT WILL ONLY KILL NUTGRASS! (AND MULLIMBIMBY COUCH IN AUSTRALIA) WILL NOT AFFECT PLANTS OR LAWN GRASSES.

So long as this thread has returned I'll add one update since my last comment. I had one bed area about the size of a small car that had a moderate infestation of nutgrass ... moderate, meaning that it was not thick like turf, but more like spaced out hair implants that extended uniformly throughout the bed. It was infested enough that nuts had formed. It was not just seedlings. I set out to see if I could eradicate it merely by repeated pulling. It worked and took about half the summer. It took re-pulling just as soon as new shoots emerged and were a few inches tall. I wanted to get them quickly so they wouldn't feed the nuts.

I had nutgrass infestations of varying severity in many other areas. In almost all cases I DUG it out, using a spading fork, piece by piece, as the whole yard was going over to groundcover. Naturally, this meant several trips through in order to get all the recurring offenders. If we didn't have easy-to-dig-in sand loam, I'm not sure I would have had the patience with it. I also had some "Nutgrass Killer" (whose specific name I don't recall this minute) that I used in some areas, but didn't find it effective. I also had some nutgrass coming up in a crack between asphalt and concrete that I sprayed/poured everything on, including straight acid, salt and mineral spirits, etc. It finally died. It probably would have died if I cut the top every 4 days so it couldn't rejuvenate the nut.

Thanks for all these suggestions. I can spade the beds and I can keep pulling in the areas that are too rocky. Boulders bigger than my head are everywhere. If I can spray the turf so it does not keep edging into the beds that would help a lot. A couple of summers ago I also noticed that if I kept pulling every couple of days in one small area the plants did start to get smaller and smaller but I got distracted before it totally went away and lost the battle. This is good info and gives me hope. I probably can't eradicate it but maybe I can get it to manageable. I guess a two week vacation is out of the question.

I'm a little concerned about spraying the backyard turf because I have an old dog that rolls around there. I could do it in sections and fence off areas for a few weeks I guess. Sledgehammer also comes in a small bottle for 125. as well as the packages. I think the packages were 25 each. Only available at the sprinkler supply. It's worth it. I had been told that Sledgehammer only works when the plants get pretty mature but I'm reading/hearing conflicting things. What was your experience?

I just found out from the company that treats our lawn that we have yellow nutsedge. Luckily, my company treats for nutsedge at no extra charge in the lawn, but he said I have to get a special nutsedge killer for the flower beds because regular weed killer won't touch it.

He urged me NOT to pull any more even in flower beds because PULLING THEM SPREADS THE NUTSEDGE!! He said the seeds are in the "nut" at the base of the root system, so when you rupture/disturb the nut by pulling, all those seeds spread all over and get in the lawn too. I can't believe I've been inadvertently spreading it!!!

He said the best thing to do in smaller bed areas is to dig around until I find the nut at the base of the roots and remove it. I'll try that in the front, but in the back, it's growing everywhere among my tall plants and flowers; I'll try sedgehammer since people here have said that it will not kill the flowers and plants I want to keep. Fingers crossed!

Here it is 2018 and we are still battling it. The old dog has died and we have another young one so we have to be somewhat careful. We have hired Nutrilawn and they treat it now. I have seen some improvement but not a lot. I spent a month digging a trench and removing nuts in a bed area. That has helped significantly. I do agree that digging down for the nut is the best method of reduction and control. I do sometimes pull it which probably isn’t a good method. Sledgehammer works to some degree but requires frequent applications. A rep from Sledgehammer told a local municipal rose garden to slow down on their applications, which I took to mean that it was not helping the roses all that much. Since ours came in with a disreputable turf company my only advice would be watch who you buy from.

Kill it for good using sedgehammer.

I am a landscaper..nothing I have tried in a bottle has worked. However I was told recently Image applied in the early Spring is the way. I am hoping there is a nutsedgophile out there that can help me until then. The lawn guys jumped the gun on my beds and have pulled or cut, not sure which, a horrid stand of it. I imagine it will rebound like nutsedge. I was intending to supress it with cardboard or heavy fuzzy weedblock combined until Spring. Now that they have gone in I am concerned the nutsedge is just multiplying nutlets like crazy! Late summer in Texas. Does anybody have any info on this?

I tried Image several times, but can't verify the timing. Ultimately, did not have luck with it. Had better luck as I mentioned above with repeat (near continuous) ongoing pulling, and digging. But for a sizeable area that would be impossible. I would go the route of blocking light with cardboard weighed down with mulch on top, monitoring it regularly for any escapees. The nuts pack incredible staying power so I think it might take quite a while for them to deplete all their strength and give up. A year maybe. Or let us know what you discover if it's shorter.

I agree. Eventually they can't metabolize without light....so I think that would be my best bet. Also trimming back instead of pulling any resprouts to minimize ability to photosynthesize until Spring. I will report back if I'm still working there. What part of the country did you use Image in?

I used image in Georgia and Florida.

Keep in mind with trimming, it seems that an incredibly small amount of light is all it takes to give nutgrass hope for life and the will to live. With an inch of leaves exposed, they figure they'll just be a lawn.

Just want to clear up an inaccuracy here:

"He urged me NOT to pull any more even in flower beds because PULLING THEM SPREADS THE NUTSEDGE!! He said the seeds are in the "nut" at the base of the root system, so when you rupture/disturb the nut by pulling, all those seeds spread all over and get in the lawn too. I can't believe I've been inadvertently spreading it!!!"

Seeds of nutsedge, Cyperus rotundus or esculentus, are NOT contained in the nutlets! They will be located in the flowerheads that form at the top of the plant. But they are not the problem as purple nutsedge seldom produces any seed and yellow nutsedge seeds have minimal germination viability.

An established plant will produce multiple nutlets as well as a rhizomatous root system. Sometimes as many as a hundred or more. That's how the sedge multiples and why pulling is so ineffectual - unless the soil is very loose and friable, it is almost impossible to get all the roots and all the nutlets out and any single remaining tuber (nutlets) will regenerate as a new plant.

So disturbing or rupturing the nutlet does not spread any seeds. But it is easy to spread the tubers while in the process of physical removal. Any tilling, plowing or even just routine cultivation of a planting bed can spread the tubers. Any tuber left in place will rapidly form a new plant.

Control is not a once and done. It will generally take repeated applications of a dedicated sedge killer or a broad spectrum herbicide. Same with manual removal of the topgrowth/starving the plant via denial of photosynthesis. Most sources state a 2-3 year period of focused control methods before a 90% elimination of any remaining tubers.

BTW, the actual seeds are basically the size of dust, and the flower heads produce them in the billions. So it's good idea to do whatever one can to keep the sedge from blooming. The garden I care for was once nearly smothered in this weed. Today, there are none, but it is a looming battle for which I must be constantly vigilant, because the immediately neighboring properties are heavily infested with it. I credit a lot of what makes this doable: Preen. Still, there are escapees and some pulling is necessary. The nuts are formed later into the season, as the day length shortens. I make sure every one is pulled before it goes to seed, which also prevents the formation of any nuts. I wish the neighbors cared. But that is like wishing we were born with wings.

Yardvaark, I feel your pain! Love your anthropomorphic description of the dreaded nutsedge. I have been rehabbing a large property for the last record stretch of over 100 degree days because the lawn guys who were charging a 1000 a month to maintain it had totally dropped the ball. I am in week three, owner was vacationing in Europe, and I was waiting until she returned to give her my well thought out plan for eradicating the large area of nutsedge by the pool. Emergency resuscitation of 13 roses took precedent, and every other weed pretty much ousted, along with rampaging briar roots and small trees and overgrowth that took months to develop. She returns on mow blow and go day, is alarmed at the nutsedge by the pool, and they race into knee jerk rescue mode and jump on it. I got a tongue lashing via e-mail, telling me "By the way we cleaned the flower beds on left of pool. Weeds were out of control. That is where she spends all her time." Weeds meaning nutsedge!!!!. All I could do was reply in horror.."not the NUTSEDGE!!!!" I'd already mentioned this was a whole different animal to this guy when i took the job...may be a power play to recapture his 1000 a month gig now that I've made that a manageable thing, but likely it is just typical ignorance. Lord, give me strength!

"Most seeds of C. rotundus are not viable. Dispersal by seed is generally regarded as being unimportant."

"Purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) is a colony-forming perennial weed that ... almost entirely from tubers, as viable seeds rarely occur in this species "

"Yellow nutsedge does produce seed; however, reproduction by seed is of minimal importance in most areas in comparison to vegetative spread. Germination viability is low at 5-40%. The species spreads primarily by tubers, rhizomes, and corn-like basal bulbs."

the actual seeds are basically the size of dust, and the flower heads produce them in the billions.

A slight overstatement :-) Seeds (achenes) are 1-1.5 mm in length (quite a bit larger than a grain of dust). And each plant will only produce about 2500 seeds.

Anyone know if they are more likely to go into hyper-drive to reproduce new nuts being disturbed this time of year? Irrigated daily and high heat days seems to be their favorite condition.