Early application of Round Up to early emerging quackgrass

13 years ago

I have a quackgrass infestation that would have made your stomach turn when I took my garden over a few years ago. The good news is that I have made tremendous headway since then. But there are still patches, of course, and it will be a multi-year process until I can say I have truly eradicated it (if ever).

But I notice that here in late-winter, early-Spring, this pernicious weed comes up much earlier than the things it infests most badly (like Siberian Iris and Miscanthus). It is very tempting to spray it with Round Up now, while the ornamental plant snores in dormancy below ground level.

Will it work (i.e., will it work in low temps so long as the grass is growing)? With it stunt or kill the plants I don't want to hurt, even though they are in the ground still?

Of course, the answer might be "try it, let us know". But I figured it was worth seeing if anyone else has done this successfully or not in the past.

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Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
i use the generic.. that has a sticker ...

and it can be sprayed on any time that it has the ability to dry ..

and as you note .. sooner or later it will warm enough for the plant to become active enough to do the dirty deed ...

depending on ambient weather.. it could take up to a month for the stuff to die.. but it will die ...

and i ALWAYS try to spray my hosta beds when they are dead to the ground.. so i can get rid of all the perennial weeds that wintered over ..

ken
morz8 - Washington Coast
13 years ago
There is a Canadian study here on Roundup, Quackgrass and temperatures - Suggests 3 days without heavy frost following application for better control

Here is a link that might be useful: Study, temps and efficacy
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simcan
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks to both, that is helpful. So it sounds like I will wait for a couple days of higher than 10 degrees (Celsius) in a row, even if it dips to frost at night, and spray in the mornings. I may even do more than that and at lower temps, because I really detest quackgrass and have a (relatively) small area to cover.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
in my flu induced sleeplessness ... i realized you asked about quackgrass .... whats that all about .. lol ..

IMHO .... quackgrass is VERY hard to kill with the dilution of roundup i use for most other weeds ..

THOROUGHLY AND COMPLETE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ... and use the recommended strength for this horrible weed ... as i recall it is addressed in the fact book ... DO NOT WING IT ...

but again.. with this flu.. maybe i dreamed it ... lol ..

good luck

ken
simcan
Original Author
13 years ago
No, you are not dreaming it. The quackgrass it awful. But I have had real success with Roundup at regular strength (i.e., I buy it mixed, no other way to get it in Ontario), though it does require repeated applications.

It is a crazily resistant weed. When I first got my garden it had been through about a decade of neglect after being a really great garden for years. So it was quite a dilemma: lots of great plants but literally 90% of the garden was quackgrass, with the good plants that survived it struggling up through. So I have been waging a war. I am winning.

Feel better.
denninmi
13 years ago
Is the Ortho product Grass-B-Gone available in Ontario? It is an herbicide specifically for killing various grasses, and it is safe to overspray on MOST other plants (the few exceptions are mainly succulent/waxy plants like sedums, junipers, and ferns). It's a great product. Obviously, keep it away from the ornamental grasses and bamboo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ortho Grass-B-Gone
athenainwi
13 years ago
Is Grass-b-gone even available here? I haven't seen it for two years now. I seem to recall some sort of a labeling issue got it pulled in the US. It worked wonders for me so I'd love to get it back.
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
13 years ago
i cant find anything on restrictions of glyphosate in canada ...

are you sure about that???

if you are having trouble finding it retail.. try a farm supply store ...

i found generic roundup ... glyphosate .. at tractor supply here in the states ... and at the county seed and mill store ...

find a store that sells to farmers .... and ask them what the farmers use .. there might even be a better product ....

the standard already mixed roundup.. might be .. from memory .. a 1% solution ... but if the instructions on the 41% stuff.. recommend a 3% solution.. well then that would partially explain why you are having trouble killing the weed ... the other half of that equation is that it is quackgrass .. lol ..

find a store that sells to farmers.. and you might be given some more options ...

ken
dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)
13 years ago
Always look at the labels on weed killers. Roundup is always "glyphosate" and the % in solution can be anything from less than 1% to more than 25%. Obviously, more is better. A farm store will provide the higher percentages. After reading various products over time it will be clear that some companies are all about ripping off the consumer.
Prairie natives seem to have evolved to not stick their heads out of the ground until later in Spring. Whereas the non-natives are not that smart, which enables us to smack them down with roundup way before the natives make a showing.
My system has been to burn off the dead material when conditions are ripe and at a time when I won't burn down the county. A few days after the burn, the bad guys show up and are then ready for the kill.

Early application of Round Up to early emerging quackgrass

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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

morz8 - Washington Coast

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Early application of Round Up to early emerging quackgrass

Comments (9)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

morz8 - Washington Coast

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simcanOriginal Author

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

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athenainwi

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5

dandy_line (Z3b N Cent Mn)

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