Nutsedge (Nutgrass)

[JD Guy]

First off if this is in the wrong place moderators, please feel free to move it!

We had a small portion of our garden with some nutsedge, well fast forward a few years and we now have a (large) garden of NUTSEDGE!!

In researching the eradication it appears to be nearly impossible as the plant grows from the rhizomes, so even if you burn down the growth above ground, when you disturb the soil it comes right back.

If anyone has a plan to battle this plague of the nutgrass I would be very appreciative as the last two years we have not even attempted to plant a garden..

Thanks for any suggestions!

[Southside]

Anytime you have a weed issue you need to look at why that weed enjoys growing there.

What is the soil pH? Have you limed at all? Is the soil tight and packed or loose? What about organic matter in the soil? Is it well drained or pooling? Full sun or heavy shade?

Yes Nutsedge is a pain, but it won't prosper out of it's preferred conditions. 

Find out what is going on with your dirt then move to change those conditions before you come up with an attack plan. It will leave.

[beenthere]

Ortho nutsedge killer will be one way. 

How To Get Rid of Nutgrass - Ortho.

[JD Guy]

Thanks for the feedback to you both, much appreciated! I have taken soil samples and amended the soil to the recommendation of the extension office in the recent past, but I will do this once again with the specific issue towards the nutsedge.

Shoot, the deer bypass the dang stuff to eat our turf grass, and they've got 75 acres to play on in addition 😁

Going to once again reduce the deer population this fall/winter.

[newoodguy78]

Have you tried any sort of cover crops? Many of them have alleopathic(not sure of the spelling)properties that help prevent certain weeds from germinating. Wheat, rye, buckwheat for example will all be effective on different weeds.
I believe Nutsedge prefers heavy poor drained soil. Daikon radish might help drainage by busting up compacted soil. The ones I mentioned above will add organic matter which will help the soil tilth as well.

Rhizomes are a pain to get rid of for sure. I deal with bindweed/morning glory in a couple of our fields which is also a rhizome. I’ve had decent luck using a field cultivator to work the ground and bring those rhizomes to the surface and let the sun cook them. It’s the best herbicide there is in my opinion.
I’ll work it up and let it sit a few days then go back in and work it again. The field cultivator works a lot better than the disks for this. Brings the trash to the surface where as disks tend to push it in and cover it up.
As was mentioned above changing the soil conditions will certainly help. 
Now if I could just figure out what soil conditions ragweed and lambs quarters don’t like I’ll be stylin