I believe we have lost the battle with this one. I don't see how anyone can rid the woods of it. It thrives in all the inaccessible places, no way to hand weed, no way to mow, way too much to spray with pre-emergent.

And, it is deceptively easy to pull out of the ground with roots intact except they're like the rootlets of our favorite wild Bermuda grass. Big Mama plant is way underground laughing at us.

I have one section of it in the woods fairly close to the yard that I may try to tarp over and see if it springs to life around the perimeter. Just a test to see if depriving it of all light will kill off some of it.

I heard that there is a disease that will kill it coming down from the north east. Wish it would hurry.

Bipolaris..given its causing allergies and other severe respiratory issues in humans I think I'd rather deal with the stilt grass by cutting it down.

Oops. Didn't know about the allergies. I will have to take back my wishes.

Thanks for the information.

dottie, it is an annual so if you pull it out then those plants should be done (of course there are seeds waiting to sprout behind that clump).

the problem is they seed even when fairly short, and the seed is viable for up to 7 years. so once it gets established, it's really hard to get rid of it. You can try pre-emergents next year- too late now. (unless you weed it all out, then apply a pre-emergent for the later seedlings).

It may be viable for 7 years, but in what environment? I have found that the number of stiltgrass plants is dramatically reduced with the use of solarization. The majority of seedlings that came up afterwards were mainly those on the border, where seeds spilled over from uncovered plants, or carried there by animals. Of course, it would be impossible to cover acres of the area with plastic, but for a garden plot, it is feasible.

My chickens seem to tear through the stuff at least.