Nut Sedge and Lamium control

11 years ago

Apologies for the length....

I'm usually organic all the way, and the "just get down and weed it out" type. But I have used chemicals carefully in the past for the horrors (on major infestations of Canadian thistle and into the rootstocks of huge mature pokeweeds.

I've just started helping an older co-worker with bad knees try to get control of her long-neglected perennial beds, and have run into my first nut sedge infestation. Nasty. The soil is good, but short of lifting and sieving out the top 6" of an 8' x 75' bed.... I have been weeding out with tools, and getting the active plant clusters, but each hole then contains 1 or more dozens of dormant nutlets, and they are also scattered on and in the rest of the soil.

And another huge bed overgrown with Lamium, which is doing a good job of eating the perennials. Spent a few hours trying to follow and clear out all the runners and bits of runners I could find, and managed about a 3' x 4' area.

I'm just not going to have the available time and oomph to keep up with this. So I am looking at Round-Up. I know it will only act on aboveground growth and those associated roots, and that nutlets and Lamium runners will keep putting out growth. Luckily, the perennials in both beds are currently well-spaced-out, and I will be able to use a small mister to avoid other damage.

But are either of these nasties resistant to Round-Up? Or does active growth die-die-die? This is not an area where I can use layering or soil-heating to help. On days when I am there, I can spend an hour spritzing regrowth and then move on to other things. But continuous reweeding, as I might do in my own yard, just won't fly.

Is this feasible?

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Comments (5)

jean001a
11 years ago
Nutgrass can be defeated if you get rid of regrowth by the time it has 4 to 6 leaves. If left longer, new nutlets begin to develop.

So it's your choice as to how you get rid of top growth: pull it off or apply herbicide. Both methods work. Both will require several years persistence.

It's critical to be persistent. Give it an inch and it will set you back to zero.

I've dealt with lamium intrusions from a neighbor. I susepct your growth is more dense than mine was. The remedy is essentially the same: Remove top growth and repeat.

It might be easier to remove desirable plants to a temporary site, then go after the lamium.
Kimmsr
11 years ago
The first step in gaining control of both of these is understanding the type of soil they grow best in. The nut sedges are wetland plants and grow best in moist soils, although they have adapted and will grow in dryer soils as well. Usually the best means of control is to remove all of the nuts that are found in the soil since plant poisons generally do not kill these.
Lamium grows in dry shade, best. The plants like a shady area with well drained soil, but again has adapted to many environments. I have found that a good heavy mulch will control this quite well.
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lisanti07028
11 years ago
Round-Up doesn't do much to nutsedge. I recommend Sedgehammer, which I used this summer on the nutsedge that was taking over my lawn. It worked very well, but it works best on plants with 3 to 8 leaves (that's taken right from the brochure in the package), so I've had to reapply twice, and I am happy to do so. I sprayed right into a couple of beds, and neither the grass nor any of the nearby perennials showed any effect.

I got the Sedgehammer on Amazon, as no store around here stocks it.

Good luck; it's a dreadful pest.
LindaSchreiber
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks to all! Really appreciated!!

Gives me a less panicky approach. Can't lift the plants and move to treat in this situation, but it is late in the season, so there is time to strategize for next spring.

For now, in the 'nut sedge' bed, it has been heavily weeded out, but the nutlets are everywhere. I will try Round-up on any little regrowth this fall, and will look at getting Sedgehammer for the spring .

I will clear out as much of the Lamium, and all the runners I can find, and then hit new growth in the areas I have tried to clear.

And then work on clearing the next patch, and ditto.

One step, then another. But there is so much left to do that I couldn't spend all my limited time on weeding out the same weeds....
kimpa zone 9b N. Florida.
11 years ago
After you weed, then put down several sheets thick of newspaper to keep the area open. Mulch on top of the newspaper to hold it down and look better. This really works.