The plant I know as nutgrass is a long-time foe. We had it in Texas and we have had it here.

I only was able to get rid of it by hand-digging it, and it took a lot of serious hand-digging. I did it in steps, which I'll list here:

Year One (this is the first year I really attacked it seriously, and by then our garden was 3 or 4 years old). Rototill the soil, Screen it, removing every single nut sedge running and plant, taking care to find the nutlets and remove them. We had tons of them.

Year Two: Same as Year One. Then I waited a month or more for it to resprout. Then I hand-dug every plant that resprouted. I had to dig down 6-8" to get most of the nutlets, but up to 10-12" for some of the really deep ones. Then I planted.

Year Three: Rototilled, found and removed plants and plant parts same as in Years 1 and 2. Put down weedblock fabric. Cut holes in fabric and planted through the holes. The only nut sedge plants we had in the garden come up through the holes where the plants were planted.

Years Four and Five: Same as Year Three, but removed the weedblock in mid-summer (when crops had finished producing in the heat). Watered well and waited for the nut sedge to emerge, which it did. Hand dug it deeply to get out all the nutlets. Put down cardboard and heaped up mulch 4-6" deep and let that arrow remain fallow the rest of the year.

Year Six: Rototilled, added compost, planted, in soil that generally had been pretty much nut sedge-free in Years 4 and 5. Got tons of new net sedge. Gritted teeth. Hand dug every single one which took forever. Eventually planted something there. Had tons of nut sedge come up. Took scissors and cut off each one at the ground level every single week, based on the theory that the plants could only have so much stored energy and eventually it would run out.

Year Seven. Same as Year Six.

Year Eight and every year since then: Pretty much nut sedge free now. However, when a nutsedge plant pops up in my garden, I instantly drop everything and dig out that plant right away. Oh, and I never compost them. Every plant, every rhizome, and especially every nutlet go into the trash to be hauled away from our property. I might have a grand total of 8 or 10 nut sedge plants pop up each year in the front garden, which is several thousand square feet.

Pulling doesn't work as the plant breaks off and leaves the little bulb-like nutlet. Those nutlets can sit dormant in the soil forever if it is dry. When you get a wet year, the moisture makes the nutlets sprout. So, getting them out is the key.

A few years back, Texas Gardener magazine had a great article on how to remove bermuda grass and nut sedge. I'll find it and link it.

There are a couple of herbicides that target sedges since regular herbicides don't affect them, but I haven't tried them.

Hope this helps. This is one of those problems for which there is no easy solution....just dig, dig, dig

.Weed Wars: Bermuda Grass and Nut Sedge

I got a chuckle when I opened the link! I think I could have been the poster child for that one. Except, I might have selected a bigger gun!

After reading through the article, I'm thinking about taking up golf! I hate golf. Maybe knitting?

If I can find a market for purple nutsedge, I will be rich. I'd rather deal with bermuda and johnson grass than continue the war I've been waging on this stuff.

The only thing in my favor is the fact that the worst infestation is in an area I'm leaving unplanted. That area will receive a healthy layer of rotted hay and then whatever wood chips I have left over from mulching the rest of the garden.

If I thought it would work, I would commit sacrilege and Round Up the crap out of the stuff. It's just not worth the possible long term affects.

The stuff is pretty resistant to glyphosate also. I have it all over my raised beds. I pull it about 3 times a year to stay even with it.

I have it everywhere along with bermuda, field bind weed, johnson grass, crab grass, perennials.. you name it. I'm mustering the courage to use glysophate on the bind weed. I don't have a choice. :(

When we still lived in Texas, a product specifically for nutsedge control was released. It was called Image. Now there is another one called Sedgehammer. I haven't used them and cannot say if they work, but some people that I know had success with them. Both are intended for use in turf and/or ornamental areas but not around food crops.

Bon, We were posting at the exact same time so I didn't see your comment.

First, you always have a choice.

Secondly, if you choose to use Round-up on Bindweed, understand that studies have shown it is most effective when used later in the season when the plant has developed blossoms and is just starting to bloom. Using it this early in the season might knock back the small sprouts, but wouldn't do much to kill the plants, especially if you have the deep-rooted, established perennial bindweed. Many weeds do not take up and use Round-up efficiently at cooler temperatures, so you'll have a better result if you wait until it is warmer. That is true of many herbicides. Also, while glyphosate will knock down the bindweed, one treatment will not necessarily kill it. Multiple ones will be required. If you are going to be using the glyphosate around any desirable plants, be careful as it can drift through the air and kill them. I know several people who've accidentally killed plants all over their own property via drift of herbicides they were using. Sometimes it wasn't even the gardener who killed the garden---it was the gardener's spouse who was being helpful and spraying all those weeds around the perimeter of the garden. Ooops. It hasn't happened to us because we do not spray any kind of herbicide near our garden....not even remotely near it. I don't like using herbicides near established or desirable plantings.

Yesterday, I found herbicide damage on three tomato plants in the very middle of my garden. I was stunned. I couldn't believe anybody had been out spraying herbicide in this weather. I tried to convince myself that maybe the damage was caused by a plant virus, but I know herbicide drift damage when I see it. I was puzzled too as I have been home and out in the garden most of the time lately and haven't seen anyone spraying anything. When we drove north up our road to go to the store this morning, I quickly figured out it must have been county road maintenance crews out spraying weedy areas that are hard to mow with their tractors. They had sprayed around the bridge abutment where the road goes over our creek and it is impossible to mow because of the steep drop-off there. It is maybe 75-80 yards from my garden. As we traveled up the road I saw many other places they had sprayed. It isn't that I expect to have a year totally free of herbicide drift as it is incredibly common here. We live in the country where everyone from property owners to state and county employees to the railroads to the utility companies spray various herbicides at regular intervals. Drift is common. Damage is common. Even plant death occurs because of herbicide drift. I am used to it. I'm not necessarily used to seeing it appear this early in the year. In one way it makes me angry. But, then, I know these are just hard-working people out doing their tasks for the day and they aren't trying to create drift that will blow towards my garden and damage my plants. I am sure any damage they cause is unintentional. Still, damaged plants are damaged plants.

Now I am contemplating planting a barrier of dense shrubs that will, over time, give the garden some protection from drift. I'd have to use evergreen plants with waxy leaves like Burford hollies or something and it would take several years for them to get tall enough to make much of a difference. Either that or maybe build a big wall around the garden. A big tall wall. Just kidding. Maybe.

I think DH tried roundup on bindweed with no real effect Year before last.