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gamingmousepro

Is this lawn a grass or a weed?

Basically the title... it covers a lot of a lawn but Im not sure if it is just a grassy weed? Zone 8. It is quite fine compared to St Augustine. Thank you for trying!



Comments (12)

  • 4 years ago
    last modified: 4 years ago







    Ok, thank you very much for replying. I read a brief intro to Green kyllinga and it lives a poorly drained area that is very wet, and unfortunately, that describes this area very well. Is it possible that the entire lawn is basically this stuff and some crab grass? It seems wild but I see it everywhere on this residential lot that is probably a quarter acre at least.

  • 4 years ago

    Yes, it is assertive but not as aggressive as nut grass. Both are sedges and not true grasses. Thus a grass killer will do nothing but encourage the sedges. You need a sedge killer like SedgeHammer or there are a couple others. The sedge killers should wipe it out. I realize you might feel like it needs extra dosage, but follow the directions on the bottle. You might need to repeat if you miss some or some comes back from seed.

  • 4 years ago

    Thank you. Is this weed going to simply die in the winter?


    Let's say my lawn is mostly weeds, if not all weeds, how should I proceed this winter?

  • 4 years ago

    It's not going to die out ever unless it's sprayed. Nutgrass, the close cousin to green kyllinga, is more of a swamp type sedge. It will become dormant if it gets infrequent water. Green kyllinga can go for seasons with no water at all and continue to seem to thrive.

    I would start with the sedge killer as soon as practical.

    Would you like to have a lawn? The most practical turf grasses for SE Texas are St Augustine and hybrid bermuda. Although TIF 419 bermuda is inexpensive, it is one of the best turf grasses there is. It's just that there is a lot of it grown making it cheap. Hmmm, SE Texas? Are you anywhere near Wharton? You should be able to get grass very inexpensively, because Wharton is where the grass farms are. A lot of the cost of new sod is transportation. Having said that about TIF 419, St Augustine is more of the dominant species where water is available. If you mow St Augustine every other week at the mower's highest setting, it will smother most other grasses. And if you water it once a week in the summer, it will even dominate nutgrass.

    If you have mostly weeds now and want a lawn, you'll need SedgeHammer or Image for Nutgrass, Weed-b-Gon, and just a little patience to let the herbicides work. Then you can lay down some St Aug sod and let it spread. I'm just guessing but you might be able to get it for $1 per piece. It spreads about 15 feet per year, so, if you have some more patience, you don't need to buy enough to cover the yard as it will cover by itself.

  • 4 years ago

    Thank you very much for the thoughtful reply. I'm not actually in Setx anymore as when I made this account. I'm in zone 8a and I believe zoysia is a good choice to try to go for here. The lawn is bad. I think it's literally all kyllinga as photo'd.


    I am concerned if I kill the kyllinga right now I'll just hav e abre lawn and of course weeds will pop right back. Everything online says you basically cant seed right now... or does it mean you should not but it can be done? I'd love to do something positive, but throwing money away while I wait for the seasons seems like a bad idea!

  • 4 years ago

    Telling us where you don't live isn't helpful. Tell us where you live. Zone 8a is 2,000 miles long. If you live in Austin, tell us.

    We have to be clear on seeding. Your situation only pertains to the South. You absolutely can seed now if you are NOT seeding a warm season grass like common bermuda. The time for seeding bermuda was June through July and possibly a week into August. You could seed common bermuda now, but don't expect 80% germination. Assuming you get 40%, then it will do some spreading during the rest of the growing season.

    What do you want to use the lawn area for? Will it be played on?

    Is there much shade on the area?

  • 4 years ago

    I can't imagine spending a dime to cultivate Bermuda or zoysia or St. Augustine grass instead of what is in the pic. It's green. Mow it & forget about it until you have to mow it again.

  • 4 years ago

    Tiffany has a good point. A lot of people want clover lawns. That's not a problem for me. When I was growing up clover was natural in lawns. My mother wanted dichondra so we had a dichondra lawn. Your lawn is your lawn no matter what form of plantings you have in it. Personally I would try to help you with it regardless of the desired turf type.

  • 4 years ago

    Thank you. It was mentioned that there was a desire to avoid throwing money away, so not spending any on something you're just going to mow anyway seems like the ideal approach from that single angle, to my humble opinion.


    And totally agree, if one has the $, there are much more interesting or pretty lawns that could be cultured, should one share an affinity for alternatives to grass.

  • 4 years ago

    Trying to think of what might be a drawback of having a sedge lawn, rather than some type of grass? A lot of the grasses people grow here in FL are just as invasive and some are considered weeds up north.

    The only problem I have with sedge in my yard is that it wants to take over my veggie patch.

  • 3 years ago


    This will fix your yard but need to use it twice. Read the directions I got this on line and we also live in Texas. I also keep a handy spray bottle of it when I do happen to see any SEDGE growing to keep it from taking over which it will certainly do. Good luck. PS we also use it on Buttonweed another Tx issue. Do a search and see what it looks like.