Southeast PA, zone 7B
I’m flanked by neighbors that don’t really care about their lawn. One side is worse than the other, where he straight up said he gave up and just mows his weeds. Unfortunately the folks I bought the house from a couple years ago also didn’t care much. So far I’ve reclaimed most of the front but the back yard is a mess and I have a full on invasion of whatever the weed is pictured below. I’ve tried two rounds of spray with ortho weedclear for crabgrass, dandelions, etc. but it hasn’t even stunted its growth.
Ideally I’m looking for an ID on the type of weed and any treatments outside of just nuking the whole thing. Encouraging words to not give up also accepted
by Any-Month-2729
25 Comments
Dallisgrass, Crabgrass, or Johnson grass. They all look very similar but require different chemicals to kill.
Looks like dallisgrass to me but i’m a newbie
Glyphosate paint the tips very carefully. It’ll kill anything green. Sometimes takes a 1-2 weeks to work but it works. May need a second application. Lots of techniques to do this but a paint brush worked well for me
100% Dallis grass
That’s your new lawn.
Johnsongrass. I’m not a fescue expert, but glyposphate and overseed in the near future/season
I’ve used this application of Roundup before.
[https://a.co/d/b9LR9kR](https://a.co/d/b9LR9kR)
It worked really well. Just cover some portion of the plant and it’ll eradicate it. If you have a lot of the weed, it might be too time consuming to apply it like that. If you have too much to spot treat, and if it’s Dallisgrass, which it kind of looks like to me, I’ve heard MSMA is great for killing it.
Dallisgrass. The hair on the liqune is the dead giveaway.
i’ve been spraying Bioadvanced everywhere because it’s amazing for dandelions and crabgrass. this stuff is still living in my yard and i’m assuming it’s dallis. Two rounds of Roundup still hasn’t killed it… i have no idea what to do at this point hahaha
If it grows a large stalk with 2-3 dangling seedheads (that resemble dangling fingers), then it’s dallis grass.
Possibly sedge?
It kind of looks like Dallisgrass, but its kinda off because its too waxy and its not straight blades of grass. If it is then It needs to be dealt with early, or it becomes hard to kill and will spread rapidly through underground rhizomes and seed. The ways to get rid of it are digging, using Glyphosate extremely carefully with a paintbrush or gloved fingers, or MSMA. MSMA is illegal for residential usage, but it is legal to have and easy to purchase.
much wasier to identify if you have a pic if a seedhead.
Weed it after a good rain or watering session; they won’t go away, just get more embedded and rooted if not
Pull it! Pull it!! Rooting for you man! I have 2 – 4oz bottles of Impact Herbicide (same AI as Pylex) available from my Impact split if interested. Dallisgrass is one of the key weeks controlled by Topramezone (29.7%)
https://preview.redd.it/57yrf98qlnff1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b0e140feb05a0555aad82d5a00a076832d158f7
Dallisgrass. Get tenacity. Great might look funky but that shit will die
Dallisgrass. It’s not as bad as many here think, but it takes a specific treatment to manage with success.
Locally, you can buy Round-Cup Crabgrass Destroyer. It’s .092% Topramezone, which will kill Dallis easy enough. But lower on strength and you may need a couple of sprays.
If you have a lot of area, and a full on invasion, and some money….Pylex. That stuff will murder Dallis, but also runs about $400/pint bottle.
Not Dallis grass. Either Quack or Johnson or Barnyard. Pylex or round up are your choices. Tenacity will put a hurting on it but not enough
Not quack grass. Which is lucky for you. Quack is the bane of my existence right now. No matter what I do, it just comes back, spreading from my neighbors yard (which is 99.99% quack grass at this point). Part of me just wants to lob glyphosate balloons over the fence into their yard (kidding, but a guy can dream, right?)
Throwing this out there as well, might be barnyard grass.
Ok
Spray Fusillade II herbicide with an adjuavant/sticker for Johnson and quackgrass. *it may take a few treatments to get complete control.
And for Dallis Grass you’ll want to spray Pylex herbicide with an adjuvant/sticker. Dallis Grass calls for 3 treatments.
Use these sprays as needed along with good fertilization, watering, and core aeration/overseeding practices and you should have a perfect lawn in the next couple years. A healthy lawn isn’t just born over night. It requires routine care and maintenance for the best results just like a human. After all grass is a living organism.
Read each label thoroughly for the correct rates etc. and calibrate your sprayer to give you the best chance at success. These herbicides are safe on most cool and warm season desirable grasses when the LABEL IS FOLLOWED. THE LABEL IS THE LAW! Make sure you can apply these products in your area.
Hope this helps. Best of luck!
looks like matured crabgrass
it might just be foxtail hard to tell w/o a seedhead