Wire Grass

[MWG]

Anyone know a good way to get rid of wire grass? I have some taking over my garden. I was thinking that if I run my tiller every week or so during the winter it will freeze the roots and kill it? Anyone have any experience with something similar?

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by MWG

Anyone know a good way to get rid of wire grass? I have some taking over my garden. I was thinking that if I run my tiller every week or so during the winter it will freeze the roots and kill it? Anyone have any experience with something similar?

Yes I had it in a nursery and the only thing that would get rid of it was Methyl Bromide. You need special equipment and license for the stuff and it would not be available on such a small acreage that you have. You may till it and try to freeze the roots but it only takes one root to start again.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Mulch, lots of mulch, suffocate it. What doesn't sufficate will be easier to pull out because the roots can not take a strong hold in the loose mulch.

[oldmania]

I was told that the only way to get rid of wire grass was to die and leave it.

[MWG]

Thanks everyone. It doesn't sound good. Can you burn it or will it take a small nuclear bomb to get rid of it?

I don't really want to use chemicals but it is taking over everything... I guess if I had to use them I would. Not only is the garden area getting attacked, my whole back yard is wire grass now because the animals ate the fescue first.

[Old Vet]

Originally Posted by MWG

Thanks everyone. It doesn't sound good. Can you burn it or will it take a small nuclear bomb to get rid of it?

I don't really want to use chemicals but it is taking over everything... I guess if I had to use them I would. Not only is the garden area getting attacked, my whole back yard is wire grass now because the animals ate the fescue first.

I have tried to use Roundup soil sterilizer and every thing to get rid of it. The only thing that I have found is to choke it out by using large leaf grass and then kill that out after a couple of years or Methyl Bromide. Methyl bromide is the same thing that golf courses use to sterilize their ground. It is a gas so you need special permits to even hove some and specialize machinery to apply it. If there is a golf course close by you may ask them if they use it and when it will be by and get the person to apply it for you that way all you need to do is to let it set for 5 days then remove the plastic and get rid of it. Your soil will be sterilized and anything that comes up will be planted by you for the first year. it is not cheep the laast that I had any thing to do cost us about $500 per acre.

[tamsam]

You can control it by tilling and then rake or sift the roots out. It only takes a small peice of root to start it all over again. It will even grow through the black mesh that is sold to kill off everything. It most likely killed your other grass. Good luck getting rid off it. Sam

[BethW]

Originally Posted by oldmania

I was told that the only way to get rid of wire grass was to die and leave it.

Ha! Our whole flippin' yard is wiregrass. I gave up trying to have a flower garden since the wiregrass would take over faster than I have time to weed. It has grown much slower in the veggie garden due to the deep layer of Miracle Goat we have on it.