Knowledgebase

Liriope and how to kill and remove it from a garden bed #774468

Asked October 06, 2021, 9:56 PM EDT

I have blue grass liriope which is over taking a bed and I wish to remove it and kill it. I have tried liquid grass killer. I have tried to dig it up, but its root go too deep and I am unable to get to all the rhizomes and roots. What do you suggest? I appreciate your follow up and reply. Thank you.

Montgomery County Maryland

Expert Response

Despite looking grass-like, Liriope is not actually a grass, which is why grass-specific herbicides won't work well (if at all). Instead, if you need to use herbicide, a systemic (root-killing) treatment would be required, and those chemicals are non-selective, meaning they will damage any plant they come into contact with. Therefore, if the Liriope is intermingled with any other desirable plants, this would be challenging to use without causing damage to them as well, and physical removal (continued digging-up) instead would be the only practical alternative.

The only other option if you wish to avoid herbicide and the rigor of digging would be to smother the patch. Here too, the practicality of this depends on whether or not desirable plantings are intermingled with the Liriope. If they are, this method won't be feasible and you'll again be left with digging them up until they cease returning. Eventually, removing as much Liriope foliage as you can will starve-out the root remnants and the plants will stop regrowing. The creeping form of Liriope is pretty tough, though, so any treatment - digging or herbicide - may take awhile with repeated efforts to be able to finally eradicate it.

Miri

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