Grassy weed sprouting in Lawn - Ask Extension
When drought hits my lawn in mid July I get patches of a very fast sprouting “stalky” grass with a deep root system. It is difficult to pull out a...
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Grassy weed sprouting in Lawn #880001
Asked August 03, 2024, 9:04 AM EDT
When drought hits my lawn in mid July I get patches of a very fast sprouting “stalky” grass with a deep root system. It is difficult to pull out and seems to spread via a rhizome system. It has a bluish green color when it sprouts compared to the typical lighter green grass around it. I am trying to control it but I don’t know what it is. One guess is torpedo grass but I didn’t think it grew in Maryland. Any ideas what it could be?
Howard County Maryland
Expert Response
Grasses can be challenging to identify but we think that what you have there looks like Bermudagrass, a.k.a. wiregrass.
Here is our page on it:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/bermudagrass-or-wiregrass/
In a lawn, perennial grassy weeds are the most challenging to control. The page will tell you how/when to kill it back and then reseed in late summer into fall, but you still will likely see it again.
Christine
Here is our page on it:
https://extension.umd.edu/resource/bermudagrass-or-wiregrass/
In a lawn, perennial grassy weeds are the most challenging to control. The page will tell you how/when to kill it back and then reseed in late summer into fall, but you still will likely see it again.
Christine
Thank you for this diagnosis. It seems consistent with the way it is growing and the extensive root system as it spreads out.
-Robert
You're welcome.
