Invasive Grass Identification

Kentucky bluegrass, Fescue, Rye and Bent, etc
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deboy922
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Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 10th, 2019, 9:06 am

I have a suspicion but would appreciate some confirmation. What is this invasive grass? I live in north-central Indiana, and this grass became visible in my yard about 2 weeks ago.
It is a brighter lighter green than my turf. Thank you.

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TimmyG
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by TimmyG » July 10th, 2019, 10:40 am

You may want to see if you can upload larger (full-size) photos.

Maizan24
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by Maizan24 » July 10th, 2019, 10:41 am

Possibly a sedge. Nutsedge maybe. I get some sprouting this time of year and it looks similar.

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 10th, 2019, 12:17 pm

TimmyG wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 10:40 am
You may want to see if you can upload larger (full-size) photos.
Thanks for the advice. Is the below better? I am posting from my phone, so I don't see the images well.

Image

Image

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deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 10th, 2019, 12:23 pm

Maizan24 wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 10:41 am
Possibly a sedge. Nutsedge maybe. I get some sprouting this time of year and it looks similar.
I originally thought possibly nutsedge...but the stem is not triangular when I roll it in my fingers...the stem is basically round or oval...also, when I dug up the roots, they did not have any "nuts".


TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by TimmyG » July 10th, 2019, 2:47 pm

deboy922 wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Is the below better?
Worse actually. The URL wrappers just point to https://postimages.org/ rather than the image files. Always test your links when you post.

Please tell me that the color in those photos is not true to life. Even yellow nutsedge, which this isn't, isn't that fluorescent lime green.

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 10th, 2019, 4:08 pm

TimmyG wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 2:47 pm
deboy922 wrote:
July 10th, 2019, 12:17 pm
Is the below better?
Worse actually. The URL wrappers just point to https://postimages.org/ rather than the image files. Always test your links when you post.

Please tell me that the color in those photos is not true to life. Even yellow nutsedge, which this isn't, isn't that fluorescent lime green.
Thank you for the feedback. On my phone when I preview my post before submitting (and when I look at the forum), the pics look good. My first post has smaller pictures, and my next post has larger pictures that fill my phone's entire screen. The pictures actually show...I do not have to click a link...the pics just show under my post. I will try from my laptop tonight. I am using https://postimages.org/ to create the links of my pics, and then I copy/paste that link into my post to show the pic. What method do you use to post pics?

And yes, the color in the photos is representative of the true-to-life color...your description of "fluorescent lime green" is very accurate.

TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
Location: Dracut, MA
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by TimmyG » July 10th, 2019, 4:24 pm

I'm not referring to your "thumbnail" images, i.e., the small images included in your post. They're fine, albeit useless for ID. I'm referring to the fact that when you post images via postimage.org, clicking the thumbnail images should take us (and you) to the larger originals that you submitted via postimage.org. Originally, you're in-post images were quite small but as expected. However, clicking them opened images on postimage.org that were only 360x640 pixels. That's shameful. Your second attempt seems to have replaced the smaller thumbnails with the slightly larger images, but now there are no larger images to be seen on postimage.org. It's 2019. If you want to get help with grass ID, you need to get the original megapixel images uploaded to postimage.org and get the links functional.

How do you do that? I have no clue. I don't post images. But I do use a 46" monitor and have good (corrected) eyesight, so if I'm telling you that your images are too small...

deboy922
Posts: 68
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Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 11th, 2019, 10:09 am

@TimmyG - Thank you for the feedback and patience. I think these should be better. In postimages.org I did not have "Do not resize my image" selected, so my images were being resized to a lesser resolution. The below should be higher resolution. Thanks again.

Image

Image

Image

TimmyG
Posts: 2244
Joined: May 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
Location: Dracut, MA
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by TimmyG » July 11th, 2019, 10:27 am

Much better! If not for the color, I'd say this is just your run-of-the-mill large (hairy) crabgrass. Are you familiar enough with crabgrass to have ruled it out? Did you apply a pre-M this spring?

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 11th, 2019, 10:39 am

I also think it is crabgrass but wanted some confirmation. I have never done pre-M or fertilized, and the lawn is 23 years old (previously farm ground). Could the bright green be from lack of nitrogen?

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andy10917
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by andy10917 » July 11th, 2019, 10:58 am

Did it suddenly burst onto the scene in late June? Does it grow much faster than the overall lawn, especially when it is hot/dry? Does it prefer sunny areas?

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 11th, 2019, 11:28 am

andy10917 wrote:
July 11th, 2019, 10:58 am
Did it suddenly burst onto the scene in late June? Does it grow much faster than the overall lawn, especially when it is hot/dry? Does it prefer sunny areas?
Yes, yes, and yes!

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andy10917
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by andy10917 » July 11th, 2019, 11:37 am

OK. Then remember this: "When you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras". Especially without a Spring Pre-M, it's not unusual at all to get Crabgrass. If it's limited, you can fight it with anything containing Quinclorac. With 1-2 acres, that won't really be feasible if it's widespread.

The Weed-B-Gon Plus Crabgrass Control product is available at even HD and Lowes. Since you have significant square footage, make sure to get the concentrate and not the ready-to-use product. And make sure to get a Pre-M down on that lawn next Spring when the Forsythia blooms!

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
Lawn Size: 1 acre-2 acre
Level: Some Experience

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 11th, 2019, 11:46 am

Thanks for the confirmation. The lime green color and how it looks in 4" grass compared to alone along the driveway, always had me wondering if it was something else besides crabgrass. And thanks for the advice...it is widespread...I think that I am going to wait until the forsythia bloom to wage the fight.

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andy10917
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Level: Advanced

Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by andy10917 » July 11th, 2019, 11:59 am

Crabgrass loves heat, and you'll often see it at its biggest/baddest near hotpots like driveways and walkways. You're probably smart for leaving it at alone at this stage of the game on a large-plot -- concentrate on getting the soil prepped for a better day with no crabgrass. Study up on Pre-M's on the site and decide whether you also need a Pre-M treatment for Poa Annua in early September...

Win the battles you can, and accept the ones you've already lost...

deboy922
Posts: 68
Joined: June 18th, 2019, 8:42 am
Location: Lafayette, IN
Grass Type: Northern mix
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Re: Invasive Grass Identification

Post by deboy922 » July 11th, 2019, 12:18 pm

:thumbsup:

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