[critterdude311]

Background: I've been working on bringing my front and back yard areas up to a "level 2" certified lawn care nut status over the last 3 years. The results have been really good so far and I'm super pleased with how things are going in the front and back yard areas.

With the success in the front and back yard area, I decided to go ahead last fall and tackle my side yard (I live on a corner lot). I bought blue label TTTF seed from a respectable seed supplier (who shall remain nameless for now), as well as brought in several yards of dirt from a local supplier. I dressed the entire side yard area with dirt and overseeded it very heavily in the fall and have continued overseeding it (so far) this spring.

Inexplicably, I've started seeing lime green patches popping up in this area within the last month (I did not see these areas in the fall). I'm not sure what it is, or how it got in. Presumably, it's either contamination of the seed or soil which was used (I wish I knew for sure).

Needless to say, I'm super bummed out on this because it's been a lot of work, which feels like a complete waste of time and perhaps more disturbing, the amount of effort involved to clean up this new mess.

Based on my brief Google searches, I'm assuming the area is contaminated with either:
1) poa triv
2) nutsedge
3) some type of other cool season grassy weed

I've taken some detailed photos in hopes that someone can help identify the weed so I can begin a control program. I'm trying the best I can to come to terms that I might have to go the nuclear (glyphosate) route here and it's giving me nightmares. Any suggestions on how to tackle this?




































PS - Basic weed-b-gone type control has not worked on whatever this is.

 

[SNOWBOB11]

I'm thinking triv. Maybe quackgrass but I'd lean toward triv. Glyphosate might be the only way to go.

 

[Green]

I don't believe that's Poa Triv. Whatever it is, this post is timely...yesterday I just dug out some of the same type of grass that you're showing in your photos (at least photos 4, 5, and 7). At first yesterday, I was thinking Poa B (Bulbosa) because I've had it in the lawn in the past...however, I didn't feel the bulbous lower stem on it when I checked it yesterday, so I wasn't totally sure this time. Thankfully, it seemed to have a bunch growth habit, whatever it was...easier to dig out that way. It looks a lot like Poa B, minus the bulbous stem bottoms/crowns.

 

[SixString]

The purplish hue of the stem leads me to believe it may be crabgrass, or some derivative. Did it pull out pretty easily? Shallow wide spreading root system?

 

[SNOWBOB11]

The purplish hue of the stem leads me to believe it may be crabgrass, or some derivative. Did it pull out pretty easily? Shallow wide spreading root system?

I think April is too early for crabgrass.

 

[critterdude311]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I appreciate it.

The purplish hue of the stem leads me to believe it may be crabgrass, or some derivative. Did it pull out pretty easily? Shallow wide spreading root system?

I live in Central New Jersey, and in my neighborhood, we typically do not see any crabgrass coming through turf until the end of June. July and August tend to be the peak time for crabgrass where I live. If it is crabgrass, this would be extremely early. We've also had an unusually slow / cold Spring here so far. Given the history and cold weather this year, I hadn't even considered crabgrass a possibility. That's why it's so helpful to get a second set of eyes on stuff like this.

The weed samples I took pulled out fairly easy. The roots were relatively shallow. The spreading of the plant seems to be very wide, particularly when it is surrounded or interwoven with the other good / healthy turf.

The purplish stems on many of the samples are interesting and seem to lend credence to it potentially being some type of crabgrass. I'm thinking about grabbing some post-emergent crabgrass control just to test and see if it has any effect. At this point, I don't think there is any downside to testing that and some sedgehammer just to see if it has an effect.

No pre-emergents were applied to this area of the yard because I had planned to continue seeding the area through the Spring. For what it's worth, I do not see this weed in the front or back yard where I used pre-emergent. In hindsight, I'm wishing I had just applied pre-emergent to the area and waited til the fall to hit it with heavy seed again. Live and learn... :|

The good news here is, if it's some type of crabgrass, I know next year I can stop it with a pre-emergent, so hopefully that's all it is.

 

[g-man]

I agree with snowbob, this cannot be crabgrass. Crabgrass dies at 32F and it needs a soil temp above ~50F to germinate.

I can't tell what it is. I was leaning to orchardgrass, but the grow pattern is different. It might be a warm season weed.

 

[Flying Aces]

According to a few guys at Site One landscaping, if it looks a lot like crabgrass but its at this time of the year then its a good chance its quackgrass. One of those pics did look a lot like quackgrass. But there's so much of it, maybe it came in your black dirt? Do you know if it was screened?

 

[ABC123]

Most likely it's barnyard grass from what I can tell.

 

[g-man]

According to a few guys at Site One landscaping, if it looks a lot like crabgrass but its at this time of the year then its a good chance its quackgrass. One of those pics did look a lot like quackgrass. But there's so much of it, maybe it came in your black dirt? Do you know if it was screened?

I looked for clasping auricles, but I could not find any auricles. That rules out quack and annual rye. It can't be crabgrass or POA annual.

Let's ping an expert. @thegrassfactor

 

[critterdude311]

According to a few guys at Site One landscaping, if it looks a lot like crabgrass but its at this time of the year then its a good chance its quackgrass. One of those pics did look a lot like quackgrass. But there's so much of it, maybe it came in your black dirt? Do you know if it was screened?

The place I ordered the soil from claims it is:
"A high quality screened, organic, compost topsoil. This mixture has the most nutrients and is the richest topsoil."

It's frustrating because I don't have a way to prove it was the soil, or the seed. I've never seen it anywhere in my yard until this spring though. :roll:

 

[g-man]

Could you post an image of the seed tag? I will bet it is the soil too. Did they provided you with a soil/compost test?

 

[440mag]

My money (fwiw) is on the soil; I have sagas of my own, believes you me.

Sorry you're encountering this (but hey, at least your soil didn't include wireworms (mine did, PLUS weeds! And it looked like "black gold" the whole time, too ...).

Just my grass clippings supplemented by regular top dressing with peat for me, from here on out ...

I've found the local soil guys and farmers are not dishonest; they truly believe they have and are delivering "good" or even "awesome" soil ... it's just that few, if any, of them are true "turf aficionados," if you know what I mean. Come to think of it, I wonder if there are any sod farms that also sell soil?
Hmmmm......

I truly hope once the true experts here help you positively ID it that you are able to rectify the situation without too much more trouble, etc.

 

[critterdude311]

Could you post an image of the seed tag? I will bet it is the soil too. Did they provided you with a soil/compost test?

There was no soil / compost test. It just said the soil was screened.

For what it's worth, here is the tag from the seed I used:

 

[critterdude311]

One final shot here, I think this is a pretty good angle for ID:



The purple / red stems are very clear here:

 

[social port]

The growth pattern (particularly noticeable in pic 6) reminds me of dallisgrass-but I really don't know. Have you noticed any seed heads?

 

[SixString]

Thanks for the feedback on my initial crabgrass assessment. Although I now agree with all of you that based on temps this isn't traditional grabgrass, I still believe it is something in the same family. The combination of the purple hue, the shallow root system, and the sprawling but drooping growth pattern of the shoots gives me hope that if you experiment with some crab post-em, it should knock it out quite a bit. At least it's not Poa T or Poa A!!!

 

[critterdude311]

The growth pattern (particularly noticeable in pic 6) reminds me of dallisgrass-but I really don't know. Have you noticed any seed heads?

I haven't seen any seed heads yet.

 

[alpine0000]

In the first couple of pics, it looks like Bermuda grass to me. The last few, not so sure. If so, Pylex is the only thing that'll get it. It's expensive and takes a few apps though. It's a slow process. That stuff is TOUGH.

Acclaim and Turflon Ester will suppress it, but probably won't kill it. Good luck!

 

[flyfishsteve]

.20 % "other crop"....not good