Bahia grass is one of the most common unwanted weeds that may appear in your land. But don’t you know how to identify it? Has your home been infiltrated by it yet? How to control Bahiagrass?
Let’s learn how to get rid of Bahiagrass quickly and effectively now before it destroys your beautiful vegetable garden or lawn! We promise this will take you only a few minutes.
How to Identify Bahia grass
Bahia grass (scientific name: Paspalum notatum) is known as highway grass as well because you can see it on many highways. This is an aggressive perennial grass that grows strongly during warm seasons.
Bahia grass typically forms a mat in light green color, with an open canopy and coarse texture. It originates from South America but has was introduced into the state of Florida in the United States of America as a kind of forage in the early twentieth century.
Due to its unique “Y-shaped” seed head, identifying bahiagrass is easy. It can thrive under a number of different soil conditions and spread quickly by rhizomes and seeds.
Unlike broadleaf weeds, because these warmseason grasses grow most strongly in hot and drought conditions, it is good at controlling erosion along highways and roadsides.
Notwithstanding, this aggressive nature also makes Bahia grass control more challenging in your landscape architecture. If you do not know, it can even withstand garden pests very well.
How To Get Rid Of Bahia grass
Part 1: Removing Bahia grass From Your Lawn
Step1: As a rule of thumb, it is best to control of Bahiagrass before it becomes tougher. Therefore, you should spray post-emergent herbicides before the summer begins (around May).
At this time, Bahia grass in your land is still small and merely starting to grow, so the application of herbicide should take effect better.
Of course, it is vital that you can use a high-quality post-emergent herbicide to eliminate the actively growing grass efficiently. And be sure that you stick to the right guide of using it.
We recommend using the following herbicides to kill Bahiagrass without harming your turf grass in your lawn care project:
- If you have a Bermuda grass lawn, merely apply Metsulfuron-methyl.
- If you have a Centipede grass lawn, use Metsulfuron-methyl, Atrazine, or Sethoxydim. (There is a difference between Bermuda grass and Centipede grass that helps Centipede grass be able to bear more types of chemicals.)
- If you have a St. Augustine Grass lawn, utilize Atrazine only.
- If you are growing Zoysia lawn grasses, spray Imazaquin or Metsulfuron-methyl.
Step 2: When you kill grass, there will be bare spots all over your lawn. Thus, to prevent these areas from being infiltrated with other types of weeds, promptly fill them with your grass such as plugs or sprigs instead of spreading seeds.
Step 3: Don’t be too subjective when you see Bahia grass dies for the first time. Remember to reapply the same weed killer after one to two months so that the whole plants, including seeds and rhizomes, are eradicated.
Step 4: After taking all of the above steps, you had better use lawn mowers to trim your lawn regularly to maintain its health and block the regeneration of Bahia grass. Make sure the mowing blade you use is sharp enough since dull blades will result in brown-edged grass.
To keep the health of your grass, keep Zoysia grass and Bermuda grass as high as 2.5 to 5.1 cm (1 to 2 inches), Centipedegrass as high as 3.8 to 5.1 cm (1.5 to 2 inches), and St. Augustinegrass as high as 6.4 to 10.2 cm (2.5 to 4 inches).
A general rule for lawn mowing is never cutting over one-third of your grass height at once unless you want its roots to stop developing. For example, if you would like your grass to be as high as 5.1 cm (2 inches), you can mow it when it reaches a height of 7.6 cm (3 inches).
Step 5: Solely water your lawn when it suffers from water deficiency as frequent watering can lead to the flourishing of Bahia grass as well as other weeds.
The common signs of water deficiency are: your grass turns to bluish-gray; the soil is dry and stiff, and can only hold footprints for a while, or until the soil is dry and hard, etc.
Apply 1.3 cm (0.5 inch) of water to your whole lawn, then wait until it dries out before you water it again.
Step 6: Fertilize lawn with a complete fertilizer like 12–4–8, 18-24-6, or 16–4–8 every 6 or 12 months to prevent the Bahia grass from returning.
Part 2: Removing Bahia grass In Your Garden and Landscapes
Beware that simple Bahiagrass control in lawns is totally different from Bahiagrass control with landscape maintenance. So pay attention!
Step 1: Before tilling your garden and landscape beds, you should tug Bahia grass manually. Here, we can take advantage of water features to remove Bahiagrass from the root more effortlessly. Just water your ornamental bed until the top 25 cm (10 inches) of soil are wet.
Step 2: Lay down 6-8 sheets of wet newspaper on the ground and 7.6 cm (3 inches) of mulch (e.g., grass clippings, compost, or pine needles) on top of that to block the sunlight that could make rhizomes or seeds grow.
Step 3: Apply a post-emergent herbicide such as glyphosate on the soil before you plant for the season to deter Bahia grass from rising. You should do this at least 3 days before you grow your vegetables, flowers, or ornamental grasses.
Step 4: After you plant your greenery, if you find the familiar weed reappearing, let’s use sethoxydim to eradicate Bahiagrass again. This chemical is a selective herbicide that only gets rid of grass weeds but does no harm to your plants.
However, don’t use this if you are growing sweet corns on your land. For Organic lawn care, herbicide application for Bahiagrass prevention is unacceptable.
Conclusion
Well, we have shown you how to get rid of Bahiagrass in two different locations: lawn and garden. As you have read in this article, there are particular prevention measures for each of these spots, so don’t mistake them.
Remember to take all of the steps above thoroughly in each area. Make sure that you do not miss or do something wrongly.