By Malachi Leo. Beware this sleeping hydra in your lawn and garden beds — now is the time to catch it before it gets out of control. Purple and yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus and Cyperus rotundus) are grasslike perennial weeds native to the African continent. Those that know about them are no strangers to how determined they are to stay and spread in both home landscapes and in agriculture.
Nutgrass showing tubers (known as the “world’s worst weeds”) are particularly difficult to get rid of because of their namesakes — the edible nutlike tubers that give way to new plants.
These tubers are clever and tricky because they wait until the time is just right. The skin on these tiny tubers has a chemical that prevents them from sprouting until soil moisture washes it off. That means the wetter your lawn is, the more nutsedge will thrive and spread.
When one of these sprouts finally reaches the surface, it forms its own basal hub with brand new roots that have their very own tubers at the ends. Each tuber has up to seven buds and enough energy to make them all sprout. If you manage to successfully eradicate one shoot, the nutsedge will simply send up another. And another. And so on, like a twisted game of whack-a-mole!
If you find yourself battling nutsedge after our recent rains, there is hope. While chemical options exist, and they do work, you run the risk of leaving behind dormant tubers that are not affected by the treatments.
It may seem like a Herculean task, but hand-pulling, rototilling and spading to bring up buried tubers are your best defense. And now is the time to start because June is when nutsedge begins to create its hydra heads, so you will be kept busy during the summer.
This attentive gardening serves two purposes: spending time in your garden to survey your plants and catching nutsedge before it gets out of control.
It takes time and effort, but nutsedge is not invincible. The more you pull, the less severe your infestation will be, until one day you finally pull the last sprout out of the ground and declare victory over nutsedge.
Malachi Leo is a public health graduate and native San Antonian, the importance of water as our most vital natural resource is not lost on Malachi. Working as a field investigator under the irrigation plan review umbrella, he helps to ensure that irrigation systems going into the ground meet state and city standards. When he’s not doing that, you’ll find him exploring restaurants in town—pointing out native plants he recognizes to his friends along the way.