Nut Sedge Has Joined The Weeds

Fall is in the air. In the words of Oscar Wilde, “…summer collapsed into fall” on Saturday, September 23. For the madman, it’s not the end of summer, it’s the start of a new gardening season. And we’d better get busy.

Our friends, the hummingbirds are flitting from feeder to flower as they store energy for their long flight ahead. Yes, to our surprise, a few are still here. We wrote about these amazing creatures in a blog during the pandemic. The madman has been busy watching them – he says he just wants to make sure they have enough energy to make the trip safely. I think he’s just procrastinating. And, with the heat and the rain, it’s been a summer for procrastination.

A New Season Begins

Fall is the start of a new gardening season, and we want to make this season a good one. Thanks to all the rain, the weeds have overrun the paths in our vegetable garden. Okay, it wasn’t just the rain, it was the sun, too. With the hot weather, instead of mulching and weeding, we took off to play at the lake.

At least we mulched our vegetable beds before the rains came and we couldn’t get out to the garden. But we never finished the paths. There-in lies the problem. Now we are faced with putting the garden to bed and dealing with the weeds on the edges. A new troublemaker, Nut grass, has joined our old enemies like chickweed, purslane and galinsoga. This guy is nasty. If you pull it, it spreads; if you don’t pull it, it spreads itself. In fact, this stuff is so nasty that we found healthy clumps under our red tomato plastic mulch as we pulled it up.

Worst Of The Worst

If you’re not familiar with Nut grass or Nut sedge (same plant, different name), lucky you. It’s not called the world’s worst weed for nothing. Unfortunately, it can creep into a garden in a variety of ways – from new mulch to new soil to new nursery plants. In fact, when we first saw it, the madman suspected it came in through some generic straw mulch. It really doesn’t matter how it came in – it’s here and we have to get rid of it.

For the unfamiliar, let’s tell you about Nut grass, or more correctly Nut sedge. And, in fact, we are actually talking about two plants, not just one. Cyprus esculentus, Yellow Nut sedge, and Cyprus rotunda, Purple Nut sedge, are like two brothers who share very few family traits. One is tall, one is short; one has pointed leaf tips, one has round leaf-tips. They often grow together, but as yet we have not identified Purple Nut sedge in our garden.

Yellow Nut Sedge

Our main problem is Yellow Nut sedge – the taller one. But is this plant noxiously native or invasive? Different sources offer conflicting ideas. The plant probably developed in Africa and found its way to the Americas long before anyone kept records. The madman says we can’t blame the explorers or the colonists for this one. It established itself long before they arrived.

Since all parts of the plant float, the madman can see them swimming across the ocean looking for adventure. Once here, C. esculentus had all the time in the world to spread which is why most sources now say it is native to the Americas, Eurasia and Africa. Archeologists found it in the tombs of ancient Egypt and early Native Americans used it for medicinal purposes. It was even farmed and cultivated in the Sudan. If you go deep into the genetic makeup of the plant, a few differences pop up between the new world and the old world plants. But everyone agrees this is one nasty plant.

Easy Identification

Identification is easy because the flowering stem is triangular, not round or flat. The blades are V-shaped and grouped in threes from the base, ending in a point at the tip. The light green leaves are often mistaken for grass. It’s a fast grower and seems to appear overnight in the garden. Those of you who have lawns will notice it because it grows taller and faster than the grass. Since the madman isn’t a favorite of lawns, we don’t pretend to know much about them. But, if you need help with Nut sedge in your lawn, we recommend contacting your local County Extension Service. Start with this link.

 Our gardens are another story. We don’t want this troublemaker spreading into the beds stealing nutrients from our precious plants. The growth habit of this perennial weed is what makes it so challenging. Although it can spread by seeds, it mostly takes over by its extensive network of rhizomes and tubers. As soon as the plant has five or six leaves, it begins to form these annoying growths.

Deep Tubers

Some tubers may be near the surface, others may go down as deep as 6-10” and beyond. The plant doesn’t respond to traditional weeding because when it is yanked out of the ground, its tubers and rhizomes are left behind. And, in a season, one tuber can re-sprout up to 10 times before it depletes its energy.

 Since we don’t really want to pull each plant 10 times, we are looking for a solution – one that will also help get rid of the other weeds in our paths. With the new gardening season upon us, we have decided to try and prevent the problem from happening again. The madman has already started by mowing down the paths with his rear bagging lawnmower. We bagged anything caught in the hopper and sent it to the dump. Our goal was simple – remove the seeds.

Remove The Stubble

 Our next step is to remove the remaining stubble from the paths by cultivating. Here’s where it gets interesting. The madman plans to spray the rows with a combination of molasses and vinegar – once before the frost and once after the frost. The idea here is to kill what’s left and prevent regrowth. Why did we add molasses? The madman read that it is effective against Yellow Nut sedge. Of course, we could opt for a commercial herbicide, but visiting the website Drugwatch.com, reaffirmed our belief in avoiding potentially environmentally harmful chemicals.

Finish the Job

Then we’ll spread cardboard or a thick layer of newspapers over the paths. We’ll top this with a four-inch layer of woodchips before the snow flies. Next spring, we’ll use corn gluten as a pre-emergent weed treatment and deal with path weeds as they show up. We do have our hands full, especially since we are being slammed by 4” rainstorms on a regular basis. But if the hummingbirds ever decide to leave, the madman will have extra free time.

    Until the hummers go, it’s time for lemonade because it’s warm again.