We put in a new flowerbed in the backyard about three years ago, and we've been fighting a losing battle ever since. The bed is about 55 feet long and varies between seven and nine feet wide, so it's a good-sized area. The problem is these little weeds that just won't give up. The area of the bed used to be St. Augustine grass (we're in Texas) and we tilled that under, but the weeds definitely aren't grass. They're just little clumps of light green, five-inch tall blades. No matter what we do, they keep coming back at a ferocious rate. We've put down a good, thick layer of mulch every year. We've tried repeatedly pulling and even resorted to chemical killers, but no matter how clean we get the bed, seven days later it's full again. Any idea what these are?

-- Lisa (prine@cooperindustries.com), March 11, 1999

Answers

I imagine someone in Texas will have a better idea, but just out of curiousity, what are the roots like? We have similar problems with nutsedge, which grows from evil tuberous roots. Nothing kills it and the only way to get rid of it is to dig it out and keep digging it out until it doesn't come back anymore. It comes through landscape fabric and even forces its way through the bottoms of pots. I managed to clear one flower bed, but I had to hand sift the soil to a depth of about eight inches in order to get out all the tubers, and then as new shoots popped up, I dug them up, too. I think it's dormant right now, so we'll see how well I did in a few weeks.

Hopefully someone in Texas will have an idea for you. Good luck!

-- Xeney (garden@xeney.com), March 11, 1999.

I'm just rereading this and it really DOES sound like nutgrass. If you haven't been reading the garden journal lately, you might want to steer clear unless you want to get REALLY depressed. I did notice that the nursery sells something called "nutgrass eradicator," but since I've gotten mixed reports on that and I don't personally use weed killers, I'm not really recommending it. One thing you might want to look for is a drainage problem -- that's supposed to encourage nutgrass. Good luck; if anything works for you, please advise!

-- Xeney (garden@xeney.com), March 30, 1999.

Good grief! Your description sounds about right. I guess I'll be spending even more time back there this spring. Thanks!

-- Lisa (prine@cooperindustries.com), March 11, 1999.