How to Remove Invasive Grasses From Your Lawn

Tackling the Most Common Lawn Invaders

The right removal method depends on what has moved in and what lawn variety you are trying to protect.

• Pull small invasions out by hand If the affected area is small, hand removal is often the most effective option. Use a mattock or garden spade to chip out the roots, and make sure you get as much of the root system as possible. Regular hand weeding, combined with good lawn care to keep your turf thick and healthy, will gradually get on top of most small infestations.
• Use a non-selective herbicide with care For kikuyu or couch invading a buffalo, fescue or ryegrass lawn, a non-selective herbicide such as glyphosate is the main chemical option. Use a small paintbrush or wick wiper to apply it directly to the leaves of the invading grass only. Glyphosate will kill whatever it touches, so precision is everything. Invading grasses like kikuyu tend to grow taller than the surrounding lawn, which makes careful wick wiping easier when there is a little length to work with.
• Remove kikuyu from a couch lawn selectively If you have a couch lawn being invaded by kikuyu, there is a selective herbicide option available. Monument Liquid Herbicide can suppress kikuyu without harming common couch, hybrid couch, Queensland blue couch or zoysia. Do not use Monument on kikuyu or buffalo lawns. Always read the label before applying.
• Treat nutgrass with a targeted herbicide Nutgrass is a particularly stubborn weed because it produces underground bulbs. Pulling it by hand usually breaks the bulbs off and leaves more in the soil, making the problem worse. Use a product specifically labelled for sedge or nutgrass control, and follow the directions for repeat applications.
• Dig out onion grass carefully Onion grass also spreads via underground bulblets that break away easily when the plant is pulled. Rather than pulling, dig the whole clump out with a spade or trowel and dispose of it in the bin, not the compost. For widespread infestations, a selective herbicide registered for onion weed control can be used. Avoid shaking soil back into the hole when removing clumps.
• Handle summer grass, crabgrass and paspalum in the warmer months These annual weeds appear in spring and summer as temperatures climb. Pull small numbers out by hand before they set seed. For larger infestations, a herbicide with DSMA as the active ingredient can be effective, but note it is not safe for use on kikuyu, buffalo or Queensland blue couch. A pre-emergent herbicide applied in early spring can also help prevent these weeds from germinating in the first place.
• Tackle winter grass in autumn before it gets away Winter grass germinates as temperatures drop in autumn and is easy to spot by its small tufts and triangular seed heads. Remove it by hand while patches are small, or use a herbicide registered for winter grass control. Applying a pre-emergent herbicide in mid to late autumn, just before your region cools down, is the most reliable way to stop it returning year after year.