# Grass in flower beds



## Cincinnati guy (Mar 6, 2018)

We recently cleared space for our kids swingset and I sprayed roundup heavily before Laying down 2-3" of black mulch. Now I am starting to get grass coming up through the mulch. I know I can't stop this completely but what can I do to help it out?

I've put down some preen a few weeks ago. I have been going in and spraying the spots with more roundup.


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## wardconnor (Mar 25, 2017)

Use fertilome over the top 2

It is safe for pretty much anything in the beds. Just do not spray it on the lawn. You can spray it over the top of things like perennials.

You have to to use a surfactant for it to work. Do 2 or 3 apps 10 days apart.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

X2. Pulling grass, cutting grass or spot spraying grass in flower beds is not a winning proposition. I make extensive use of selective grass killers for this task.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

Cincinnati guy said:


> We recently cleared space for our kids swingset and I sprayed roundup heavily before Laying down 2-3" of black mulch. Now I am starting to get grass coming up through the mulch. I know I can't stop this completely but what can I do to help it out?
> 
> I've put down some preen a few weeks ago. I have been going in and spraying the spots with more roundup.


What type of plants do you have in the area? Check the label for ornamec, ornamec over be top, and/or fusillade II, (all three are the same chemical at difference concentration) and see if that's compatable with what you planted.


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## roundrockag (May 17, 2018)

Same question as Cinci Guy, but what approach would you use for Bermuda hybrid grass that wants to pop up in flower beds through the mulch? I've always used the roundup approach, but that just doesn't get it done the way I want.


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## Movingshrub (Jun 12, 2017)

If it's all shrubs, ornamec or ornamec and glyphosate combined.


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## Cincinnati guy (Mar 6, 2018)

Are these all just post emergent products or pre emergent?

I'm going to be buying something soon. It's been a pain with this new flower bed!


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Cincinnati guy said:


> Are these all just post emergent products or pre emergent?
> 
> I'm going to be buying something soon. It's been a pain with this new flower bed!


The Fertilome Over The Top II that Connor mentioned is a post-emergent. I use the Hi Yield version of it with great success. :thumbup:

@roundrockag I use to kill bermuda that creeps into my landscape beds.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

I use Ferti-Lome over the top as well, but if it's particularly bad Dismiss Herbicide is compatible with a ton of ornamentals and I have used it in rose beds and landscape beds with no problem as long as you don't apply directly do the ornamental leaves / foliage


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## Cincinnati guy (Mar 6, 2018)

Since Eceryone recommends over the top I guess that's what I'm going to get.

What about a product to keep new weeds away? I've tried preen but I'm not getting good results.


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## Rackhouse Mayor (Sep 4, 2017)

Ware said:


> Cincinnati guy said:
> 
> 
> > Are these all just post emergent products or pre emergent?
> ...


Anyone know if this stuff works on centipede? I didn't see any mention of it on the label. I currently use a combo of glyphosate/cotton defoliant, but you have to be careful with it.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

Last time I had to kill Centipede encroachment, I used Fusilade+RoundUp. Fusilade by itself should be enough for killing Centipede. Which cotton defoliant are you using? I know about Paraquat, Diquat, Sodium Chlorate, and Def.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

Cincinnati guy said:


> Since Eceryone recommends over the top I guess that's what I'm going to get.
> 
> What about a product to keep new weeds away? I've tried preen but I'm not getting good results.


Snapshot for the pre-em. First mulch the bed and then put snapshot over the top. I haven't weeded my beds in a really long time. Sometimes nutsedge will pop up, but they are incredibly easy to pull when you have mulched beds.

If I had only one chemical to my name it would be snapshot.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> ...Sometimes nutsedge will pop up, but they are incredibly easy to pull when you have mulched beds.


Pulling sedge is not advised because the nutlets stay in the ground and it will eventually come back.


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

Ware said:


> Ecks from Tex said:
> 
> 
> > ...Sometimes nutsedge will pop up, but they are incredibly easy to pull when you have mulched beds.
> ...


When they grow out of mulch their root systems are shallow and you can get the entire thing. I have no other weeds in the beds and I've noticed over time the sedge have decreased as I remove them. If I pull one up and do not get the entir root system I spot roundup gel or a spot spray of glyphosate to kill it off


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Ecks from Tex said:


> When they grow out of mulch their root systems are shallow and you can get the entire thing. I have no other weeds in the beds and I've noticed over time the sedge have decreased as I remove them. If I pull one up and do not get the entir root system I spot roundup gel or a spot spray of glyphosate to kill it off


Yet they grew from tubers and rhizomes that you didn't know were there. 

_Life Cycle and Identification: Yellow nutsedge is a perennial plant that reproduces primarily by small underground tubers called nutlets which are formed on the end of its rhizomes. Up to several hundred of these tubers can be produced from a single plant during the summer. It can also spread by these rhizomes (below ground stems). Yellow nutsedge grows most actively during the hot months of summer. It emerges (germinates from tubers) in April and May in Indiana and grows actively until the first frost. Frost will kill the above ground portion of the plant but the tubers survive and overwinter in the soil. These dormant tubers can germinate throughout the following spring and summer and can survive in the soil for more than three years._​
I encourage you to do what makes you happy, but for anyone else reading I would suggest using the emergence of nutsedge as an opportunity to apply an herbicide that will translocate through the plant and attack the underground network of rhizomes and tubers. I would say hand pulling nutsedge is slightly less effective than hand pulling bermudagrass. :thumbup:


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## Ecks from Tex (Apr 26, 2018)

Ware said:


> Ecks from Tex said:
> 
> 
> > When they grow out of mulch their root systems are shallow and you can get the entire thing. I have no other weeds in the beds and I've noticed over time the sedge have decreased as I remove them. If I pull one up and do not get the entir root system I spot roundup gel or a spot spray of glyphosate to kill it off
> ...


I understand what you're saying, but those tubers and rhizomes only live a certain amount of seasons and can be pulled with the roots in young plants. And spraying does not necessarily kill them, especially in immature weeds. I have around 5000 sq ft of landscaping and have pulled probably no more than 15 sedges this year, all of which came from my rose garden and are a result of watering practices for the roses. Have yet to find a sedge in any other bed. The reason is because after three seasons I've controlled with pre-em where possible, by pulling immature plants (three blades or less) if they grow from mulch, and by spraying the rest as needed. I'm not against spraying in the beds, it's just not always as practical when you have a lot of plants and annuals that would be harmed with the slightest drift. That is why I started pulling immature plants and after a few seasons I have zero and have no real need for spray in the beds as long as I apply snapshot.


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## Delmarva Keith (May 12, 2018)

Cincinnati guy said:


> We recently cleared space for our kids swingset and I sprayed roundup heavily before Laying down 2-3" of black mulch. Now I am starting to get grass coming up through the mulch. I know I can't stop this completely but what can I do to help it out?
> 
> I've put down some preen a few weeks ago. I have been going in and spraying the spots with more roundup.


For mulched beds, I use directed spray of the Scythe label mix of gly, Scythe and surfactant followed by directed spray of label rate of Dimension. Works literally like magic. If you have live grass poking up from under the mulch it will take a few rounds of gly to get it all. Depending on your grass type, you may have to do the edges where it encroaches a few times per season.


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