# Grassy Weed ID Please



## BLUEinVA (Jun 14, 2017)

5 bunches of this has taken off in my side yard. Grass is a KBG reno from fall 2017. Is this just poa annua that has for some reason just taken off?

I have some poa annua in the front yard that no where near as tall and thick as this bunch.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

If you crush a few blades between you fingers does it smell like onion? It looks like the onion grass I found in my yard early spring last year.


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## BLUEinVA (Jun 14, 2017)

Theres a faint oniony smell to it. Is onion grass different from wild onion? Because I am familiar with wild onion and it is not that.


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## LawnNerd (Sep 2, 2017)

Are the leaves kinda thick feeling? When you pull on a leaf, is it kinda stretchy or springy? I don't know what it is, but i've got one or two as well.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

Yeah if it feels freakishly waxy and looks that far ahead of the grass I might grab a trowel and dig one out kinda deep if you can and are willing. I bet you'd find little bulbs at the base of the roots.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

I second others that don't think this is a grass. It just doesn't look like a grass in the photos. Do they have purple flowers in the Spring like this (Grape Hyacinth)?

http://www.finegardening.com/plant/grape-hyacinth-muscari-armeniacum-blue-spike

But if they smell like onion and are hollow, then I guess they're an onion.
Edit: Some sources say onion leaves aren't hollow and garlic are.


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## BLUEinVA (Jun 14, 2017)

I'm pretty sure its the Grape Hyacinth. I'm away from home till tomorrow afternoon but I will plan to dig the bunches out and plant 1 in a pot. They haven't flowered yet and I have never seen this anywhere near my yard so I'm wondering where it came from. I know transplanting can mess up the flowering cycle but its worth a try to see if it will flower purple in the upcoming months to ID it for sure. I will update over the weekend.


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## LawnNerd (Sep 2, 2017)

Side note: Thanks @Green . That's what I see in the spring. Never could quite figure out what it was.


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## BLUEinVA (Jun 14, 2017)

Ok I dug 1 out and the pic is below of what I found. The second pic with my hand in it is what I always thought wild onion is but these are 2 different plants. Now I'm confused. If you cut the stuff in the second pic it definitely smells like onion, enough of them in your yard will make your eyes water.

Can anyone tell me what both are. And how to treat whats in pic 1.


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## LawnNerd (Sep 2, 2017)

OK, so i did some research. First i want to state that Picture #2 is wild onion / garlic. Second, the 2nd picture is a grape muscari. Their common name is Grape Hyacinth, but they should not be confused with plants in the Hyacinth genus, even tho do look very similar. Muscari genus plants do grow from bulbs and are typically the first to flower in garden beds where they are often grown.

As far as killing them, your standard broad leaf weed killer (2,4,D in weed-b-gone for example) will do the job. However, with both of these plants (onion and muscari) the issue is going to be the waxy surface of the leaves, and the vertical nature of the onion. The waxy surface prevents the absorption of the chemicals into the leaf tissue. A pump sprayer with a good misting tip and a healthy does of surfactant is the best i can recommend. You won't get 100% kill on first go, so know that you'll probably need to spray a few times to get them all.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

After looking again this AM I was going to suggest the first pic with the bulbs might be Star of Bethlehem. Do the blades have a white midrib? It looks like they do in the picture. Also SOB has a slightly u shaped leaf.







https://ag.purdue.edu/btny/ppdl/Pages/POTW_old/3-31-08.html


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

I'm going to suggest to get a shovel and start digging these out now that they are easy to spot. Once you start mowing and the grass is growing around them, they will be harder to see.


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## jessehurlburt (Oct 18, 2017)

g-man said:


> I'm going to suggest to get a shovel and start digging these out now that they are easy to spot. Once you start mowing and the grass is growing around them, they will be harder to see.


Can you confirm what we're looking at, @g-man?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@jessehurlburt BlueinVA image at 12:36 with a lot of bulbs. Killing it with chemicals is hard. Digging them now is fairly easy.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Dig out the Grape Hyacinths and make sure you get the bulb with them. Then go plant them in a garden bed where they belong! If you have a few you can't dig out properly and don't care if you can't reuse them, you can paint with Roundup carefully.


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## BLUEinVA (Jun 14, 2017)

Thank you all. I will dig and relocate to see what flowers. Still curious on where it came from. But all of the yards around me are salad bars so prolly not so much of a mystery.


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## gregonfire (Sep 18, 2017)

Thanks OP for the post and all the commenters. I just noticed these popping up in my hell strip over the weekend here in Southern NJ. Looks like I got some digging to do.


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