# QUACKGRASS in my fescue



## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

Hey guys. I'm new here. I had TruGreen seed my lawn. It was a new build lot that never had anything but weeds growing on it. Will be a project. The first seeding came up and looked good but a little thin. Right now I'm fighting a heavy infestation of quackgrass. It's awful and loves this cool weather. Is there anything you'd recommend spraying? I've seen Fusilade 2 recommended. If I spot sprayed roundup I'd have to kill 35% of the yard conservatively. Quackgrass isn't prevalent here in West KY so my rep is perplexed too.


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

I'll mention it was an early fall seeding of a TTTF.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

Quack grass is common in your are. Careful painting with round up is the way. Cotton/glove method is good.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Had this issue a few years back due to using straw as a cover for my seeding project. I used the glove and gly method and it worked well. In my opinion, The key thing is not getting overwhelmed, which can happen pretty quickly if you have a good amount. Flag off all the areas and do a little per da, you'll be surprised how much you get done in 30 min intervals. Be sure to use some type of dye so you can keep track of your progress and avoid stepping in the areas that you've done.


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

I'll have to look up glove and gly method. Never heard of this.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

Quack grass - YUCK! I feel for you. That stuff has looooong rhizomes and spreads like wildfire! It seems to like some of my garden beds.


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

g-man said:


> Quack grass is common in your are. Careful painting with round up is the way. Cotton/glove method is good.


What is the cotton glove method? Thanks in advance. Not finding much on a search.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass


Oh my goodness. This will take me forever to do.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

aheath0731 said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass
> ...


Getting rid of quack grass is not easy. You could also use a paint brush.

Personally, if it was in the lawn, I would just live with it, but that's just me.


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

aheath0731 said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass
> ...


It will definitely take some time, but if you're determined you can do it. Just don't everything at once. Put away some time every day or so and you'll be surprised how much you'll get done once you get into a rhythm. You don't need much on the blade to knock it back.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.

Do a bit every day. You can also get a ~4ft 1/2pvc pipe and stuff one side with cotton balls. This way you can dip into your gly container and tap the quack grass leaves without bending. It yields more collateral damage, but faster. Make sure you use simple round up without the diquat or anything else.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

g-man said:


> How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.


No, I look for smaller prey.


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

g-man said:


> How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.
> 
> Do a bit every day. You can also get a ~4ft 1/2pvc pipe and stuff one side with cotton balls. This way you can dip into your gly container and tap the quack grass leaves without bending. It yields more collateral damage, but faster. Make sure you use simple round up without the diquat or anything else.


I like the pvc pipe idea. I might do that and stuff a cotton jersey glove in there and see how it goes. I just wish there was an easier way! I'm tempted to just sod the whole yard but not cheap and I bet the quack would just grow through it!


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

aheath0731 said:


> g-man said:
> 
> 
> > How do you eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.
> ...


The quack grass would definitely grow through the sod.

The PVC pipe would definitely be a back saver.


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

Scagfreedom48z+ said:


> Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass


did you get this from one of my posts? I think I came up with this. I didn't think of cotton gloves though. You just need one glove and a cup and I use it straight instead of diluting. Make sure to do it when it's sunny so it will dry right away. Wear a hat to protect yourself and sunscreen.


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## john5246 (Jul 21, 2019)

aheath0731 said:


> Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> 
> 
> > Basically what I did is wear 2 nitrile gloves or use 1 thick nitrile gloves, put a cotton glove over that. Mix gly, water and dye in a small can. You don't need much since the cotton glove will hold a good amount of liquid. Try not to add too much water so that you don't make it too runny. The key thing is to be careful you're not dripping all over the lawn. Dip you thumb, index and middle finger into the cocktail and run your fingers through the quack grass blades. Try to let the blades on the quack get long so that you don't run the chance of touching the good grass
> ...


can you post a picture of how much you quackgrass you have?


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## Scagfreedom48z+ (Oct 6, 2018)

john5246 said:


> aheath0731 said:
> 
> 
> > Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> ...


Unfortunately I don't have any pics, I had the quack grass issue back in spring of 2020. It was quite a bit, it was scattered throughout 16k sq ft. The fortunate thing was that it outgrew the existing turf since it was early spring and it was easy to spot.


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## aheath0731 (10 mo ago)

john5246 said:


> aheath0731 said:
> 
> 
> > Scagfreedom48z+ said:
> ...


I'll post later this week. It doubles in size in less than a week so easy to see. This will actually help me kill it. I found a weed wick stick at Rural King today.

https://www.ruralking.com/weed-thief-rope-wick

I'm excited to use it. I think something like this will really help.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

I had a lot of quackgrass at my first house on 3.5 acres. Quackgrass can rejuvenate/regrow itsself 3 times before it runs out of energy.

no way i was going to replant the lawn that big, but after a year or so with frequent nitrogen it will thin out and almost be non existent.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

ABC123 said:


> I had a lot of quackgrass at my first house on 3.5 acres. Quackgrass can rejuvenate/regrow itsself 3 times before it runs out of energy.
> 
> no way i was going to replant the lawn that big, but after a year or so with frequent nitrogen it will thin out and almost be non existent.


Quack grass doesn't like nitrogen?


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

Deadlawn said:


> Quack grass doesn't like nitrogen?


It gets choked out from what i remember, read about it like 7 years ago. Its an insane plant, almost tried using certainty but was afraid to nuke the cool season grass as well.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

ABC123 said:


> Deadlawn said:
> 
> 
> > Quack grass doesn't like nitrogen?
> ...


So the idea is by feeding the "good grass" will help it crowd out the "bad grass"? I thought that only worked for weeds before they sprout.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

It works for quackgrass. other undesirable grasses it doesnt really work that way.


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## Deadlawn (Sep 8, 2020)

ABC123 said:


> It works for quackgrass. other undesirable grasses it doesnt really work that way.


Interesting. Now if only I could find a solution in the garden beds! :?


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

Deadlawn said:


> Interesting. Now if only I could find a solution in the garden beds! :?


Smucker RWTD03 Drift Free Sponge Dauber










ardon:


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## San (Jun 21, 2021)

I would say, just go to your local hardware store, get some foam paint rollers and attached them to the end of your sprayer with a zip tie.


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## briansemerick (Apr 11, 2021)

it is THE WORST. honestly I recommend spot spraying with glyph and then just filling in the resulting dead spots with soil and seed. My front strip looked like swiss cheese one year but it's all gone now and my KBG is filled in.


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## reallyfunguy (Mar 16, 2021)

Im thinking this is what im fighting in my yard. Last year I dug it up. Im having good luck with the green shoots foam weed killer. After a week its dying. Im hoping it kills the roots.
https://www.greenshootsonline.com/collections/packages/products/package-small-foam-herbicide-dispenser


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## Lawnbadix (10 mo ago)

Fenoxaprop P-Ethyl + Preem will just give you easy time with all the quack. Make sure to check regularly cuz if you feel pressured by seedheads it's probably too late already for preem. Just keep painting with Fena then any other day to get the fresh emerging suckers down. And btw. don't use preem hindering seed from popping if there is such a thing, try to make em pop to kill most.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

ive been trying to see how quick quackgrass seed matures and havent found much info on it. for bluegrass It takes 4 months for the seed to mature. Seeds can be dormant for several years and germinate at any time. Thats why year long pre emergent is needed, especially through winter.


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## markrazzy (Apr 5, 2021)

My relatively new yard was an old farm field and have (what I feel) is a lot of quack grass. It doesn't help I've got undeveloped lots on 2 sides of my lot. I've painted and used the greenshoots a little bit with glyphosate, but probably haven't been as aggressive as I need to be. It also seems like some of the quack I paint comes back, and not to mention I get careless and end up killing a bunch of KBG while I'm at it. I have some Ornamec over the top (fluazifop) that apparently is very good against quack, and doesn't mention anything on the label about KBG (good or bad). I contemplated painting/spot treating with that to see if my KBG at least stands a chance - maybe with some lower concentration of fluazifop to see if I can minimize KBG damage. Anyone else have any success or thoughts about that?


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