Help! Trouble Identifying Invasive Weed - Ask Extension
Hi, I'm having a problem to identify this weed that is invading from my neighbor as I try to grow my Tall Fescue grass. You can see in the attached pi...
Knowledgebase
Help! Trouble Identifying Invasive Weed #824591
Asked April 05, 2023, 4:05 PM EDT
Hi, I'm having a problem to identify this weed that is invading from my neighbor as I try to grow my Tall Fescue grass. You can see in the attached pictures that there is a small bulb/seed in the middle of each plants' roots, and a rhizome spreads laterally beneath the soil to branch out into another plant to multiply throughout my yard. I believe it is some type of Monkeygrass/Mondograss/Wild Liriope weed, but I need to make sure. Because if it is, then I believe I can only kill it with Glyphosate or maybe if I'm lucky T-Zone, but since this stuff is spread out on my lawn, I cannot reasonably dig each one up or spray Glyphosate everywhere without killing my whole yard. I really could use help from someone who actually is an expert here, since I've had some so called experts come by my house and tell me incorrect information already. If you're confident that you know the answer, I would really appreciate your insight. Thanks so much as I'm really struggling with this weed taking over.
Henrico County Virginia
Expert Response
This is liriope. We do not have selective herbicides to control this grassy weed in a lawn. T-zone is a broadleaf herbicide and will not control this grassy weed.
You can use a non-selective herbicide like Roundup to control. It will also kill other grass plants around it. You could create a shield on the end of your wand out of a 20oz soda bottle so that you can limit the application of the herbicide to a smaller area to target the weed.
It looks like it is also not heavy infested in the lawn. So you should be able to easily pull the liriope out now while still young and the soil is moist because of the spring rains. You should be able to pull all the roots out without breaking.
You can use a non-selective herbicide like Roundup to control. It will also kill other grass plants around it. You could create a shield on the end of your wand out of a 20oz soda bottle so that you can limit the application of the herbicide to a smaller area to target the weed.
It looks like it is also not heavy infested in the lawn. So you should be able to easily pull the liriope out now while still young and the soil is moist because of the spring rains. You should be able to pull all the roots out without breaking.
