torpedo grass (flower, lawn, landscape, vegetable)

[waiting]

Anybody heard of it?
It's that long stringy, viney weed/grass that is planted on banks of streams, etc. to keep the banks in tact.
Weed killers and drought doesn't seem to kill it; any suggestions?

[ellie]

I've never heard of it but just googled it. PLANTS Profile for Panicum repens (torpedo grass) | USDA PLANTS

As with all of my recent posts in this garden forum, I am going to recommend you contact your county extension agent for help. They work for the government and helping people control invasive exotics in the landscape is part of their job.

[waiting]

already googled and already asked a specialist in lawn care.
He cracked that he had learned to live with it. Ha ha
Neither was not much help
Thought maybe someone here had some "hands on" experience with the stuff.

[ellie]

I love challenges like this but unfortunately I'm not there to do it myself. I did a bit of googling too. This looked scientific. Exotic Removal

From this study it appears that Roundup was the most effective of all of the methods tested. You'd have to protect the water from getting oversprayed. If the waterbody is owned by the state or other government entity you might be able to get help. But if you are in Louisiana or Mississippi I imagine they have higher priorities.

Good luck - it's your white whale.

[Gd60]

Re: torpedo grass. I had a recent surgery so my lawn got neglected for a bit and I have a significant area with torpedo grass. I'm experimenting with pulling it out since there is no semblance of a lawn. I suspect its im[possible to get all the roots, but I'm going to plant St. Augustine plugs in the area an see how it goes. Amazing how it invaded in a short period of time!

[riveree]

Torpedo Grass.....*shiver*.......!

This weed is unbelieveable! Very, very hard to kill - even the RoundUp rep told me it was impossible with their products . I tried many, many methods and here's what finally worked:

(caveat: I hate using poison and avoid it as much as possible, but after trying to smother it, dig it up, etc., poison seemed the only option and it did work)

Buy the strong concentrate RoundUp - the one with the purple cap

Buy some cheap vegetable oil

Buy a dedicated pump sprayer so you can apply the poison by hand

Then.......

Mix the RoundUp at triple strength (I know, I know, it's terrible !) and some of the vegetable oil, then fill the pump sprayer tank with water. Apply on the blades of torpedo grass while the sun is shining bright. It takes a while to see the effect - a week or two even - but you will see the torpedo grass fry in the sun. The vegetable oil helps to keep the poison on the blades long enough to work .

If this hadn't worked, I was going to set the patch on fire - seriously .

[Karla with a K]

someone in our extension office said it took them 3 years of treatments before they finally killed the torpedo grass in their lawn. its getting the roots that is the problem.
I have a small patch that I am just going to dig up and put new sod down once it gets a bit cooler

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Karla with a K

someone in our extension office said it took them 3 years of treatments before they finally killed the torpedo grass in their lawn. its getting the roots that is the problem.
I have a small patch that I am just going to dig up and put new sod down once it gets a bit cooler

Mine finally is dead using the method I outlined above that your guy recommended, Karla .

It's all brown and toasted-looking, but getting it out of the ground is still difficult........even when dead, it clings to the ground !

I'm focused on another project at the moment, so I'm not sure if I'll till it in or burn off all of the dead surface plant matter....still have to figure that one out.

[titaniummd]

Originally Posted by waiting

Anybody heard of it?
It's that long stringy, viney weed/grass that is planted on banks of streams, etc. to keep the banks in tact.
Weed killers and drought doesn't seem to kill it; any suggestions?

My flower beds were infested with them. Inch by inch I painstakingly dug them up.

I heard of only one herbicide that will kill them. I will go to the Nursery this weekend and get some (I don't recall the name).

[riveree]

Originally Posted by titaniummd

My flower beds were infested with them. Inch by inch I painstakingly dug them up.

I heard of only one herbicide that will kill them. I will go to the Nursery this weekend and get some (I don't recall the name).

Digging them up actually encourages new underground growth...seems so counterintuitive, but it's true .

The method I outlined above - the purple Roundup with the vegetable oil did work for me. The torpedo grass turned brown and died, I removed it and resodded and that spot is beautiful now.