What grass/weed is this?

[mxnerd]

San Augustine? Centipede? or weeds?

It can grow longer than 1 ft if it managed to climb upwards and uncut.

I really hate these.

 

[Thebobo]

Crabgrass?

btw a lot of grass can grow very high?

 

[mxnerd]

I believe it's not crabgrass.

My parents insist that it's good grass (because it's thick) but don't know what it is.

I brought it to Lowes and Home depot and the workers don't know what it is either.

My parents keep watering it and it grows fast and attracts a lot of ants underground.

And it encourage a lot of nutsedges to grow along with it too. Which I absolutely hate too.

 

[Thebobo]

Nothing wrong with crabgrass but I'ma minimalist I barely have a lawn to mow and could care less what's growing as long as it green.

 

[mxnerd]

This is crabgrass

 

[snoopy7548]

Possibly green foxtail that hasn't "sprouted" yet?

https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/weed/grass/foxtail.html

 

[mxnerd]

Possibly green foxtail that hasn't "sprouted" yet?

https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/weed/grass/foxtail.html

No, it never sprouts. There is no seed head at all.

 

[highland145]

It's not St Augustine. Why not just cut it regularly or round up?

 

[Thebobo]

It's not St Augustine. Why not just cut it regularly or round up?

I use salt water it's a lot safer and cheaper than roundup.

 

[highland145]

I use salt water it's a lot safer and cheaper than roundup.

Which ever but the OP should mow it or kill it.

 

[mxnerd]

I did mow it, but the problem is it has very thick & deep root system (more than 6 inch) and attract a lot of ants underground,

every time I watered it, ants just came out everywhere.

Since it occupied most portion of the lawn and I hated it so much,

so yeah, I'll just kill it no matter my parents' opinions and re-seed the lawn with the grass I want.

 

[dphantom]

It is crab grass need to treat it with a preemergent spring time when ground temps are around 55-60F 2-3 inches down. Post emergent treatment is possible but less effective particularly with mature plants.

 

[highland145]

re-seed

That's not fixing the ant problem.

If the root system is so good and it looks good mowed, mow it and give your ants some Amdro.

 

[dphantom]

even reseeding may not fix the crabgrass problem. Once the crabgrass seeds are in the ground, they will continue to sprout until the plants are killed after they sprout but before they can reseed themselves. So killing the grass and current crabgrass will appear to work, the seeds from the crabgrass are in the ground and probably will not be completely eradicated by Roundup or whatever herbicide you use. Plus, you will still have a weed problem with reseeding grass that will need to be addressed.

I had a bad crab grass problem and took about 2-3 years to get rid of it - all most entirely. But that was constant treatment with preemergent spring time treatments and then post emergent applications as well.

 

[mxnerd]

It's not crabgrass, which is bunch type. This one got runners above ground (stolons) and spread like crazy.

But since last year it probably got brown spot disease and now looks patchy and ugly.

 

[highland145]

But since last year it probably got brown spot disease and now looks patchy and ugly.

My centipede took a beating with mole crickets before I knew what was going on. I re-seeded and got a bumper crop of crab grass. Looks like pre emerge and maybe re-sod in the spring.

 

[jtvang125]

I think it's this.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...c.1.64.psy-ab..1.5.429...0i67k1.0.rTP1wvvy2fg

We have it too and they're a pain to get rid of.

 

[mrblotto]

Looks like Bermuda/Centipede grass to me. I seeded the front and side yard with it. It can be VERY invasive. But it tends to be thick/dense growing so it will 'choke out' a lot of weeds (not all of them). It turns brown in the winter and stops growing, which is just fine by me. It is also very heat resistant and fairly low maintenance. I tried seeding with Fescue twice, and both times the summer heat killed it

Edit: I just looked it up since I had ordered it from Amazon in 2010. It could also be 'Zoysia' grass,
which is similar to Bermuda/Centipede.

 

[mxnerd]

I think it's this.

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1...c.1.64.psy-ab..1.5.429...0i67k1.0.rTP1wvvy2fg

We have it too and they're a pain to get rid of.

Yes, it looks very likely it's Kikuyu grass!

Long, sharp, course leaf blade, above ground thick stolons, and white, course roots!

When you dig it up, it also has very thick hairy structures.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kikuyu+grass+roots

Never heard it before and never mentioned on the web when doing the research.

How does it migrate to the U.S.?

==
The description almost matches the one I have.

Kikuyu is a vigorous, prostrate, rhizomatous and stoloniferous perennial that spreads readily and forms dense swards Kikuyu has a deep root system, down to 3 m. The root system is denser within the upper 15 cm of soil. The runners (stolons) are up to 40 cm long and are profusely branched. The short culms (8-15 cm) arise from the nodes of the stolons. The leaves are blade-shaped, 15 cm long x 5 mm broad,

 

[jtvang125]

Yes, it looks very likely it's Kikuyu grass!

Long, sharp, course leaf blade, above ground thick stolons, and white, course roots!

When you dig it up, it also has very thick hairy structures.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kikuyu+grass+roots

Never heard it before and never mentioned on the web when doing the research.

How does it migrate to the U.S.?

==
The description almost matches the one I have.

Kikuyu is a vigorous, prostrate, rhizomatous and stoloniferous perennial that spreads readily and forms dense swards Kikuyu has a deep root system, down to 3 m. The root system is denser within the upper 15 cm of soil. The runners (stolons) are up to 40 cm long and are profusely branched. The short culms (8-15 cm) arise from the nodes of the stolons. The leaves are blade-shaped, 15 cm long x 5 mm broad,

Wiki says they're common in Southern Ca, which is where I'm at. This was my first time seeing it and always thought it was crabgrass.

It's used because its cheap, fast growing and very hardy. The stolons are very strong and the roots go deep so ripping them out takes a lot of work.

 

[mxnerd]

Wiki says they're common in Southern Ca, which is where I'm at. This was my first time seeing it and always thought it was crabgrass.

It's used because its cheap, fast growing and very hardy. The stolons are very strong and the roots go deep so ripping them out takes a lot of work.

I'm in SoCAL too. Yeah, ripping them is a pain in the ass.

I really hate this stuff. Think I'll go with Bermuda grass.

===
Kikuyu grass info from UC IPM (Integrated Pest Management program)

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7458.html