Quack grass. How can I kill it in a planned flower bed area?

If I covered an area that is infested with quack grass (invasive,coarse grass with a large spreading root system) with tar paper now, would it kill or reduce the amount of grass by fall bulb and perennial planting time? I live in a zone 4-5 area and have sandy soil.

Quack grass. How can I kill it in a planned flower bed area?
Quackgrass spreads by very aggressive rhizomes. Pulling is not an effective control because the rhizomes break off and will regenerate new plants. If you try pulling, you are going to have to also dig and then you still risk leaving some bits of the rhizomes.





Ortho's Grass-B-Gon (http://www.ortho.com/index.cfm/event/Pro... is an over the counter herbicide that a homeowner can purchase at any garden center of big box store and is labeled for the control of quackgrass in an established perennial garden.





Kerb is a restricted use preemergent herbicide that you could hire a licensed pesticide applicator to apply in fall to control future germination of quackgrass.





RoundUp can be painted on to Quackgrass with a painter's sponge brush in an established garden. This is a nonselective herbicide so be careful not to get it on your established ornamentals. It may take two or more applications with this method to take out Quackgrass. You could just spray RoundUp now, before you extablish your garden. Again, it may take two applications.





If you are looking for a commercial grade product, Vantage is a postemergence that is labeled for the control of quackgrass and can be sprayed in an established garden without harm. Read and follow the label before using any herbicide.





Heavy grade clear plastic will do a better job of traping heat and killing weeds than tar paper. The University of Illinois has done studies that show that clear plastic is much better at traping heat and killing weeds than colored plastic. With quackgrass you have the rhizomes and you may not generate enough heat deep enough into the soil to kill these rhizomes even with a clear plastic sheet.
Reply:You can also check out http://www.1800topsoil.com for more help. They are national, so they may have someone local. Good luck! Report It

Reply:why not just pull it up? I always do because although it likes to spread, once a clump is pulled out, you usually get all the roots and thats the end of that clump. Of course it will take some time, but i feel that this works best for me

get well flower