@@ctszkin ohh yes, running bamboo!!! I haven’t had to deal with that personally, THANK GOODNESS! However, i hiking trail near my house has a section that’s just off the charts!! So sad!
Privets, Bradford pear trees and their suckers, Black Locust and their suckers, volunteer Gum trees, kudzu and ivy for starts. But that’s in Ga in a 2 acre woodland spread that was neglected. The Japanese stiltgrass is heavy in the old garden area. Good Times! Note: love the curly W 😊
I have it in my gardens. I’ve only had it for a few years. I am always pulling it out when I’m working in the garden. It never seems to go away and it does get two feet tall! I never knew what it was but always believed it was invasive. Thanks so much for all the good information! 😊
Stiltgrss makes excellent compost if you pull it before it flowers (all Summer, right up to the end of July). In fact it can be used to smother other weeds. Anything you pull after that should be quarantined in a deep pit. For the stiltgrass in the lawn areas mowing does not help, it only makes the stilgrass seed at a lower height. Since the blades are broad and it pulls easily I have found that purposely not mowing for only two weeks (so it's poking up above the slower-growing grass), then using a power dethacher set at the very highest setting will pull all of it out, leaving the finer-leafed grass alone. Remember, stiltgrass is an annual, and it goes to seed only once per year, and it won't come back from small root fragments. There are its key weaknesses and they can be exploited. Dethatch in early July, do it again for new germination in early September before that growth can flower. Anything that come up after that won't have time to go seed before the first hard frost kill it. One has all Summer to pull this stuff and eventually the seed bank will run out. Most important is to be a completist. Stiltgrass will hid among other plantings, and seeds prodigiously. Be on the lookout for wavyleaf basketgrass in heavily shaded and woodland areas where the stiltgrass grows.
I’ve just noticed some large patches near the edge of my yard that borders on woodland. I can manage this by hand weeding but am wondering what to do with the waste. I normally take my yard waste to the county site designated for that use. I understand they turn this waste into compost which end up back in the environment. Will I eradicate this from my yard only to send it somewhere else?
Hello! Sorry for the slow response. I typically get mine before seeding, let is dry out somewhere and throw it in the trash. I don't compost it just in case. For communities that do the hot composting I think that should kill the seeds so it doesn't spread, but I am not 100%.
I really enjoyed the way you explain about the challenges and solutions to dealing with the stiltgrass. When it comes to hard to reach areas where there is a large amount of stiltgrass I have had success using a solution with vinegar. I mix one gallon of the 30% vinegar with 1/2 cup of epsom salts and a tablespoon of dish washing liquid in a sprayer. It will, of course, kill everything growing that is sprayed and with the large seed bank that was built up I expected the stiltgrass to return. But I noticed that the following year the stiltgrass did not return and other non-invasive ground cover was taking over. This has allowed me to prevent more stiltgrass coming onto the lawn nearby where we use some of the control methods you so wonderfully explained in your video.
Thank you so much!!!! I really think sometimes you have to take some measures you wouldn’t want to normally to get your wild areas back. I have a patch of lily of the valley that I completely covered in cardboard and about 6 in of wood chips. That plant didn’t even flinch! I think I’ll try your recipe just to get rid of it once and for all! I have golden ragwort growing right next to it, ready to take over. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I’m impressed that the vinegar solution works so well. I have been using it for years on other weeds since it’s not toxic. I’ll have to try it on the large patches of stilt grass that I have.
From what I have read and experienced from mowing areas with stiltgrass, the plant will come back. Best to cut in late summer when it would not have time to form seeds again.
Great video. I own Bending Branches Underbrushing and focus on forestry habitat restoration and getting control of the Stiltgrass is very tough whn left unchecked. I strongly urge my clients to do a restorative planting of native grasses as soon as i am done with my forestry mulcher and to not cut the new grass under 8".
Thank you! Thank you for adding those instructions! I am going to put your facebook and link below. facebook.com/samunderbrushing www.bendingbranchesunderbrushing.com/
I’m in the NoVa area too! Helped reassure me when I was finally able to identify this weed today after asking Dr. Google for a bit. Luckily, I don’t have a huge lawn so I’ll be hand picking all Summer.
Hello Again! I also despise chameleon plant. One the the front beds at my house was full of it. We moved in, in the winter and it emerged in the Spring. I smothered it with cardboard, wood chips, vine killer. It still pops up from time to time 4 years later, but nothing like it was!
@@ninetypercentnative Same with us. We moved in in December four years ago and had the horrid smelling stuff welcome us in the spring. This is before I became a gardener. Otherwise, I would have known to check for invasives. I think invasive plants should be on home inspection reports!
Hello! I just spent an hour pull Stiltgrass and saw your video! I am also from NOVA and have been fighting Stiltgrass for two years now If you want to use chemical, Acclaim is pretty effective at killing them. If you don't want to use chemical, you can use an electric dethatcher (I use the one form Sun joe) to remove them on your lawn. Since Stiltgrass has very shallow root, the dethatcher will pull the entire plant out. It will do some damages to the lawn but usually I overseed right after dethatching. You can have a beautiful lawn in a few weeks.
@@ninetypercentnative You may want to try different raking depth and see which one works best for you (I never tried the scarifier tho). After dethatching, I used a lawn mower to "vacuum" the Stiltgrass afterward.
We've twice tried Acclaim on our stiltgrass. It's very expensive, worked only ok on some areas, but because it's so expensive we could not stay ahead of it spreading all over our property. Stiltgrass is one the worst invasives ever. Right up there with Kudzu.
I’m in Sydney Australia and have this invasive weed too. It can make you itchy when it’s fine spikes touch your skin so pants and long sleeves when weeding it out by hand.
Please help me find a product that will knock down this weed. I have an organic Aronia orchard and this grass is taking over!! Will this weed hurt my aronia?? Great video. You have a very healing spirit. Tim Amissville VA🌱
Morning Tim! I just re-read your post so I deleted what I originally wrote. If this is a wooded area, I would hand pull after a rain as much as you can, before it goes to seed which is now. I would start planting a native groundcover to outcompete the stiltgrass. What are the soil and sun conditions? Aronia likes moist - med soil, right? I can recommend a ground cover based on that. If the orchard is surrounded by lawns, I would research using corn meal as a pre-emergent herbicide. Its a little tricky from my understanding, but can work if used properly over a couple years. You could spot treat with this, amzn.to/3ALLrHG, but it is not organic. Talk soon!
Galinsoga is (was) the worst weed in my garden. It's another annual and by diligently pulling every plant before it set seed for THREE YEARS I finally have it nearly eradicated. Just hard work and persistence, persistence, persistence.
When I will use crabgrass pre emergent that early, is it still going to work for crabgrass? What is your experience? I’m using herbicides only on my front lawn. Back yard is for orchard and garden. Can’t use any chemicals. Probably have to leave there with weeds
I don't know about the crabgrass. It may still work as I don't have a lot of crabgrass in the front and I don't use any chemicals now other than spot treating things I don't want. Thank you for stopping in!
oh no. I just bought this house last fall... and I have it everywhere in my lawn...I heard the seeds lasts 7 years in the soil... this might be an endless battle
I killed some of it at the edge of my yard by cutting it to the ground with the weed trimmer in the Moon sign of Leo, which usually comes around two or three times a month. Check your Farmers and Planters Alamanc for the dates. That was last year, and this year it has flourished and come back with a vengeance all over my property, (except where I killed it last year during Leo) I plan on killing next Leo sign which will be August 14th and 15th.
I wish you all the best in the removal! Such a hard one to get rid of. It's been about 5 years for me and I have made a pretty good dent in it. Thank you for stopping in!
Can you explain why you are exchanging one invasive grass for another? Crab grass is invasive too... You are talking about a "lawn" like grass... I was hoping for less monoculture centric information.
