What Is Quackgrass? How to Kill It Fast Before It Takes Over Your Yard This Summer

Even if you didn’t know its quirky name, you have likely seen quackgrass in your yard, whether on the lawn or garden. This creeping weed is a perennial that forms a thick mat.

Prevention is the best control method for quackgrass, but if it is too late, you can get rid of quackgrass by adopting control methods known to fight it. It is easier to kill it in garden areas, but it is possible to remove quackgrass from a lawn if you take the proper steps.

Learn all about quackgrass, including what it looks like, how it differs from another grassy weed, crabgrass, and how to get rid of it once and for all.

How to Get Rid of Quackgrass in No Time From Lawns

Quackgrass, also known as “couch grass” or “witch grass,” is a fast-growing grassy weed, but you can get rid of it in no time if you take the proper steps:

Remove Quackgrass Manually

Since there is no selective herbicide meant to kill quackgrass in cool-season lawns (without harming the grass), you will have to dig quackgrass out of your lawns. You must remove every bit of rhizome when using this method, or else the quackgrass will re-emerge.

Spray With a Selective Herbicide

You are better off if you grow a lawn of warm-season grasses. To get rid of quackgrass in such a lawn, use a selective herbicide containing sulfosulfuron. It will kill the weeds without harming your lawn.

Apply a Pre-Emergent Herbicide

You still have to prevent any quackgrass seeds that may be in the soil from sprouting and forming new plants, and this is a job for a pre-emergent herbicide. Apply the pre-emergent herbicide first in early summer, then re-apply it in fall.

5 Tips for Controlling Quackgrass

1. Maintain a lush, healthy lawn: If your lawn is thick enough, quackgrass will not have room to take hold. To achieve a lush, healthy lawn, pamper your grass giving it all the care it needs.
2. Water and feed adequately. Since quackgrass is more tolerant of drought than your grass, it is important to water your lawn adequately in summer. Fertilizing the lawn will also help it maintain enough vigor to crowd out quackgrass.
3. Dig out quackgrass as soon as you detect it: If you catch it in time, it is possible to remove quackgrass mechanically. But once it becomes established, digging it out is not a practical solution: Just a bit of rhizome left behind will be enough of a base for it to re-establish itself from.
4. Carefully apply a non-selective herbicide in garden areas: Non-selective herbicides will kill your lawn grass as well as the quackgrass, so they are not usually applied in lawn areas. But carefully spraying non-selective herbicides is a solution in garden areas. The best time to spray is when the quackgrass plants are still young.
5. Mow the lawn more often: Quackgrass, if left alone, gets taller than your lawn grass. But if you mow the lawn frequently, you will keep knocking down the quackgrass before it grows tall. As a result, you may not even notice a small patch of it.

Why Quackgrass Is Such a Pain

Because it is a perennial weed, quackgrass is difficult to control. For an annual weed like crabgrass, you can kill it using a pre-emergent herbicide in spring.

But the perennial quackgrass has a system of rhizomes underground that allows it to survive from year to year even if it is unsuccessful at reseeding.

It is more tolerant of drought and poor soil than many lawn grasses, helping it to out-compete your turf, especially in summer. Despite such advantages, it is possible to prevent or get rid of quackgrass with these tips.