| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| • Nutsedge has a triangular stem, the quickest way to tell it apart from grass. • Pull yellow nutsedge early, before 3 to 8 leaves, but skip pulling purple nutsedge. • Mechanical, chemical, and cultural controls work better stacked together than any one alone. |
If some of your grass is growing twice as fast as the rest of the lawn, with leaves that look almost shiny in the sun, that’s probably nutsedge. The quickest way to confirm is to run your finger along the stem: If it feels like a triangle, it’s sedge, not grass.
This perennial weed is one of the toughest lawn invaders you’ll face, and if you ignore it, it will spread fast and choke out your turf. If it’s already gotten ahead of you, local lawn care professionals can take over the hard part while you focus on long-term prevention.
Getting rid of nutsedge isn’t easy, but once you identify the type you can learn how to control it with mechanical, chemical, and cultural methods.
What is nutsedge?
Nutsedge, sometimes called nutgrass, is a grass-like weed in the sedge family. It isn’t actually grass. It loves wet soil, clumps into dense patches, and shoots up faster and more upright than your turf, which is why an infested lawn looks scruffy within a few days of mowing. Let it run long enough, and you’ll see seedheads.
Nutsedge has 3 specific characteristics:
- Stem shape: Grass stems are round and hollow. Nutsedge stems are solid and have three flat sides.
- Leaf texture: The leaves are hairless, thicker, and stiffer than most grasses. They grow in sets of 3 from the base.
- Roots: Tubers (the nutlets that give the weed its nickname) grow 8 to 14 inches deep and can stay alive in the soil for 1 to 3 years. When the visible plant dies back in fall, those reserves survive winter and put up new shoots in spring.
Yellow vs. purple nutsedge
Two species of nutsedge commonly invade lawns across the U.S.: yellow nutsedge and purple nutsedge. Telling them apart matters because they don’t respond to the same herbicides.
| Feature | Yellow nutsedge | Purple nutsedge |
| Seedhead color | Yellow-green to gold-brown | Dark red to purplish brown |
| Mature height | 12 to 16 inches | Usually under 6 inches |
| Leaf color | Light green | Darker green |
| Leaf tips | Long, tapered point | Short with a blunt point |
| Tubers | One at the end of each rhizome | In chains along rhizome |
| How it spreads | Tubers and seed | Tubers only |
How to get rid of nutsedge
Nutsedge is stubborn. Cut, pull, or spray what you can see, and the tubers underground keep pushing up new plants. Control means stopping new tubers from forming, and that takes more than one season.
“The management plan often needs to remain in place for at least 2 to 3 seasons,” says Dr. Pawel Petelewicz, assistant professor of Turfgrass Weed Science at the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS).
Treatment depends on which type you’re dealing with, since yellow and purple nutsedge respond differently to both pulling and herbicides.
Ways to get rid of yellow nutsedge
- Pull young plants in late spring to early summer. At that early stage, the plant hasn’t formed new tubers yet, so each pull forces the original tuber to spend more of its reserves on the next shoot. That’s what wears it down. Keep pulling consistently for multiple seasons. Dormant tubers can survive in the soil for up to 3 years.
- Dig out small patches if pulling isn’t enough. Dig at least 10 inches deep and 10 inches beyond the aboveground leafy sedge to remove the entire underground root system — tubers, rhizomes, and all. Fill the hole with clean soil and patch it with sod or grass seed. Digging works best in early spring before new tubers form.
- Apply a post-emergent herbicide labeled for sedge control before the plant reaches its 3-8 leaf stage. Sulfentrazone, halosulfuron, and bentazon all work well on yellow nutsedge.
- Repeat applications. Follow label directions for timing between treatments. Most homeowners need 2 or 3 rounds across a season. “Homeowners are often impatient and expect results overnight. That is simply not how weed control works,” Petelewicz says.
Ways to get rid of purple nutsedge
- DON’T hand-pull or dig. Purple nutsedge tubers grow in chains along underground stems, and breaking those chains usually makes the infestation worse, not better. Each fragment can sprout into a new plant.
- Use post-emergent herbicide. Halosulfuron is the only active ingredient that rates “good to excellent” on purple nutsedge. Bentazon and sulfentrazone don’t work nearly as well on purple sedge as they do on yellow. Imazaquin is also an option.
- Apply multiple treatments. A single purple nutsedge plant can produce hundreds of tubers in one season, so plan for multiple treatments across several years.
Herbicides for both types of nutsedge
Once your foliage is the right size for spraying, water the lawn the day before spraying and don’t mow right before and 2 days after application. You want enough leaf surface for the plant to absorb the product.
The Clemson Cooperative Extension recommends herbicides containing bentazon, halosulfuron, imazaquin, or sulfentrazone, with the effectiveness varying by species:
| Active ingredient | Yellow nutsedge | Purple nutsedge |
| Bentazon | Good | Poor |
| Halosulfuron | Good to excellent | Good to excellent |
| Imazaquin | Fair | Good |
| Sulfentrazone | Fair | Poor to fair |
Read more:
- When to Apply Post-Emergent Herbicides
- Types of Post-Emergent Herbicides
- How to Apply Post-Emergent Herbicides
Cultural control methods for nutsedge
Cultural methods don’t eliminate nutsedge on their own, but they make your mechanical and chemical efforts far more effective — and help prevent new infestations from taking hold.
“Nutsedges are largely opportunistic and take advantage of weaknesses in the lawn,” Petelewicz says.
- Adjust your watering. Nutsedge thrives in damp soil. Water before 10 a.m. so the moisture soaks in before the sun burns it off.Water less often but for longer periods — this encourages a deep root system and allows the lawn to dry between waterings.
- Correct drainage issues and fix irrigation leaks. Standing water is an open invitation for nutsedge. If puddles are forming after rain or watering, call in a pro to diagnose the problem. Fix any leaking sprinkler heads. Combine corrected drainage with a mechanical or chemical control method for best results.
- Avoid contaminated soil. Before you have soil delivered, ask your supplier if it’s free of nutsedge tubers. If they can’t guarantee it, use a different supplier. Contaminated fill soil is one of the easiest ways to seed a clean yard with tubers, and once they’re in, you’re looking at years of cleanup.
- Encourage a healthy lawn. A thick, healthy lawn is your best long-term defense. Regular mowing, aeration, dethatching, and proper fertilization all help your turf crowd out weeds — including nutsedge.
Read more:
FAQs
Pre-emergent herbicides aren’t very effective on established nutsedge. The reason is biological: pre-emergents work by stopping seeds from germinating near the soil surface, but nutsedge mostly sprouts from tubers buried 8 to 14 inches deep, well below where most pre-emergents reach.
For nutsedge, post-emergent products labeled for sedge control (halosulfuron, sulfentrazone, or bentazon) are what you actually want.
Nutsedge struggles in shade, so a tall, dense ground cover or shrub that blocks sunlight will slow it down. Landscape fabric topped with a thick layer of mulch buys you time while you work on the underlying cultural fixes. When you bring soil in, only use a supplier who can confirm it’s nutsedge-free. Keep an eye out. The second you spot new growth, pull it before it has a chance to form tubers (yellow nutsedge only, leave purple to the herbicide).
Yellow nutsedge tubers — also known as tiger nuts, chufa, and earth almonds — have a sweet, nutty flavor and are eaten in many parts of the world. Purple nutsedge also has edible roots.
Reported health benefits of yellow nutsedge include being rich in nutrients and supporting healthy digestion. Important: Never consume nutsedge that has been treated with herbicide, fungicide, pesticide, fertilizer, or any other chemicals.
Get help from a local pro
Nutsedge takes time, the right tools, and a fair bit of patience to eliminate from your yard. If you’d rather hand it off to someone who deals with this stuff every day, Lawn Love can connect you with local lawn care professionals. Get an instant quote, pick a time, and a vetted local pro will handle the rest.
Main Image: A close-up of yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus), a common lawn weed. Photo Credit: Homer Edward Price / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0
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