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If you want a nice looking lawn you have to know how to control your weeds. Because if you get rid of your weeds you’ll have a lawn that you’ll love and what everyone around you will want.
And this sounds easy and makes sense right…
And in this post, I’m going to tell you how to kill nutsedge weed and creeping charlie without killing your lawn.
I’m going to tell you how to get rid of them like a professional, but in a way that you can do it yourself at home.
Best nutsedge killer For 2024
Common mistakes I see quite often from those who get little to no results when spraying for nutsedge is not diagnosing the weed right.
You see most put nutsedge under either:
- Grass weed
- Broadleaf weed
Technically, it’s neither.
Nutsedges are perennial weeds in the sedge family and can be treated by both pre and post-emergent controls.
So you need to work out if you are going to pre or post spray. Many top brands like Tenacity is both a pre-emergent and post-emergent herbicide.
So make sure to check the writing on the tin to see which you’ve got is.
Next, you’ll want to decide on either a selective or a non-selective herbicide.
What are the advantages/benefits of Non-selective vs selective?
Depending on how much of an infestation you’ve got will be more of a decider if you go selective or non-selective. Also depending on what lawn you’ve got matters.
Some selective herbicides all tho your targeting specific weeds can also damage some lawn species. So it’s best to know what lawn you have before you go into bat and start spraying around.
If you don’t care about the lawn that’s there, a good non-selective weed killer like RangerPro herbicide will most certainly do the trick.
Its pretty much Roundup pro just heaps cheaper and in a different color container.
For a selective, you’ll get great results from SedgeHammer + or Tenacity herbicide
Sedgehammer+ pretty much just targets Purple Nutsedge, Yellow Nutsedge, Kyllinga whereas Tenacity while not as potent against nutsedge but has a broader range of weeds to target.
SedgeHammer+ Vs Tenacity Herbicides
If you just want the best weed killer for nutsedge Sedgehammer is the best choice of the 2 because it’s specifically formulated to be a nutsedge killer.
What I also like is Sedgehammer can be purchased in bulk of 1 box of 12 x 13 grams per pack or just by the pack.
1 packet(13 grams) will treat 1000 sq ft.
Whereas tenacity only comes in an 8 oz bottle and is recommended to run a surfactant when using Tenacity as a post-emergent spray.
Mixed to the measurements on the tin, 1 8oz bottle of tenacity will yield you around 2 acres and you do have the added cost of a surfactant.
Also because its clear, to make where you’ve sprayed easier I recommended using a dye color in the mix.
How To Kill Nutsedge Weed
- nutsedge weed
If you have issues with creeping charlie or nutsedge in your lawn and you let them grow wild. They will eventually take over all your lawn and ultimately smother your grass.
And that is a major problem.
So you want to nip them both in the butt as soon as possible before they get out of control and kill them as soon as possible to let your lawn flourish.
And the best thing… we’re going to do it without hurting your grass.
If you want professional results then you need to move past and don’t shop your local big-box store. They don’t either because those products just don’t work.
They’re way overpriced and they’re really not going to give you the desired results you want.
This is my recommendation is to use a professional herbicide and in this case, this product is called tenacity.
Tenacity herbicide is kid and pet-friendly safe when used according to the label… it also works wonders on clover, crabgrass, dandelions, and yes even nutsedge weed and creeping charlie
And the only reason why I recommend it, why the pros use it and why I want you to use it is… is because quite simply it just really works.
As will everything there is always a downside to things and with tenacity herbicide, you just can’t use it straight out of the bottle.
Just about all professional products like tenacity require a couple of extra steps before you can use it.
Relax their not major and I’m going to run through them now and tell you how to do it yourself, just like us professionals.
Here’s what you’ll need
Now, because tenacity is a clear chemical it’s hard to know where you’ve sprayed. So you need to add a colorant like dye like this one.
Also, you will need to add a surfactant. Surfactant helps to make tenacity stick to the weeds and leaves. I use this one but there are many on the market.
If you don’t use a surfactant, when you spray the product will just fall off and pretty just much-throwing money down the drain.
You won’t get the results you want and will mutter and tell everyone how crap the product is, cause you never followed these steps.
If you want to take short cuts and not wanting the best results, then this isn’t for you.
And finally, you will need a sprayer. If you haven’t got one or looking for a newbie, check these ones out on our best backpack sprayer reviews for 2024. I personally use this one here for around the home but any sprayer will do the trick.
Now we’re going to make a 2-gallon mix but just alter the measurements for a larger or small mix.
Mixing This Nutsedge Weed Killing Super duper Formula
Righto, you can either mix this up in a container, bucket or straight into your sprayer. Well as long as your sprayer will hold 2 gallons it’ll be fine.
I always add my water in first to my sprayer and fill it up to the 2-gallon mark.
Then add the tenacity. For a 2-gallon mix, you’ll need 1 teaspoon of herbicide.
This stuff may be a little expensive when starting off but its so concentrated a little bit goes a long way.
Also, when you order your bottle of tenacity it will come with a free syringe for accurate measuring.
So measure out 1 teaspoon and add that to the water.
Next to make 2 gallons of solution we need to use 3 teaspoons of surfactant. You can use the same syringe as you used for the tenacity.
Measure out 3 teaspoons and add that to the mix.
Finally, you want to add the dye. You can’t overdose it here but just remember that when you spray you will see the dye on your lawn.
I normally add around 4 teaspoons of colorant to a 2-gallon solution mix like were making here. You can go heavier if you like, the more you add the darker it will show on your lawn and will make it easier to see in bright sunlight.
It’s not permanent so don’t stress there either.
To recap this formula, you’ll need:
- 2 gallons of water
- 1-teaspoon of tenacity
- 3 teaspoons of surfactant
- 4 teaspoons of coloring dye
That’s pretty much it. Give it a good stir or shake and your good to go.
Just clean out your syringe as the dye will discolor it over time. Most good sprayers won’t decolor from the dye so you should be good there.
Spraying this nutsedge grass control formula.
You want to use a fine mist spray on your sprayer.
Now you don’t want to coat the weeds multiple times, nor go over the area twice or make it flooded and dripping wet.
You’ll end up killing the grass as well as the weeds. So just a nice light spray will do the trick.
Don’t expect instant results. Allow 2 to 3 weeks and you’ll see it kick in.
The weeds will go white in color, like paperwhite, just like the image below.
You can also spray in garden beds and areas like that. Just remember not to spray plants you want to keep alive.
It looks worse than it is and the grass will come back 10 fold from killing the weeds around it.
Allow around 3 to 4 hours before allowing kids or pets run around on your lawn. Just check the description on the bottle to make sure of the times.
Rarely you have to retreat but if you do, its not a problem.
As you can it looks totally different from using say roundup where it kills the weeds sure, and the grass. Tenacity only kills the weeds when following the directing on the tin.
If you finally want to start seeing real results in killing your weeds and not your lawn… just click on the button below.
