On 11/13/2011 4:15 AM, ZoysiaSod wrote:
If purple nutsedge establishes itself in small spots of bare earth where
there was no grass (for example, where a veggie garden used to be), how
does this nutsedge fare against surrounding zoysia grass when the two
meet? Which will win out over time?

In other words, will the purple nutsedge invade the surrounding zoysia
and defeat the zoysia, or will the Meyer Zoysia grow into, strangle, and
eventually eliminate the purple nutsedge?

That purple nutsedge is one tough weed, I fear. I've been pulling out its
blades, but of course, folks here know it has underground tubers that
remain in the ground unless dug up, and I haven't dug the tubers out
because I don't want to harm the surrounding zoysia, so I'm just removing
the blades and occasionally small parts of the sedge's rhizomes. But they
say, this perennial weed's blades will just re-grow, so you'll have to
pull out the blades 3 to 5 times before the tubers finally succumb and
die. That's also what I've been doing with the dandelions in my side
yard--repulling the blades everytime I see renewed blade growth.

But my question concerns unmolested Purple Nutsedge whose blades are left
in tact, and not messed with. Over time, will healthy Purple Nutsedge win
out over healthy ZoysiaGrass, or will the Zoysia win?

I am in the northern midwest, zone 5 and don't have a lot of experience
with Zoysia, but I am a professional LCO and have only a couple of lawns
with partial Zoysia. I find it goes dormant in late Sept, does survive
drought better than ryes and blue grasses. Occasionally Nutsedge does
pop up in the Zoysia and does seem to thrive. It grows the blade much
faster than the Zoysia and reproduces through "nuts" under the turf. I
don't know if it would completely overtake the Zoysia but do know that
in my zone the Zoysia will not overtake the Nutsedge. The best thing I
have found to control Nutsedge is Sledge Hammer by Gowan and can be
purchased in a homeowner formula. It will need a spreader sticker and
will need several applications to do the job. I have found that in mild
infestations that if you pull it by the root, before June, that it can
be eradicated because it hasn't had the chance to develop the "nut" yet.