Nutsedge has invaded my raised beds

[Perivolia]

I had no idea that this was such a persistent and invasive plant. I would be most interested and grateful to hear some feedback on this issue.

 

[Meadowlark]

Yes, it is both persistent and invasive. The best way to manage IMO is old fashioned hand pulling methods augmented by a hand digging tool. It is critical when digging that you remove ALL of the plant including all of the roots...all of it, 100%. Otherwise, you aren't really getting anywhere. Be sure to remove each plant in its entirety from the garden space...i.e., don't just throw it on the ground in your garden space or compost pile or it will return with a vengeance.

Sugar is one organic control that works...but for me hand methods are just the best.

Once you get control it is critical that you never leave your soil barren and open to re-infestation. Cover crops really help with that...in fact are the only way I know to do long term prevention.

I'd bet that nutgrass is the number one reason or close to it a lot of people give up on gardening after starting out. Getting it under control and keeping it under control makes for a Happy Gardener.

 

[Chuck]

I had an area in my garden that was thick with the stuff, about a 20'x20' area. I tried digging it out and it helped a lot but I left pieces of the roots or nuts in the soil. It came back with a vengeance. If I had sifted the soil I think it would have worked a lot better. What I did to finally get rid of it was to use molasses. About every 2 weeks for close to 6 months I would mix a cup of molasses in a gallon of water and soak the infected area. At first I didn't see much change but with repeated applications it just disappeared and hasn't come back in, IIRC 16 years.