Nutgrass: What It Is – How To Prevent It

Nutgrass, or nutsedge is a perennial grass-like weed that seeks out the moist poorly drained sections of your yard or garden. It grows very fast in hot weather and looks just like typical grass found within your backyard. It has yellow-green leaves with a spiky head is purple or yellow. It’s a very  deep into the ground. These nutlets form roots  that can grow up to 14 inches deep in the soil. Pull out the grass or roots and some of the tubers will stay behind to grow again. Individual nutgrass plants may eventually form patches in your yard of 10 feet or more in diameter.

What makes nutgrass a big deal to above ground pool owners in Ft Myers is this weed will grow right up through your brand new liner. One day you may look down into your pool and see grass growing right up from the pool floor. Once it penetrates the vinyl liner the pool begins to leak water. In fact, nutgrass will grow through practically anything you lay on the ground to stop it. It will grow through weed barrier, plastic sheeting, Gorilla Pads, Styro-Foam,vermiculite, roofing paper, plywood and more. Nutgrass is very common to see in areas like Ft Myers, Cape Coral etc. Any areas where the ground may stay wet for long periods of time are breeding ground for this problem weed. It’ll even grow through asphalt roads and driveways. If you’re building a new above ground pool in your backyard be sure to use a quality nutgrass killer on the ground before you install the pool liner. It’s cheap insurance that you don’t have to purchase a new liner and do it again.

When beginning your above ground pool installation you must first start by removing all of the grass or sod where the pool will be going. This may be a pain to do but it’s a very important first and shouldn’t be overlooked. Rent a sod cutter if you have a lot of grass or thick sod. Home Depot or other equipment rental stores will rent you the machine for a few hours. This is a good investment if you value your time and back. Removing the grass will get the majority of nutgrass out of the pool area.

Once removed move onto the leveling of the ground and construction of the pool wall and frame. You want to apply the nutgrass weed killer just prior to installing the pool liner. Use at least the recommended amount based on the size of your pool and follow directions for the proper application. Do it by the book or you may end up doing this again.

Once nutgrass starts growing through the liner it’s too late to prevent it. Afterwards all you can do is kill each individual new plant and patch your liner. It’s impossible to tell how many patches you’ll be making but you’ll need to get some liquid nutgrass poison, a syringe and a vinyl liner patch kit.

If you find yourself with too many nutgrass blades, you may just need to purchase another pool liner and some commercial grade nutgrass poison. This does happen and most people have no idea how troublesome this weed can be. I highly recommend the commercial nutgrass killer found here. It’s as good as you’ll find and not available from local garden shops.