Green Kyllinga Control: How To Get Rid of Green Kyllinga

Green Kyllinga is a weed that comes from the sedge family and has become a rising problem in the southeastern part of the United States. Believed to be native to Asia, Green Kyllinga was first discovered in the country about 50 years ago.

In the last 10 to 15 years, Kyllinga has developed into a major problem for turfgrass and landscape managers. The main issue with Green Kyllinga is that it grows in dense mats that can quickly take over a garden or lawn and be an eyesore.

Kyllinga produces little nutsedge seed heads which can make 5,000 seeds per year. These seeds grow all year round before going dormant in the wintertime. Pulling or digging them out disperses the seeds. This also disturbs the roots and encourages more root hairs to grow so the best way to control them is by using chemicals.

If you have encountered Kyllinga on your lawn, our simple DIY Green Kyllinga treatment guide will show you exactly step-by-step what you need to do to get rid of this grassy weed for good. By carefully following our directions and using our professional herbicide recommendations, you can eliminate Green Kyllinga quickly and affordably.

Identification

Before you can proceed with a treatment program, you need to identify and make sure that the weed you are dealing with is Green Kyllinga and not some other weed. Misidentification can lead to using the wrong herbicides for treatment, costing you time and money. Here are some traits and facts on Green Kyllinga that can help you with identification.

• Green Kyllinga has narrow grassy leaves that when left unmowed they can reach up to 15 inches in length.
• Kyllinga has one to three dark green, glossy, flat, hairless leaves that on average range 2 to 6 inches long.
• Flowering stalks of the Kyllinga are triangular in cross-section with a globular, dense flower head consisting of green flowers at the ends.
• Kyllinga seeds are flat, oval, and can reach about 3 mm long. The seeds germinate between spring and summer.
• Kyllinga is often mistaken for purple or yellow nutsedge, but what makes Green Kyllinga different from sedges is its shiny green ridged leaves and the lack of ligule and auricles.
• When Kyllinga matures, they make little nutsedge-like seedheads. A group of three long leaflike structures (or bracts) stick out from the stalk beneath the flower head.
• There are thirty to seventy-five white spikelets within each flower head, each one capable of producing one seed. They are known to form large mats wherever they have established.

Use the descriptions and image above to help you to identify Green Kyllinga. If you are not sure whether the weed on your lawn is Green Kyllinga, contact us and we will properly ID the plant for you as well as give you product options you can choose for control.

Inspection

After you have identified that the weed you are dealing with is Kyllinga, you can then move forward with an inspection to see where it is thriving and where you should focus your treatment applications. Kyllinga is a not a typical weed homeowners are used to seeing since it's a relatively new problem, but it can spread quickly, ruining gardens as well as lawns.

Where to Inspect

Kyllinga tends to thrive in soil that remains wet for long periods of time and receives full sun, although it can manage to thrive in areas of partial shade. Kyllinga is also a perennial which means they grow all summer and from spring to fall so they grow all year round and stay dormant in the wintertime.

Green Kyllinga seeds can be spread via mowing equipment and even by walking over it. It will stick to clothing and other materials that come in contact with it, taking it from property to property. Close mowing is also known to cause a Kyllinga invasion as the lawn grass is unable to spread and compete.

What To Look For

Look closely for weeds that look similar to nutsedge but with less erect and smaller leaves. Infestations can form dense mats in a turfgrass stand. Green kyllinga can persist under low mowing heights, and unlike yellow and purple nutsedge, these plants produce flowers even under regular mowing.

Treatment

To treat Green Kyllinga, we recommend an application of Sedgehammer or Sedgehammer+ (Plus) for post-emergent control. Sedgehammer is a selective herbicide concentrate that can help treat a variety of stubborn weeds, including Green Kyllinga.

Before application, protect your eyes, skin, mouth and nose by wearing protective equipment any time you handle herbicide chemicals. 

Step 1: Mix and Apply Sedgehammer

Begin by calculating the square footage of the area you wish to treat. You can do this by measuring the area length and width, then multiplying the two values (length x width = square footage). When applying Sedgehammer, be sure you purchase the right version for your situation. The difference between sedgehammer and Sedgehammer Plus is that Sedgehammer is suited for professional applications and treatment of larger areas, while Sedgehammer+ is meant for DIY/residential weed control applications.

A typical spot treatment of Sedgehammer requires mixing 0.9 grams of the product in 1 or 2 gallons of water to treat 1000 sq. ft. So for example, if you calculated an area of 2,000 sq. ft. for treatment, you would need to mix 1.8 grams of Sedgehammer in 2 to 4 gallons of water to cover the area. If you are using Sedgehammer+ (Sedgehammer Plus) herbicide, the rate to treat Kyllinga is 0.5 oz. or 1 pouch in one gallon of water to treat 1,000 sq. ft.

Mix Sedgehammer into a hand-pump sprayer, starting by filling the sprayer up halfways with the required amount of water, adding in the Sedgehammer, and then adding in the remaining half of water. Close the sprayer lid and agitate until the Solution is well mixed. A good tool to use to aid with your herbicide application is mixing your Sedgehammer with a surfactant so that your application can stick to the kyllinga and not runoff.

Use a fan nozzle setting on your sprayer while applying and spot treat the Kyllinga weeds directly. If you have larger patches, we recommend using a 2-gallon tank sprayer or even a backpack sprayer if the weeds on your lawn have gotten severely out of control.

Prevention

After you have successfully removed Kyllinga from your yard, you don't want it to make a return. Preventative measures include both making cultural changes to the area and pre-emergent application. Here is what we suggest.

• Green Kyllinga thrives in soils that are excessively wet so you will need to address your drainage problem if you don't want Kyllinga to make a comeback.
• Water deeply but infrequently with at least 1 to 2 inches, making sure not to overwater.
• Reduce thatch as much as possible to hinder the chances of Kyllinga to thrive.

Key Takeaways

What is Green Kyllinga?

• Green Kyllinga is a crafty grassy sedge-like weed that has been reported to move its way from landscape beds to nearby turf with ease and usually goes under the radar until later in the summer.

How To Get Rid of Kyllinga

• We recommend either using a post-emergent product like Sedgehammer Nutsedge Killer to kill Kyllinga weed.

Preventing Green Kyllinga Reinvasion

• Prevent Green Kyllinga re-emergence by keeping a good lawn maintenance schedule to promote healthy, thick turf and reducing moisture in the soil as much as possible by watering infrequently, addressing drainage issues, etc.