It might come with attractive flower spikes and the name velvet grass might sound a bit harmless and nice but that is exactly one plant that you need to be very careful and wary of. Velvet grass are native grasses found in Europe but it has ended up colonizing even the western part of the United States.
They are considered to be very invasive species and eliminating velvet grasses would help boost the growth of native grasses and also preventing velvet grass from going. This article would show you how to get rid of velvet grass on your lawn so stick around for a while.
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What Is A Velvet Grass Weed
The fact about velvet grass is that they help in making sure that the soil is stabilized but since it is not a native plant to North America, it is also very necessary that other indigenous plants also get established as well.
What this simply means is getting rid of velvet grass anywhere that it is found because if you allow this particular plant to grow and continue spreading, it is going to cause native plants likewise other tree seedlings not to grow. Holcus Lanatus commonly known as velvet grass is referred to as tufted perennial grass.
It comes with grayish-green foliage while its stems appear flattened slightly. Its stems and leaves are also hairy lightly and from the spring to fall season, its flowers have purplish-pink spikes.
It also has wind-born seeds that are capable of being spread away from the parent plant and under any exposure or soil, they are bound to germinate. In the Western States and Canada, that is where you would commonly find the velvet grass but in the 1800s, it was introduced as a forage grass.
This grass can also be called woolly soft grass, creeping soft grass, Yorkshire fog and also among other of monikers.
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How To Get Rid Of Velvet Grass In Your Lawn
Finding common patches of velvet grass in your lawns is very easy nowadays and once it finds a way to become established in your lawns, it becomes quite impossible for anyone to control or get rid of this weed.
Common velvet grasses are known not to spread through rhizomes or stolons but its lightweight and prolific seeds can be dispersed with ease. This makes it very easy for this weed to colonize almost every area of turfgrass and with just a little amount of irrigation, this weed finds it easy to germinate under whatever condition it finds itself.
Having a healthy and thick lawn is one of the best ways to make sure you lawn isn’t affected by velvet grass and other things that you need to also put in place to fight back the growth or spread of velvet grass is applying nitrogen at the right time or mowing your turfgrass at the appropriate height.
With the help of soil tests, you can also be able to determine soil fertility and also the pH value or level of the soil. Pulling out velvet grass from the ground is also an effective way to get rid of this weed.
However, this would work very well only if the weed is found in smaller concentrations while grazing and mowing your lawn is also another effective way of preventing the spread of velvet grass.
This is achieved through the removal of subsequent seeds and flower heads. Spot applications of diuron, atrazine and glyphosate are other means one could effectively get rid of velvet grass and this is because they are non-selective species. Furthermore, care should be taken when applying either of the above-mentioned substances.
The application of any of these substances should be as a last resort because organic methods of eradication and control are all environmentally friendly and safer.
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