Edge Patch
Saturday, December 11th, 2010How do i get rid of Nut's Edge?
i like to grow vegtables but i have this super invasive weed called Nut's Edge i want to get rid of it but i don't want to use a chemical Herbicide and organic ones aren't strong enough, grr. I weed my entire patch 3x a week and it looks like it's never weeded. HELP!
Hi Hillary,
I think you mean Nut Sedge but I like the play on words. This stuff is about impossible to get rid of without damaging nearby vegetables. Not to worry though, it does little damage by just being there but it sure looks bad.
I'm not a big fan of using chemicals in the garden. In my garden I layered about 3in of compost, mixed it in and then layered another 2-3 inches of nearly composted mulch over the soil and have had very few emerging. Those that do are easy to weed in the compost. Be careful though - some plants are not too happy to have their stems covered in soil deeply so you may have to give them some room. Tomatoes are very cool with this though and will sprout new roots wherever covered.
Another option might be to use plastic mulch (heavy black plastic sheet from the garden center with a little soil on top to keep the plastic from overheating in the sun) - cut holes for the plants and slits to let water in. Trash bags are NOT thick enough. This of course would have been easier before you started the garden but it can still be done. Be careful to cover the black plastic so as to not cook your plant's roots and soil microbes as the sun heats it up.
A few ideas for next year...
Before you start your garden you can use exposed plastic sheet to bake the upper layers of your soil with the heat of the sun. This unfortunately will kill or drive off your beneficial microbes and earthworms too so turn in some compost when you're done.
I have heard (but never tried) using excessive sugar or horticultural molasses powder to promote rotting of the underground "nuts". This would also rot your vegetable roots so it would have to be off season but still warm enough for microbial action.