September 15, 2016 – Eradicating  Johnson Grass sorghum halepense

 

          It is unfortunate that a gardener has to spend as much time [or maybe even more time] on WEEDS than they do on the flowers, shrubs, and trees that make their gardens a delightful respite.

         

          I have been battling a patch of Johnson grass for about 3 years.  When I first noticed it, it was just a few Johnson grass plants and then suddenly the Johnson grass swooped completely around, and over my gorgeous stand of Monarda [Bee balm] that my humming birds loved so much.

          At first I was naïve.  I thought it grew annually by the seed, so I simply went out and cut the unopened seed heads off before they tasseled out.  Nada!

          Then, I tried to continually cut it off at the ground level every time it shot up.  Nada!

          However, by this spring it had completely choked my Monarda to the extent that I couldn’t successfully pry out any viable plants to reset somewhere else. I had lost my once beautiful patch of Bee Balm. Nyet!

          This spring I bought a Butane weed wand and burnt the 1 to 2 inch new green tips several times.  As I waved it across the Johnson grass sorghum halepense, I noticed a sweet caramel corn smell. I guess it really is in the sorghum family!  After it rained, it shot up even stronger – it didn’t care that its growing tips got a little torched. It almost acted like it liked it?

          HMMMMMMM.  Last year’s 3 foot round patch of this nasty grass is now a 5 x 8 foot patch. I have to do something drastic – but what?

I detest poisoning the ground.  My thoughts – if it kills the plant – it has to kill the living soil as well.  So, when I am in a dilemma about a weed that is pernicious and won’t go away.  I have to get tougher, but also smarter.

I declared ALL OUT WAR!

          Like any good military action, I needed to reconnoiter.  I had to research this nasty terror.  I couldn’t find that slim little field guide of weeds I had bought years ago to identify weeds and how to get rid of them.  OH, who needs that now – I have the entire world at my fingertips . . . the internet.

          Research indicates that birds can spread the seed. That is pretty likely since I don’t see any Johnson grass in my immediate neighborhood.  However, it is not the seed that is keeping it here – it is the underground roots that are running like mint. This nasty terror has rhizomes that are as thick as my thumb.

          After extensive reconnaissance, err…., I mean, research, I discovered I need to dig the clumps up and dispose of them.  Then, I need to till the soil to get the rhizomes up. The seed lasts 10 years in the soil – OH MY!

          I planned my attack; however, it was delayed due to the weather. Weather not being the fog rolling in across the English Channel, but rather the drought that makes my soil as hard as cement.  I waited for rain.  Then I got lucky, after the rain I had two consecutive days off from work.

          I made two major skirmishes. 

Day 1.  I cut all the tops that were going to open to seed and tossed them in the waiting wheel barrow.  Next, I started at the edge that had gone into the lawn and dug down to where the rhizomes were.  I dug around the plant 6 inches away and then got on my hands and knees and examined where those rhizomes were leading to.  It took me to the next plant.  When I found the next plant, I lifted the first one, checked the soil beneath it to see that I had gotten all the bits of roots.  I tossed the clump onto the wheel barrow.  I proceeded. One clump connected to the next and I used the same procedure so that I didn’t miss any of the rhizomes – some were deep, some were shallow.  It was very hot, dirty work.   I hauled off three wheel barrows full to the “weed” compost area. I had battled enough for the day and found repose in the shade with some seriously cold, imported beer.

Day 2.  All the clumps were gone, it was time to turn the soil and sift it to check to see that I had gotten all the bits of rhizomes.  That was the surprising lesson.  I had taken such care the day before seeing how the roots connected from one clump to another thinking I had gotten them all. Nyet! 

I had missed lots of them.  Roots growing to no visible sign of a grass clump – just thumb thick fleshy roots greedily creeping out into the soil waiting for a sneak attack.  I even had to lift a 2 x 2 foot patch of my cobblestone path because thick fleshy roots had gone down under and were on their way to the other side.

Again, it was hot, dirty work. This time it was sunnier and I had to take to the shade earlier for ultra-cold, imported beer.

So, I have this naked patch of clay soil that has been dug over and I am dreaming of what to plant in it.  But a week or so goes by and – what is this??? Clumps of Johnson grass rising up in the area I have already worked over.  I dig those clumps up – gosh those rhizomes are down as deep as a foot – in my red clay.  How is that possible?

Couple weeks later, my campaign is still going strong.  I dug out more surprises.

Now, it has been 4 weeks since I took out what I thought was the last and I have 5 clumps of Johnson grass that look 6 feet tall.  Again, how is that possible – we haven’t had that much rain – we have had drought for the last several weeks.  Again, I will go out in the morning and dig them out.  I’ll dig deeper for the roots. It hasn’t rained in over a week; I don’t know how successful I will be. I guess I will use the pick axe.

As I assess this from my armchair, I have the feeling I will be “reclaiming” this garden patio section from now through the end of October when I need to plant my tulips.

Now I am in a quandary.  Will this soil be clean enough? No tiny bits of root left to gain a strong hold again? I have already bought a couple of sacks of red tulips to make a spring display in a portion of it. Those bulbs will be in the ground from October to June, how can I be assured I have gotten all the re-growing roots?  I could end up with Johnson grass coming up in the middle of my tulips.  That would not be a pretty sight.

After some pondering I have another plan of action.

If I haven’t been successful at checking all the re-growth of Johnson grass from this section by tulip planting time, I will just have to plant the tulips elsewhere and resort to my “Garden Pillows Technique” next year in this area. That will give me an additional year to monitor and check any re-growth at the same time having color. 

“Garden Pillows” are homemade, inexpensive planting sacks where I can grow display annuals and can easily drag them a foot or two to see if any regenerative Johnson grass has raised its presence.  If so, I can eradicate it and then drag the garden pillows back into place.

In a future post I will discuss the “Garden Pillow” technique in full detail so that you and I can plan on our spring gardens.  Hopefully, next spring my final military assault against Johnson grass will succeed and victory will be mine.