# Broomsedge



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

A good read on this persistent competitor.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/pasture-soil-fertility-essential-to-prevent-broomsedge-infestations-NAA-university-news-release/


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

When this grass is about 6" high and you bale it cattle will eat it like candy. I've had them leave Bermuda to eat it. Much over this height and forget it.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

I have one field I do once a year basically because the homeowners association gives me other paying work to do. 
It's just about pure broom-sedge.
I have to laugh.....the "neighborhood expert" marvels at the "beauty" of the brooms edge. He also loves the multi colored milkweed and dogbane plants. 
Good thing I can sell it to the mushroom planet, otherwise it's worthless junk.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

The article confirms the rule of thumb that I have always heard about broom sedge, which is, if you have broom sedge, your field probably needs lime - and lots of it.

About the only other thing you can do with broom sedge is to wick it with glyphosate. Keeping it mowed/grazed helps to limit the spread.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

RockmartGA said:


> The article confirms the rule of thumb that I have always heard about broom sedge, which is, if you have broom sedge, your field probably needs lime - and lots of it.
> 
> About the only other thing you can do with broom sedge is to wick it with glyphosate. Keeping it mowed/grazed helps to limit the spread.


Or, you can be up to snuff on lime but very low on Potash and get the same results.

Regards, Mike


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

TJH said:


> When this grass is about 6" high and you bale it cattle will eat it like candy. I've had them leave Bermuda to eat it. Much over this height and forget it.


We have an abundance of broom sedge, a reflection of how poor our ground is. As we plan for hayfield revitalization come late August of this year, it is my intent to cut what mixed grass hay we have, along with the broom sedge, early and often as my understanding it is OK hay before it becomes stemmy and goes to seed.

Thanks,
Bill


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Our extension agent and I are discussing how to get rid of sage and what to plant. Right now I am thinking of plowing and replanting. Wish the land owner would let me get rid of the terraces while I had the plows over there.

I cut the field last year before the sage got big. I was surprised to learn how well the cows ate sage when baled tender. I sold a lot of the hay to cow friends for $10 just to unload it. I wish I had kept it now as hay is in short supply.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Does you sedge show up in first cutting....or later. Here, our broomsedge appears after first cutting because of the cool season grasses shade it out early....

The very best way to get rid of it for sure is glyphosate....it is not hard to kill with gly.

Regards, Mike


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

It is worse about the time for second cutting. The problem is the sage has become so dominant that there is not enough other grass to make a regular first cutting. There are some areas of Fescue and Bahia. Owner said it was once Bermuda. Can not see much evidence of that.

The extension agent said it would probably take 3 applications of gly to kill all the sage.

When I was researching sage last year I came across an article that said sage put out a substance that inhibited other grasses from competing. The article said that is why sage was hard to be over taken by other grasses. I can not find the article and that is the only time I have ever heard that mentioned.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_PLANTMATERIALS/publications/etpmcfs8997.pdf

Regards, Mike


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## TJH (Mar 23, 2014)

Eco-Farm --An Acres USA Primer by Charles Walters. "Broom Sedge means worn out, burned out, oxidized soil, soil without a governor, namely calcium. In many places both calcium and magnesium. As soils get depleted and eroded, topsoil vanishes and the humus supply disappears, real soil poverty sets in. And that is what broom sedge is a poverty grass for poverty soil. Withal, broom sedge is what it is, a poverty crop for depleted, degenerative soil. It reigns supreme when a soil system has reached a depression of depletion, and stands as a flag waving its signal of having achieved total failure."

Don't confuse calcium with ph, to different things. You can have a good ph and still be short on calcium.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

Short of killing off the whole field, can you rig the spryer booms to wick the Broomsedge with round-up (vs spraying) after the first cut, but before the second cut - as the Broomsedge surges up? And in doing so, rid the field of the broomsedge, yet not destroy the rest of the grass?

Or is this easier said than done?

Bill


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