Your Lawn can be invaded by different species of weeds, pests, insects, fungi, and other hard-to-notice creatures.
It’s easy to spot some of those weeds and creatures, but others take the same look as the grass.
Weeds that look like grass are harder to find, which gives them a leeway towards establishing themselves further in your lawn.
In this guide on Lawn Advisors, we’ll present 10 of the most common weeds that look like grass, with the proper methods of spotting the difference between them and typical grass.
Distinguishing those weeds from grass is your first step towards getting rid of them for good.
Don’t worry, Lawn Advisors will also provide the removal methods after you spot the difference between those weeds and the grass they look like.
Weeds That Look Like Grass
- Crabgrass
- Annual Bluegrass
- Couchgrass
- Nutsedge
- Creeping Bentgrass
- Carpetgrass
- Goosegrass
- Tall Fescue
- Foxtail
- Path Rush
1. Crabgrass
Crabgrass has one of the closest looks similar to grass on our list of weeds that look like grass.
The difference is that it grows in clumps, and has a thicker and way less attractive look than normal grass.
It also thrives in bad environments with improper watering and poor drainage systems.
Since Crabgrass is considered an annual weed, you’ll have to take care before they reach your lawn by making sure your grass is properly watered, fertilized, and in a good shape & health.
This will prevent its growth near your grass.
2. Annual Bluegrass
Annual Bluegrass also takes a similar look to the grass, however, it has a bright green color instead of the grass’ dark green.
Moreover, it has a distinguished long ligule that attaches the leaf to the weed’s stem.
Annual Bluegrass loves the moist climates, shades, and cool weather.
If you manage to reverse those conditions and look for the weeds under the tree shades, you’ll have the perfect protection against Annual Bluegrass.
According to our research at Lawn Advisors, Pre-emergent herbicides can also be of good use.
3. Couchgrass
Couchgrass is a Clump-forming weed with a tough rooting system that makes its existence a living chaos for lawn owners.
It’s a perennial weed that thrives in both shady and sunny environments, but to spot it, you’ll have to look for coarse patches of blue-green grass.
If this blue-green grass has finger-like leaves, it’s the couchgrass.
Want to get rid of the couchgrass? Dig it up by hand or a shovel.
You’ll need to remove every last of them, as they can regenerate easily if you leave anything behind.
4. Nutsedge
Nutsedge on the other hand has a pretty similar look to the grass thanks to its light green color. However, they have nut-like tubers on their roots that distinguish the nutsedge from other weed types.
Want to keep nutsedge away? Keep your lawn healthy, watered wisely, and fertilized properly.
Similar to the couchgrass weeds, you’ll have to dig up every last one of the nutsedge roots off the ground, as they can regenerate and reproduce when pulled up incorrectly.
5. Creeping Bentgrass
Creeping Bentgrass is a grass-like weed that will provide a puffy appearance when it matures.
It can also be spotted as light patches in the lawn.
Creeping Bentgrass doesn’t fight well against herbicides, meaning you’ll need to select a suitable herbicide to get rid of it if it invades your lawn.
6. Carpetgrass
Carpetgrass looks pretty similar to grass, the difference is it looks denser, and with a medium green color.
It can reach up to 12 inches in height, that’s more than enough to differentiate its colonies from grass.
Carpetgrass is known to prefer shaded moist areas around acidic soils.
Create a disruptive environment for its growth by turning this against them, lowering the acidity of the soil, and improving the drainage system.
7. Goosegrass
Goosegrass can be detected apart from grass easily, as it grows in clumps more often, while it has a light green color, and the body is made of low stems.
It’s not a wide-spreading weed by any means, as it grows to 2.5 feet wide, and the wheel-like growth pattern can expose the difference between the Goosegrass and grass.
Use pre-emergents in late winter for protective measures, but if it manages to appear on your lawn, resort to hand-pulling the weed.
8. Tall Fescue
To differentiate the Tall Fescue from grass, it has distinct leaves that are thick and broad, with bright green color.
Tall Fescue is one of the hardest to fight, as it spreads through underground rhizomes, meaning it damages the soil and grass without any visible truth.
Do you remember when we said that you could fight weeds with newspaper and old carpets? This method works heavenly against Tall Fescue.
Cover it with such tools, it’ll block the sunlight and oxygen, suffocating the weeds successfully.
9. Foxtail
Foxtail weed can grow in any soil type and under several conditions, but it distinguishes itself by producing spikey bottle brush flowers during the summer, with yellow and green colors.
It can reach up to 40-inches.
Foxtail can be treated with vinegar usage on smaller colonies.
Larger colonies require the usage of non-selective herbicides.
10. Path Rush
The Path Rush is easily identifiable for its narrow, long, and upright leaves, with its slender stems.
Like the Tall Fescue weeds, it spreads through with rhizomes, making it harder to get rid of them.
To get rid of the Path rush weeds, you have to dig the root up completely and make sure there’s nothing left behind, so it doesn’t grow back up.
Weeds That Look Like Grass FAQ
Summary
Getting rid of Weeds that look like grass hasn’t been any easier, as you have a full list of the most common weeds that look like grass at Lawn Advisors, in addition to how to distinguish them, and how to remove them from your lawn.
Have you encountered other types of weeds that look like grass? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments section below.
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