How Do I Kill Pampas/Ribbon Grass? It's Out of Control!!?

Question

The previous owner of my home planted ornamental grass (not entirely sure what type) and I'd like to remove it. It was not maintained and is now over fence-height. Additionally, the blades of grass are sharp like blades and it has to be handled with gloves or you get paper-cut type cuts all over. It has a very deep root system and seems to have a root bulb about 3 foot wide underground and supplementary roots that are quite long. I can't burn it, since we live in a residential area and digging it up seems almost impossible. Any advice or suggestions would be great! Thanks!

I'm unable to mow the grass- it has a bulb that sits about waist high that the grass grows out of. The grass blades are about 5-6 foot long and grow straight up and bow out over the plant. The best I can do so far is cut the blades off with shears, but then I'm left with a huge 4' root mound and God-Only-Knows What underground. BTW, I use vinegar instead of Roundup... it's much cheaper and just as effective. ;)

Answer 1

You really don't want to burn it, it is extremely toxic. In our area it is actually banned from burning. do a web search on contol, talk to local lawn care specialists and nurseries. Not sure of your area, but here is a good aticle though once you have a problem with it there isn't an easy or quick solution.

http://www.chathamjournal.com/weekly/news/agriculture/pampas-grass-mysteries-70115.shtml

and try this site for more refoences, and possibly ask more questions:
http://www.humeseeds.com/qa_ndx2.htm

Answer 2

oh my........you've got a job on your hands! Sure sounds like Pampas grass!

Roundup will work but might I suggest something that will help: buy the concentrate and a bag of ammonium sulfate fertilizer; 22-0-0. Take very warm, OK hot, water and stir continuously while you slowly pour in the fertilizer. Keep stirring. When no more fertilizer dissolves you have a saturated solution. Now use that water to dilute the Roundup according to label instructions. Use this to spray the grass. The nitrogen in the fertilizer makes the Roundup work better. The stuff doesn't store, so spray all the mixture. Wash the sprayer well afterward.

Once brown, it would be nice if you could burn it to the ground! If you have to cut it, wrap a rope around the bush and pull tight to pull the foliage away from where you are cutting.

Once you have the foliage gone and are left with the "hump" you could dig it out, but it is an awful, awful job. I'd mound over it with manure and soil and keep it moist until it decomposes. The left over fertilizer might speed the decomp process along.....throw a handful or two on each week along with more manure and water. Ammonium sulfate is a good cheap lawn food, so no waste.

Answer 3

Pampas grass has a massive root system so digging it out may not be an opion especially if you have a lot of it. Since Pampas Grass is a grass, I think I would mow it down and as the new growth begins, use a glyphosate herbicide such as Roundup on it. Glyphosate is systemic and will kill roots and all, but several treatments may be necessary if these are established clumps. If mowing is out of the question, burn it then treat the new growth. Or, if you could convince the locals that it is a beautiful ornamental grass, you could start a "dig your own" pampas grass operation. As they say, one man's trash IS another man's treasure!

Answer 4

Round up is a very effective way to kill the entire plant, but you need to buy Round up Quick Pro or Round Up Pro because the strength of the concentration of the glyphosate is much higher. Do not buy the bottles of pre-mixed solution, they are not strong enough for pampas grass. Double the normal rate and the plants should die, and removal is much easier when the plants are dead. Be careful not to spray Round Up into any aquatic environment. The surfactant is toxic to fish. The product for that situatiuon is called Rodeo; same weed killing ingredients but w/out the surfactant.

When you try to remove the plants, make sure you get rid of all the flower plumes carefully or they will sprout up everywhere.

Answer 5

Well mow it down first of course. Then i would try to disc it up. What are those things called? A rototeller I can’t spell that right. You should be able to rent one of those at a place that rents out Tractors and such. Then add root killer. Wait a week and then add a layer of dirt then I would roll out that grass that’s all ready grown.

But honestly they may have planted that because it might be the only thing that grows well. So you might just do nothing and mow it regularly. Your kinda screwed. Sorry.

Answer 6

I totally know what you mean, pampas grass has blades that are as sharp as razors. Ours was a volunteer and grew huge in no time at all. We doused its roots with Roundup several times before it even started to die and used up almost the entire bottle. Unfortunately, after it finally died, hubby literally had to dig it out of there because those roots were huge. He dug, he pick axed, he used the crow bar and piece by piece pulled it out of there. Wear long sleeves, long pants, gloves, and tuck you trousers in your socks or wear high boots to protect yourself. Hubby got a little sliced up before he got smart and took precaution. Good luck!

Answer 7

If you don't so many animals around, you can spray it with Paraquat. It's very effective but toxic. Residues will remain for a number of days before you can plant it.

Answer 8

try diesel oil on the roots

Answer 9

10% apple cider vinegar....kills anything, just be careful how you spray it.

Answer 10

Just leave it and let it grow.