Any advice in how to get rid of ornamental oats & grasses that have taken over?

[mod mom]

We have pampas grasses that are probably 4 feet in diameter (and have been at the house longer than we have). Not only are they a mess to clean up every spring, but they are located in one of my only sunny areas of the yard and I wish to use it for veggies. Impossible to dig by hand and not able to get a bobcat back to this area. Any ideas?

I plant ornamental oats about 3 years ago and now they've spread all over my back yard. Never again will I plant ornamental grasses!

[Kolesar]

1. Mow it down and cover it with a black tarp for a month or two (?)

I don't know how resilient pampas grass is.

[Denninmi]

2. Or herbicide it.

Ortho makes a great product called Grass-B-Gone, sold only in 32 ounce ready to use spray (there are other Grass-B-Gone products/formulations in the Ortho product line, but they're not the same).

The one I am recommending has been a godsend in my garden. It kills only grasses (well, it damages a couple of other things like succulents, read the label list of things not to use it on), and you can spray it right on most other plants without fear (I'm convinced daylilies think its fertilizer).

It works really well. Costs about $6 a quart. Home Depot generally carries it.

[Kolesar]

3. Roundup/glyphosphate will break down immediately after spraying it on a plant

Farmers use it in large quantities in "no till farming". They spray once and kill all the weeds and last year's crop before sowing new seeds.

I use glyphosphate around the electric-fence posts. That is a close to the vegetable garden as I have used it.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

5. or to minimize using a poison (if you must)

If the grass is rhizomatous, snip of a stalk and dab a drip of glyphosphate into the stalk using
a rubber glove- the snip and drip method. Snip every ten stalk or so, and the poison spreads
into the root system.

[mod mom]

4. Thanks all for suggestions. Man @ garden store said....

Chain saw it down to the ground and torch it. Then if any growth still remains use a concentrated round-up on it.

Looks like a job for mod dad. ;)

[tjwash]

6. Pampas grass is NASTY to work with, so be very careful.

Wear good gloves, long pants, and a long sleeved shirt, and watch out for your eyes and face as well. Those long, thin, innocent-grassy looking leaves on it have razor sharp microscopic edges, just like a serrated steak-knife edge. The first time I worked on that, I cut my arms and hands completely to ribbons, and did not even know I was being sliced up until I was well covered in bloody slits.

But the dude at the garden shop is right...chain saw it down, and dig up the root ball (I'm not a big weed-killer fan).

[Botany]

7. hire me

n/t

[conscious evolution]

8. A flamethrower works as a temporary fix

for pampas grass.
So do high explosives but it tends to be a little rough on the sourroundings.