The old style common Kikuyu grass continues to be a nuisance to many lawn owners in Australia, particularly when it invades a lawn of a different variety. This old common Kikuyu gets transferred into other lawns by many different means as its seeds are very tiny and fine and often hardly noticeable to anyone walking across a Kikuyu lawn in seed, and so we can transfer the seed of common Kikuyu from parks and ovals and verges onto our own lawns with our shoes and clothing, or from the fur of our pets, and possibly with birds doing likewise. And if we live next door to an area of lawn which contains or is made up of common Kikuyu then we can be sure that our lawn too one day will have some Kikuyu growing in it.
I need to state right off the bat though that modern bred and highly improved varieties of Kikuyu, such as Village Green and others, are Male Sterile. This means that these new Kikuyus cannot spread via their seed, which are sterile by design. Not only are these new modern Kikuyu grasses sterile and not a problem like the old Kikuyu grass is, they are also highly improved in all areas of quality, and often don’t resemble anything like the growth or spread habits of the old unimproved varieties. Modern Male Sterile Kikuyus are a worthwhile recommended lawn variety, having completely overcome the more undesirable traits of the old grass, leaving only the good.
How Common Kikuyu Hides In Buffalo Grass
No matter the lawn type we grow for our lawns, old common Kikuyu can and will invade, be it Couch, Buffalo, Zoysia, Queensland Blue or any other grass. While instantly recognisable in Couch and Zoysia and Queensland Blue lawns, common Kikuyu can hide itself quite well amongst modern Buffalo grasses, often remaining hidden for a very long time as it slowly and truely establishes itself as the weed that it will become.
The old Buffalo lawns grew quite low to the ground with a short leaf span, so we can imagine that any common Kikuyu growing would be instantly recognisable in it. However the new modern soft Buffalo grasses will send forth their leaf quite high into the air, which is very similar to the leaf of the old common Kikuyu. Having a similar wider leaf style also, helps common Kikuyu hide very very well amongst the new modern soft Buffalo grasses, with often only a trained eye seeing the invasion for what it is.
Eventually though, by the time the problem has gotten much worse, the homeowner will often suddenly realise that there are two grasses growing in his lawn instead of one, and that one of these grasses is growing surprisingly much faster than the other, and that the faster growing grass may be a lighter shade of green than the Buffalo grass. By which time it may be eventually understood the extent and nature of the common Kikuyu invasion of their lawn.
How To Kill Common Kikuyu In Buffalo Lawns
There really isn’t a treatment for killing common Kikuyu out of a Buffalo lawn for the homeowner, though a professional weed spraying contractor may be of some assistance if the homeowner is unwilling to tackle the problem themselves.
Stopping lawn mowing and allowing the lawn to grow longer than usual will help us more easily identify the common Kikuyu for removal or treatment.
Hand pulling the common Kikuyu can be difficult, but can be achieved. The runners would have interwoven themselves amongst the Buffalo runners, making the removal more difficult, and they would have become entrenched into the soil also.
Persistence is the key to success here, as we slowly and carefully try to untangle the old common Kikuyu from amongst the Buffalo grass and soil. We’ll make a bit of a mess of the lawn, but nothing that won’t quickly repair itself. We’ll also most likely have to go back to the lawn at different times over weeks as the grass grows and we can again see any parts of the common Kikuyu that we missed.
Garden beds should also be checked and any common Kikuyu removed from them also.
Spot Treating Common Kikuyu In Buffalo Grass
Our next option to is to kill the common Kikuyu from our Buffalo grass with selective spot treatment with Glyphosate weed killer.
Once again we should stop lawn mowing and allow the grass to grow much longer than usual.
We mix up a solution of Glyphosate into a small container, and put that container on top of an old newspaper or any other larger protective layer that will stop and catch any possible spill of Glyphosate from the container.
Glyphosate will kill any plant it comes into contact with. Including our lawns.
So we must be very careful not to spill any, anywhere.
Next we have the option to use a rubber glove or a paint brush.
We then carefully take the small container of Glyphosate on top of its protective layer, such as a newspaper, over to the Kikuyu to be treated.
We then dip the finger of a glove we are wearing, or dip the paintbrush into the Glyphosate, and gently wipe the long leaves of the common Kikuyu with the herbicide, being careful not to spill any onto the Buffalo lawn. We then go around the lawn and treat the other long leaves of the rest of the common Kikuyu which has invaded our Buffalo turf.
We then save or dispose of the remaining Glyphosate as per manufacturers recommendations.
And we leave the lawn for a week or two.
After this time we should then clearly see the dead common Kikuyu amongst our Buffalo lawn.
At this stage we can also tell if we missed any bits of Kikuyu that will need to be pulled or treated with Glyphosate again.
We can then choose either to treat the remaining common Kikuyu with Glyphosate again now, or we can mow our lawns first and then wait a few more weeks before treating the last of the Kikuyu.
When mowing our lawns after herbicide treatments we should always catch the clippings and throw them into the bin, We should never mulch mow or reuse these grass clippings for the following two lawn mowings after lawn treatment with a herbicide.
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