Attack plan for johnson grass ?

Brad6260

Brad6260

New member
First season of the newly converted 6 acre plot field was a great success.
Knocked out the fescue well and the native grass plots took off perfect.
Sunflower and milo strips looked picture perfect.

Second year. What the hell happened? The native grass reemerged fine but everything else was solid, thick , tall out of control Johnson grass that didn't seem fazed by round-up. Took over 70% of the field.

So what now? The state guy tells me that the only thing he knows of that should be effective is "Outrider". Looking into it that will cost a fortune and is not practical for this small an area.

Any suggestions how best to prepare for the spring to gain control again. I realize that i will never completely rid myself of the J. grass but need a plan to at least control the field.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
I think the prairie grass will triumph in the end! Johnson grass has specific habitat it favors. Time will probably help. If you have problems you can mow at a time before Johnson grass matures, and seeds, before the prairie is active. Johnson grass is fine bird cover, but not to hunt dogs in! I would discourage any chemical interference, my fear is than in year three and four you might have a recurrence of fescue as well. Getting the right sustainable habitat is difficult, usually needs tinkering to keep the first succession stage active. I am happy you are fighting the fight. Prairie Drifter probably does this annually and might have better suggestions.
 
#1, DO NOT USE GLYPHOSATE (Roundup)! If you do, you kill the competition around the plant and that space fills with more JG. You have 2 options: 1, Outrider and 2, Plateau. Both will do the job if you're persistent. If you know you have JG when you're planning a planting, use the Plateau preplant.
 
The dreaded Johnson Grass! Mow before it flowers and chemical control. Plateau and Outrider is very expensive and who has the time to paint each plant with Glyphosate? If it hasn't taken over the whole area, I would mow the JG and do what I can with Glyphosate.

It's too bad that some seed company's still sale JG and Sericea lespedeza! Before buying prairie mixes look through their catalog and see if they have either of these two invasve species, if they do, I would not buy from them! Sometimes it feels like a battle that can't be won, patience will persist.
 
UplandorDie said:
The dreaded Johnson Grass! Mow before it flowers and chemical control. Plateau and Outrider is very expensive and who has the time to paint each plant with Glyphosate? If it hasn't taken over the whole area, I would mow the JG and do what I can with Glyphosate.

It's too bad that some seed company's still sale JG and Sericea lespedeza! Before buying prairie mixes look through their catalog and see if they have either of these two invasve species, if they do, I would not buy from them! Sometimes it feels like a battle that can't be won, patience will persist.
Click to expand...

Ok so I'm thinking. Disk late winter early spring as I have a lot of residual stalk and thatch/field silage to chop up then mow in spring before J grass can flower, disk again and then spray as J grass re-imerges and likely spray again just before my planting dates usually mid to late may.

Logical order of things ?
 
The roundup is useable preplant. However, I'd still use the Plateau just before planting as it is a residual herbicide.
 
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