How to Identify Quackgrass
Quackgrass (Elymus repens) has wider, coarser blades than most lawn grasses and grows more aggressively upright. The key identification feature is the auricles: small finger-like projections at the base of the blade where it meets the stem. These auricles wrap around (clasp) the stem. Most lawn grasses either lack auricles or have very small ones.
Pull a blade and look at the junction where it meets the sheath. If you see two small claw-like projections gripping the stem, it’s quackgrass. The blades are also rougher textured than most turf grasses when you run your finger along them.
Why It’s Difficult to Control
Quackgrass spreads by aggressive underground rhizomes that can extend several feet from the parent plant. Each rhizome node can produce a new plant. Tilling or digging breaks rhizomes into pieces, and each piece regenerates. There is no selective herbicide that kills quackgrass without killing desirable lawn grasses because they’re too closely related. The practical options are spot-treating with glyphosate and reseeding, or repeated close mowing to weaken it over time.
