Last week I started cleaning out a small iris bed next to Jim’s vegetable garden. I had lifted some irises from another spot and never replanted them, but irises are forgiving of neglect. They will continue to sprout even when left unplanted in a plastic crate. Unfortunately, I had waited so long to replant them that wiregrass had taken over the bed.
Wiregrass is a trickster. On the one hand, it is the most annoying, persistent weed that can invade a flower or vegetable bed. On the other hand, wiregrass is the recommended warm season grass for our coastal region. That’s right. Wiregrass (Cynodon dactylon) is Bermudagrass. The same turf that is used for lawns, athletic fields, and golf courses is the leggy weed that is almost impossible to remove if it sneaks its way into your irises.
The term “wiregrass” may refer to different species of grass in other regions of the country, but this particular species is a native of Africa and not Bermuda. It is a perennial that thrives in our hot, h...