How to remove Kikuyu grass without killing other grasses?

[jennyscahill]

i have a large pasture area and i want to remove the kikuru to allow native grasses to dominate

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @jennyscahill. It's to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about removing Kikuyu grass.

Are there native grasses growing in the area at the moment, or do you hope for them to grow once the Kikuyu is removed? There is no spray I am aware of that will selectively kill Kikuyu and not other grasses. If there are no native grasses there currently, you could use a weedkiller on the Kikuyu now by only applying a mist coat to the leaves so you do not saturate the ground. Alternatively, if this isn't a large area, you could paint the Kikuyu leaf blades with a Yates Zero Weeding Herbicide Applicator Brush so you don't have to spray. The wand method would only be viable for a reasonably small area as it takes quite some time to paint the grass.

Removing it by hand would be an option, but it is a very time-consuming and laborious task. 

You might like to investigate professionals that deal with native seed bank regeneration. I certainly wouldn't suggest you do this yourself, but controlled burning of portions of grass will effectively kill the Kikuyu and stimulate the seeds bank to germinate. You might be able to find someone that specialises in this area and could provide guidance.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[jennyscahill]

Yes there is already a fair amount of native grass mixed with the Kikuyu which makes it hard to remove/spray. the cold weather has helped, and even though the native grass is growing you can see the large patches of kikuru which i plan to selectively spray since its weakened by the cold. thanks Jenny

[EricL]

Hello @jennyscahill 

Please keep us updated with your progress. If you run into any other issues with your lawn, please let us know.

Eric