What is Kikuyu Grass (Cenchrus clandestinus).

Kikuyu Grass is a warm season perennial grass. Cenchrus clandestinus (previously Pennisetum clandestinum), has a tough, mat forming growth habit and is an aggressive weed in some situations.

In warm weather it spreads quickly by both stolons and rhizomes. These invade nearby surfaces, and crowd out desirable turf species. Over time it develops an undesirable thatch layer of rhizomes or stolons.

Kikuyu Grass is a native of East and South Africa, and is you find this grass almost entirely to areas where the minimum average temperatures are above 16°C.

Kikuyu accumulates high levels of chemicals that are toxic to livestock, and when livestock consume large quantities it causes staggers.

Why is Kikuyu Grass a Problem?

• It shades out and chokes other plants.
• Kikuyu Grass produces herbicidal toxins that kill competing plants.
• It is resistant to mowing due to its strong network of roots, which easily send up new shoots.
• It damages buildings by growing in the gaps between stones and tiles.

For more information, please check out our weed ID chart. 

 After you finish reading this, you will be able to:

• Identify Kikuyu Grass.
• Know the habitat of Kikuyu Grass or Cenchrus clandestinus.
• Know the best cultural and chemical options to control Kikuyu Grass.

The Distribution map of Kikuyu grass in Australia is courtesy of The Atlas of Living Australia.

Kikuyu Grass Identification.

Category: Kikuyu is a C4 Grass.

Flower: Seed heads form from the Spring through to Autumn, and you can see these as two to four orange spikelets between 3 to 5 mm long.

Height: It grows to a height of 7 to 15 cm.

Leaf Length: Leaves are up to 5 cm long.

Leaf width: The leaves are 3 to 7 mm wide.

Reproduction: While Kikuyu Grass spreads well via vegetative reproduction, it also disperses by seed. Rhizomes continue to grow as separate plants if you snap them off when you attempt to remove this grass.

Comments: The leaves are hairy, light green with a folded venation. They have a hairy ligule and sheath.

Habitat: It is a good indicator weed of very low Ca and P, high K, and very high Mg and Fe. It is often a weed of disturbed soils, and prefers sandy sites. It is common to find this weed in gardens, lawns, roadsides and waste areas.

You can control Kikuyu Grass (Cenchrus clandestinus), and even completely eradicate it by cultural means, but it isn’t easy and takes time.

Hand Removal of Kikuyu Grass.

The nature of Kikuyu Grass makes hand removal of large infestations extremely difficult. It takes repeated efforts to successfully deal with it. It’s important that you remove all the stolons and underground rhizomes, because any stolon or rhizomes that remain are likely re-grow into new plants.

Any material you dig up, you then need to remove off-site.

Pre-emergent Control of Kikuyu Grass.

Due to the nature of Kikuyu there are no pre-emergent herbicides registered for use in turf to prevent Kikuyu Grass.

Post Emergent Control of Kikuyu Grass.

Several post-emergents are available for Kikuyu control. We recommend Recondo and Tribute for suppression, and Quinclorac and Pylex for Selective control. Be aware these are not safe to use on all turf varieties.

US research shows that MSMA, and Quinclorac do not control Kikuyu grass when you only use these only once. However, if you apply these every 4 to 5 weeks over a 5 month period, you will reduce the Kikuyugrass. Sequential applications of two-way combinations of these herbicides in 1991 gave reductions of kikuyu grass from 80% to less than 1% of the sward.

Further work at the University of California shows that a tank mixes of Triclopyr + Quinclorac + MSO or Quinclorac + Carfentrazone + MSO are safe to use on perennial ryegrass and mixed perennial ryegrass/Poa annua. The former mix is NOT safe to use on couch as it will damage it.

• Ethofumesate.
• Trifloxysulfuron (Recondo 100WG). This only suppresses Kikuyu Grass. Use with a NIS like Optispread 1000.
• Quinclorac (Quinstar). This only suppresses Cenchrus clandestinus. Use with an MSO, and is safe on cool and warm season turf.
• Topramezone (Pylex). Not on warm season turf.
• MSMA (Geronimo). Repeat applications.
• Triclopyr. Not currently registered in Australia for use in turf.
• Foramsulfuron (Tribute Selective Herbicide). Safe on couch. You can increase the uptake and translocation of foramsulfuron by pre-treatment with MSMA.

Non Selective Control.

• Glyphosate. When you spray Kikuyu with Glyphosate you’ll get best results if you DO NOT add a wetter/penetrant. On dense infestations if you first cut it and then spray the more vigorous fresh regrowth you get better results..
• Numchuk Quad.
• Cortex Duo.
• Renegade.

You final option is to hand paint Glyphosate!