Crowsfoot Grass (Eleusine indica)

Crowsfoot Grass is also known as Eleusine indica and Goosegrass, due to the close likeness of the plant to the feet of geese. We discuss How to remove Crowsfoot from your lawn.

After you read this, you will be able to:

• Know what Crowsfoot or Goosegrass looks like.
• Be aware what conditions favour Crowsfoot grass.
• Know the best cultural and chemical options to control Eleusine indica.

Crowsfoot Grass is a difficult to control grass weed that tolerates low mowing heights, and thrives in low nutrient and compact soils. It is a Summer annual grass weed that germinates in the late Spring, and then grows through the Summer.

The seed head appears from the late Spring to early Summer and is two to ten spikelets on long stem.

It grows from a central crown with branches that radiate out like the spokes in a wagon wheel. The leaves are a distinct white or silver colour at the base,

Crowsfoot is a good indicator weed of compact soils. We often find Crowsfoot in heavy wear areas, and it does well in poorly drained conditions. More on turf weeds is in our weed ID chart.

How to Identify Crowsfoot Grass.

Crowsfoot Grass is a tufted, dark green summer annual grass with flat stems and shiny strap-like leaves. Its leaf blades are smooth with folded venation and white sheaths that leads to a short jagged, membranous ligule that divides at the centre. It has a prostrate or upright growth and tends to form a low-growing rosette with a white-coloured leaf sheath at the base.

The seed head appears in late spring or early summer and has two to ten spikelets on a long stem.

Photosynthetic Pathway: C4 Weed.

Height:  Crowsfoot plants can reach up to 20 cm in height and produce a large amount of seeds.

Leaf Length: The leaves of Eleusine indica are up to 30 cm long.

Leaf Width: Leaves are is 3 to 8 mm wide.

Spikelets: Goosegrass grows 3 to 7 spikes that are 4 to 7 mm long. The seeds attach in a zipper-like appearance on the spike.

Reproduces: Crowsfoot reproduces by seeds, that germinate at or near the surface of moist soils, when soil temperatures reach 15°C to 18°C. It is an incredibly efficient weed, and grows twice as fast as turf grass.

Eleusine indica sets seeds even in closely mown turf. Each plant produces more than 50,000 seeds that are spread by the wind and rain, as well as machinery, animals and humans.

Comments: There are no hairs on the leaf, but there are hairs at the base of the leaf. Goosegrass can germinate in a soil pH range from 5 to pH 10.

Habitat: Crowsfoot Grass thrives in compact soils and heavy wear areas. It is a common weed in poorly drained soil and likes full sun. Crowsfoot is often seen on soils with relatively high P, K, Ca, and Mg.

A thick, healthy turf cover with no bare areas, inhibits Crowsfoot and its seed production. Other cultural options that avoid the use of chemicals include:

• Hand pull. Although difficult to hand pull due to its liking for compact soils, you can control Eleusine indica if you dig it up with a shovel. This is best done when the soil is moist.
• Mow. If you mow before it goes to seed it is a major step toward managing this grass weed.
• Relieve compaction. This is a grass weed that thrives in compact soil and so any work that relieves soil compaction will discourage it. Carry out aeration by hand or with a mechanical unit, and reduce traffic to improve turf cover and help the grass compete.
• Give it time. Goosegrass is an annual that dies in frost in the Autumn or Winter. So in areas like Canberra and regional NSW if you keep on top of the seed the problem will reduce year on year.
• Shade reduces weed growth, so a vigorous, dense turf cover helps shade out this weed. Bearing this in mind selecting the right turf seed or turf type for your situation can be a signfiicant step toward managing this weed.
• You often find Goosegrass in heavily compacted areas, and where there is limited grass competition. Coring heavily trafficked areas alleviates one of the main factors that favours this weed.
• Aim to core the turf when its actively growing so it recovers quickly. Any bare soil areas after you finish this will tend to favour weed encroachment.

Selective post-emergents are available, but your best option is to carry out pre-emergent control. Even with this though, Goosegrass in couch is more difficult to control than for example, Summer Grass.

Pre-emergents for Crowsfoot Grass.

• When you use Oxadiazon at at normal rates, this controls Crowsfoot better (91%) than Pendimethalin (69%), Dimension (69%), and Prodiamine (71%), at label rates.
• Summer Grass control is 80% or higher when you use 1/2 rates of either Dimension® or Pendimethalin with MSMA at the label rate. This is a lot higher rate of control than if you use Dimension® or MSMA by themselves at normal rates.
• Pre-emergents like Onset 10GR, Barricade, Echelon, Echelon Duo, and Battalia prevent Crowsfoot grass in warm-season grasses. Make sure that you use these at the correct rate and time to get good control.
• For example, a single application of a granular pre-emergent like Onset 10GR, Echelon or Echelon Duo, several weeks before germination gives season-long control of Crowsfoot grass. If you use other products, you may need to make split applications to get season-long control.

Post-emergent Control of Crowsfoot Grass.

• Timing is important with all post emergent herbicides. Aim to use these after goosegrass seed germinates, and you will usually need several applications of these herbicides to give complete control.
• You need good soil moisture to get the best results.
• ProForce Destro works well, and is in a different chemical Group from most of the other options. Destro gives better results with an MSO like ProForce Voltage, to overcome the waxy leaf surface and give better contact.
• Envu Tribute Selective also gives good results.

Foramsulfuron (Tribute Selective) is safe to use on Couch and Zoysia as an alternative option to ACCase-inhibitors like Destro. You need two applications for control on established Crowsfoot. Due to potential antagonism don’t use Tribute with a non ionic surfactant or crop oil.