Pain in the Grass is an ongoing series of articles discussing common grass weeds encountered in lawns and strategies for control.

Weedy Grass ID Tool

Identifying the weedy grass in your lawn is the first step to effective management. This tool includes the 11 most common grass weeds found in Michigan lawns.

How to use the tool: Dig up a sample, examine the characteristics below, and select the option from the drop-down menu that best matches your grass in each category. Diagrams are provided to help guide your choices. If you're unsure, select "I don't know." Results on the right (bottom for mobile) will update based on your selections. Click a grass name in the results section to view photos, identification details, and management recommendations.

Dig up one or more plants and check whether they are connected to other plants by horizontal stems (or just have promienent rooting stems). Look below the soil for rhizomes (underground stems) and along the soil surface for stolons (aboveground stems, aka runners). Learn more about growth habit.

Three grass growth habits: bunch-type, spreading-rhizomes and spreading-stolons

Peel back a fully developed grass leaf and examine the base on the inside portion. Here you're looking for a thin membrane (some may be very short), a fringe of hairs, or some grasses have no ligule. Learn more about ligule types.

Three types of grass ligules: membranous ligule, hairy ligule and no ligule (absent)

Learn more about leaf emergence.

Two types of vernation: rolled and folded

Look at the base of a fully expanded leaf are there any appendages there that look like lobes or that protrude from of clasp the stem?

Three auricle types: absent, present-stubby and present-clasping

Unable to identify your grass using this tool?

Please contact the MSU Plant & Pest Diagnostic Lab (pestid@msu.edu) and include detailed, high-resolution photos. Please visit Grass photography tips for ID: Help us help you! to see what types of photos are most helpful.

In the event your grass cannot be identified through photos, a plant sample (including roots) could be submitted to the lab. You can read more about the form required and the fees associated with this service at the embedded links. For more information, including the rest of the services available, visit the general website at https://www.canr.msu.edu/pestid/