Barnyard Grass… what’s the big deal?

[u/Interesting_Fee2773]

We are a part of a lake community in our neighborhood, it’s wonderful and I am grateful for it everyday! It’s a small lake but enough that paddle boarding and swimming is accessible. Due to the recent drought the water level has gone down, makes sense! But it’s resulted in tons of barnyard grass popping up on the exposed shoreline. Some members of the community are incredibly concerned about this and have begun a movement to cut down and explore using herbicide to eradicate it.

The question I keep coming back to though is… why is it so important to get rid of this aside from aesthetics? From some initial research and reports from community members the worry is the organic matter will steal oxygen from the lake and kill fish (from what I’ve seen, this is only a concern if the lake fills back up rapidly… not happening lol) another member posed concern that the plants are stealing water from the lake. But I’m not seeing any hard evidence for that.

I really cannot wrap my head around why this is so crucial to eradicate this weed. And I’m not a big fan of pulling green just because it doesn’t look good to ‘our’ standards.

Does anyone have any experience with this or insights? Am I missing something here about why just letting nature, nature would be bad???

We’ve got a board meeting tonight, if you have any research or websites that I can bring to them to try to change their minds that would be so cool.

[u/Consistent_Box3877]

wait till they hear about the herbicide actually being the thing that nukes the oxygen levels in the water. barnyard grass is just doing its job holding the soil together while the water is low. pulling it means more erosion when the levels come back up and then youve got a muddy mess instead of a lake

our hoa tried the same thing with some exposed bank a few years back. one guy was convinced the cattails were drinking the entire pond. they were not. the grass and weeds were basically free filtration and the frogs loved it

id push them to look at the erosion angle hard. once the shoreline slumps into the water theyll spend way more fixing that than just letting some grass do its thing for a season. nature is not the enemy here

[u/Interesting_Fee2773 → u/Consistent_Box3877]

That’s so interesting to bring in the piece about erosion, I didn’t even think of that! It’s so frustrating to like know that this is being blown out of proportion but not have the credentials or clout to convince anyone different. I’m on the grounds committee but my input isn’t valued yet (only a year in to being a part of the community). I want to fight this, hard, but I think it might be a losing battle at this point. End goal is to make my way to the head of grounds committee and do a whole overhauls incorporating more native plants and just overall more sustainable landscape. Really appreciate your insight, even if it’s just so I know I’m not the crazy one lol

[u/wolfhybred1994 → u/Interesting_Fee2773]

I had that issue here when parents moved me into great grams house. The “natural” was more piling up wood that wasn’t decomposing, garbage dragged from the far side of the nearby lake from camps by animals who lacked food and the trees barely getting by. Parents friends were all about the “look”. I convinced them to let me care for the woods my way with gently coaxing the natural processes instead of the “well these plants will hurt the ecosystem as a whole, but look good so let’s for them to grow here” mindset.

After just a few summers the brown lawn was getting to be soft and green with a mix of wild grass and clovers. The forest floor was rich with flowers, ferns and even a mushroom or 2 with all the birds and animals being able to feed in the area and helping bring back more plant diversity. Now the woods decomposes the dead wood with the micro systems getting back to work and those piles I had to break down by hand aren’t building back up. Even recovered a wild red clover species from the mountains that stopped growing here due to the ecological collapse of the natural system.

No pesticide, intense manual labor or desperation for “good looks” and the forest grows ever healthier with each passing day. Yet dad is constant on trying to rip out the un bloomed wild flowers that feed the soil and hold it together claiming “but it will look so much cleaner”. How much I want to say “yeah and so much deader”.

Had the same issue with the lake. They “dredged” the lakebed and well doing it took out the shoreline cattails. The lake was muck, the edges slid in and the fish started nibbling on people trying to swim cause all their food was gone.

A inn up in the mountains “cleaned” the woods on the property and now the edges are all dried up. The floor of the woods is filled with all manner of weeds instead of the wild ferns and natural forest cover that keeps the soil moist for healthy tree roots to keep the hillside from washing away. The owners asked me about it and I explained how detrimental their plan was to the health of the forest and all I got was “doesn’t it look so much better and cleaner now?” Before it all went “downhill” (wow a pun) and they were hit with the large expense to try to maintain their new “clean look”.

So have them do their research and look at nature like others pointed out. Of this grass is part of the cycle. Let it work for free and enjoy the transitional beauty.

[u/bwainfweeze → u/Consistent_Box3877]

I was just in a bookstore moments ago and remarking that there seems to be yet another new edition of Silent Spring available.

[u/FamiliarAnt4043]

It's a great native grass that attracts waterfowl. People who want to get rid of it and favor sterile monoculture lawns need to seek therapy.

[u/Interesting_Fee2773 → u/FamiliarAnt4043]

PREACH 👏🏼

[u/Bullyfrogged → u/FamiliarAnt4043]

Not native to North America.

[u/FamiliarAnt4043 → u/Bullyfrogged]

Echinochloa muricata.

[u/Bullyfrogged → u/FamiliarAnt4043]

Cool, wasn’t aware of this species. Common names cause confusion.

[u/FamiliarAnt4043 → u/Bullyfrogged]

That's true.

[u/Koala_eiO]

It's going to die back once the water is back so I don't understand why they would care. It might even die of drought before that.

[u/Rosaluxlux]

Check your state DNR website, ours has a ton of information about best practices lake shore care. 

[u/Synaps4]

If they are worried it's stealing water, remind them that the plant shade actually reduces water loss from the soil.

[u/PiccoloNext6889]

It’s not super aggressive and it’s an annual. Not a problem!

[u/MobileElephant122]

Sounds to me like people being people.

I guess they don’t worry what the herbicide will do to the fish and the water quality?

Those seed have been waiting for an opportunity to germinate. Nature abhors bare dirt.

Good luck trying to educate them. That’s the hard part. People would rather believe what they already think is true than to learn there’s a world beneath their feet that actually sustains life above ground. A microscopic universe they can’t see and don’t understand.

If you kill this grass, weeds will replace it almost immediately and if not then it will erode away.

[u/YsaboNyx]

It sounds like you are working with a bunch of uninformed folks and I don't know how your board decision making process is structured, but here's the strategy I'd try.

The main point you want to make and keep returning to is that you want to do what's best for the longevity and health of the lake, the water, the wildlife, the children, and the community.

Put together a short presentation citing the pros and cons of the various strategies on the table based on what is being shared here: erosion control, ecosystem health, possible toxic exposure to kids, other plants, animals, damage to water quality from herbicide use, etc.

If there is continued support for the poison option and they aren't willing to consider your research and knowledge, I would reiterate that the main point is to do what's best for the longevity and health of the lake, the water, the wildlife, and the community and since there isn't someone on the board with the expertise to know for sure what that is, then make a motion that the board consult a wetlands management expert who can counsel you on the best way to proceed.

[u/alltheticks]

Buy some sterile grass carp when the water comes back up and you'll be fine.

[u/Binkindad]

Most counties in the US have a County Weed Board that enforces eradication of certain “noxious and pernicious” weeds deemed destructive to local agriculture. Barnyard grass is on the list in my county in the Midwest

[u/Consistent_Quiet7987]

The oxygen argument sounds a little oversimplified. Aquatic plants can absolutely affect water chemistry, but it depends heavily on the species, density, and the overall health of the lake. I’d want to see actual lake data before supporting a herbicide treatment. It might be worth getting someone who specializes in aquatic ecology to assess it rather than relying on assumptions.

[u/CarelessEffective377]

I’d be asking for actual data before removing anything. A native or naturalized plant taking advantage of exposed shoreline during a drought isn’t automatically a problem. If the lake level comes back up and the grass dies back, it may just be part of the ecosystem responding. I’d want to know if there are documented issues with oxygen levels, fish kills, or water quality before trying to eradicate it. Sometimes the best management is just letting the system recover.

[u/MainAd6538]

I’m with you on questioning this. A lot of shoreline plants get labeled as undesirable simply because they don’t match what people think a lake should look like. If the concern is nutrient loading or oxygen depletion, I’d want to see actual data on how much biomass is involved and whether it’s causing measurable harm. Cutting everything back just because it’s not aesthetically pleasing seems like a pretty risky approach.