How to kill brome (and other cool season grass) in existing prairie

We get this question a lot.

“I have a brome patch that I want to put prairie in, but I don’t want it to be a dirt patch for a year. Can I plant prairie into the brome and kill the brome later?” 

Yes, yes you can. However, please note, it is risky and requires great timing.

First step is to plant… of course. Fall is best for this. Mow the brome down to very short (a few inches high). Then go ahead and plant. For more on this, check out our blog on planting.

So, you planted last fall, and you’re ready to kill some brome. Aren’t we all?

Brome is a RESILIENT species. We’ve only found Big Bluestem to be more resilient. So in order to kill brome you have to use glyphosate. It’s not our favorite, but if you found a better, please let us know. We are all ears. 

The two things to remember are the same as cooking, coincidentally:

Temperature and timing.

The brome needs to be sprayed after it greens up but before it the prairie and wildflowers come in. However, it also needs to be 55 degrees Fahrenheit for a low when you spray. This usually leaves sometime in late April.

You will need to do this two years in a row. As we know, when establishing prairie you need to mow for a year and a half. This is paramount for controlling brome. If you spray the brome and some of it barely lives, then you allow the seed to fall that year, you will start to have glyphosate-resistant brome. And that is…bad. Very bad. So please, MOW.

After the second year, you should have taken care of most of the brome. If you have a small field, it’s worth walking a couple times a year in the early summer to see if there is any brome to pull out by hand. It’s not a fun time, but it is effective. If you have a large field, then keep an eye out for brome patches and respray them when needed.

I hope this was helpful. As always, if you’re looking for prairie or pollinator, check out our Backyard Prairie Store.

Best of luck, fellow growers!