--- title: Summer Grass canonical: https://fernland.com.au/problem-solver/summer-grass/ dateModified: 2026-08-07 09:37:12 summary: "Summer grass (Digitaria) is a warm-season annual grass weed of thin turf, cultivated soil and nursery areas. Identify its spreading growth and finger-like seed heads, then prevent establishment and seed set." type: article keywords: [Summer Grass, Digitaria] --- # Summer Grass > Summer grass (Digitaria) is a warm-season annual grass weed of thin turf, cultivated soil and nursery areas. Identify its spreading growth and finger-like seed heads, then prevent establishment and seed set. *Digitaria* Summer grass is a low-growing, tufted annual grass with a sprawling or semi-erect habit. Stems root at the lower nodes where they touch soil, allowing a single plant to spread outward and form a mat over a metre or more across if left unchecked. Leaves are flat, pale to mid-green, with a fringed ligule and a somewhat hairy leaf sheath and blade base, giving the foliage a slightly soft, downy feel in many species. The seed head is distinctive: several finger-like spikes radiate from a single point at the top of the stem, a feature shared across *Digitaria* species and giving rise to the common name crab grass. Seed heads appear from early to mid-summer once plants mature, and each plant can produce large numbers of seed that shed readily and persist in the soil seed bank. Summer grass is a warm-season annual that germinates from spring once soil temperatures rise consistently, growing rapidly through summer and setting seed before dying off with the first cold weather of autumn or winter. It is common throughout turf, garden beds, nursery production areas and disturbed or bare soil across most of Australia, particularly where irrigation or summer rainfall keeps soil moist. Because it relies entirely on seed for spread and reproduction, management focuses on preventing seed set and disrupting germination. Pre-emergent control timed ahead of spring germination is the most reliable approach, combined with maintaining dense, competitive turf or groundcover to reduce bare soil available for establishment. Seedlings and young plants can be controlled while actively growing before they set seed; established, seeding plants are harder to manage and contribute heavily to next season's population. ## How to identify - Pale green, coarse-textured patches appearing in turf during summer that contrast with the colour and density of the desired turf species - Sprawling, mat-forming growth with stems rooting at nodes, often first noticed along garden bed edges, cracks in paving or thin/bare turf areas - Finger-like seed heads radiating from a single point at the stem tip, visible from early to mid-summer - Rapid re-infestation each season from soil-stored seed, even after visible plants are removed**Field check:** Part the turf canopy or foliage to check the base of the stem — summer grass stems are flattened and root at the nodes where they contact soil, distinguishing it from upright bunch-forming grasses. Confirm identity by looking for the multi-fingered seed head, which is diagnostic for *Digitaria*. **Lookalikes:** Summer grass is commonly confused with *winter grass* (*Poa annua*), but winter grass is a cool-season weed that germinates in autumn/winter and has a distinct seed head panicle rather than finger-like spikes. It can also be confused with couch or kikuyu runners; unlike these desirable turf species, summer grass is an annual that dies off completely over winter and re-establishes from seed each spring. ## Registered products we stock - [Freehand Pre-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/freehand-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — BASF - [Barricade Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/barricade-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Syngenta - [DISMISS Granular Ornamental Pre-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/dismiss-granular-ornamental-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Macspred - [Specticle Pre-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/specticle-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Envu - [Ronstar Pre-emergent Herbicide for Turf & Ornamentals](https://fernland.com.au/ronstar-pre-emergent-herbicide-for-turf-ornamentals/) — Envu - [Sayonara 10 GR Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/sayonara-10-gr-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — Farmalinx - [OH2 Ornamental Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/oh2-ornamental-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — ICL - [Fusilade Forte 128EC Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/fusilade-forte-128ec-herbicide/) — Syngenta - [Barricade HG | Pre-Emergent Herbicide | 250mL](https://fernland.com.au/barricade-hg-pre-emergent-herbicide-250ml/) — Syngenta - [Passtox Clear (DSMA) Selective Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/passtox-clear-dsma-selective-herbicide/) — Colin Campbell Chemicals - [Crab Grass & Clover Killer Selective Weedkiller](https://fernland.com.au/crab-grass-clover-killer-selective-weedkiller/) — David Grays - [Metric Herbicide 400SC](https://fernland.com.au/metric-herbicide-400sc/) — Amgrow - [Revere 500 Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/revere-500-herbicide/) — Adama - [PennMag Turf Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/pennmag-turf-herbicide/) — Syngenta - [Gauntlet Post-emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/gauntlet-post-emergent-herbicide/) — Adama - [Onset 10 GR Pre-Emergent Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/onset-10-gr-pre-emergent-herbicide/) — ProForce - [Quinstar 200SC Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/quinstar-200sc-herbicide/) — Adama - [Crucial Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/crucial-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Weedmaster Duo Glyphosate 360 Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/weedmaster-duo-glyphosate-360-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Glyphosate 360 Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/glyphosate-360-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Glyphosate Weedpro 540 Bio Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/glyphosate-weedpro-540-bio-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Weedmaster DST Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/weedmaster-dst-herbicide/) — Nufarm - [Gamma | Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/gamma-herbicide/) — PCT SureFire - [Arsenal Super Herbicide](https://fernland.com.au/arsenal-super-herbicide/) — BASF ## Image credits - [Photo: Rasbak via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harig_vingergras_plant_(Digitaria_sanguinalis).jpg) - [Photo: AnRo0002 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20170704Digitaria_sanguinalis3.jpg) - [Photo: AnRo0002 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20180629Digitaria_sanguinalis1.jpg) - [Photo: AnRo0002 via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20160727Digitaria_sanguinalis2.jpg)