What is this and how do I get rid of it?

I live in NC, have tall fescue lawn, and all of a sudden this stuff started growing out of it!!!! It is a small 4x4 foot patch, and it grows about twice as fast as my normal grass. One thing I notice is that when I pull it up it either snaps at where the blade meets the ground or usually I can pull up the root which extends significantly horizontal along the ground. Any ideas??? Thanks!

Pics to follow, I have a picture of the blade only, then of the blade and the root that usually comes up with it, and a pen for size reference. What is it and how do I get rid of it?

 

Pics
















I apologize if these came out to big, I tried to resize them.

 

Thankfully the size came out alright. The last few are pics of what the root looks like right before it goes into the ground and joins that nasty looking root thing. The top grass is the blade and root, the bottom "plant" is just the blade part that broke off at the root. The pen is there for size reference.
Thanks

 

The farm i live on used to be a sheep and horse farm. That grass looks to be like the grass that still grows all over here. Its what the animals used to eat. Its very tough and a rough or thicker feel than regular grass right? A (for lack of better word)wheat stock should shoot out of it if you let it grow. Sorry i don't know the name of it. But it can grow very very tall if let alone. If you pull one of the blades out of it, it should just kind of slide right out, believe it or not the white can be eaten,,,lol. but not much, can make you sick too.

How to get rid of it,,,,well i have been pulling and pulling, because it will grow in clumps, and make mounds of it, because of the roots. Its almost impossiable to get rid of this way, the roots just grow and spread out so far. So basically i just let it grow in the fields still, and only work hard on places i want to plant. I cleared a section out 3 yrs ago, and i am still having to go in and pull more out...the roots are horriable. Hopefully someone will know how to kill it with out killing your other grass...Good luck, and wish this was a better helping post.

 

It looks like Elymus repens (couch grass).
The primary way of spreading is by root production and growth.
If this pernicious thing is indeed couch grass it is a force to be reconed with. You must remove it as soon as possible, for if it really takes hold, it will spread rapidly.
It is really difficuolt to get out precisely for the reason that you said--it snaps off at a joint.
If you can confirm that it is indeed couch grass there is a plant that you can plant where the grass is and it will kill it. The only problem is that it may not be realistic in your situation because it might look odd having these tall plants popping up around here and there in your lawn.
Otherwise you will need a trowel and some knee pads and try and carefully remove every last rhizome of this terrible grass. Digging and sifting. Remember the roots can go down 15 cm (6 inches). One time digging and sifting will not be enough unless you are Guiness book-lucky.
These piccies show how the Tagates minuta ´cured´ my couch grass problem: Note the brown and dead leaves and stems.



Good luck with this, farrella, just do not wait too long to take some kind of action.
Of course the plant may nor be couch grass, in which case you must find a different stragedy.

Now that I think of it, I have a different type of grass-like plant growing back near the compost bin that is a tough customer as well. I shall have to try and discover what sort it is.

 

Thanks a lot for the info. I do believe it is couch grass and am planning on using glycophosphate to kill it. I read something about the possible environmental hazards of couch grass but if I am not going to plant any vegetables or fruit there than is there any reason not to use the product? It seems a lot better to use glycophosphate than to pull up the roots myself or dig a trench or do any of the other non chemical methods. Will it be hard for my tall fescue to again grow there, or will it not kill my tall fescue and only the couch grass. Thanks for the help.
Here is the link where I got some of my info.

http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/allotment ... rass-1.asp

 

Would anyone like my bermuda grass or my crab grass? Bermuda Grass will be the death of me!