Category: Weeds

Corn Speedwell (Veronica arvensis) is a hard-to-control weed that blossoms in winter annually. This plant is a beautiful sight to behold when it blossoms; with slender spine, deep-green leaves and purple flowers, you forget how terrible it can be to your lawn. Corn speedwell is a member of the Plantaginaceae family, but you can set it apart by its narrow alternate leaves and near sessile seed capsules and flowers. It has four petals and sepals in the flower. It grows in non-wetlands but at a times can be found in wetlands too.

Corn Speedwell grows wildly in meadows and fields but can also be cultivated on rocky grounds as they thrive on harsh conditions where there is no competition by other plants. Its ability to replicate is favoured by its dry fruits that split open allowing new seeds to take root. Its ability to easily replicate makes it a big threat to lawns. With little moisture the seeds easily take root and the endless growth cycle continues unperturbed.

Though it can get occasional bees visiting its flowers, it doesn’t rely on insects to reproduce as the flowers can self-fertilize. It is its high level of independence from fauna that makes it a hard to crash weed.

Uses

Corn Speedwell is a weed that most lawn keepers hate, but it also has some potent medicinal properties. Herbalists appraise it for its antiscorbutic and diuretic properties. It can hence be used in treatment of scurvy, skin infections, and ulcers. It is crushed and applied externally as a healing balm. It is also used as a blood purifier.

Generally, the genus Veronica weeds are used for varied medicinal purposes, but they are a common herb in different parts of the world and their application differ with communities.

Ornamental Plant

Though some people cultivate Corn Speedwell as an ornamental plant, it can get messy as it easily overtakes various grass species in lawns and landscape beds. For ornamental use, there are other less weedy species of the Veronica genus that can well serve the purpose without posing a threat to your lawn. These include; Germander speedwell, Persian Speedwell, and Creeping Speedwell.

Control

This weed is one of the toughest weeds to control when it has blossomed. It is therefore easy to control with pre-emergence herbicides in fall (its winter sprouts germinate in fall). If you miss this critical time, it becomes entirely impossible to use herbicides to control it. The best way would be to hand weed them out of your lawn. Also make sure to uproot them before the seeds begin to scatter in the lawn.

Another reason why it is advisable to remove the weeds by hand weeding is, most herbicides will harm the grass on the lawn too. Corn Speedwell is more resistant to herbicides than most ornamental grass species used on lawns.…

The dead nettle or purple deadnettle as is commonly referred is an annual winter weed that thrives in warm areas. It is sometimes called the henbit or ‘the devouring purple monster’ which is synonymous to the effect that weeds have on the environment. The dead nettle is a member of the mint family set apart by its four-sided square stem.

They have no stinging hairs. The flowers are tubular shaped with the upper and lower lip ends inclining towards each other. The blooming season, May to June, sees the plant produce flowers in a color variety of purple, white, lavender, and pink. Four nutlet seeds are produced when the flowers boom which can be used to replant the weed for continuous growth.

It grows rapidly transforming large farmed lands into reddish purple fields. This is largely because minimal to no effort is required for it to grow and spread. It has the ability to spread out 2 feet wide and grown up to 6 to 12 inches in height. It thrives in a variety of soils namely, sandy, loamy, or clayed, provided they are low light areas. Its preference is moist well-drained soil although it can still grow in dry conditions. Inadequate moisture especially during the summer heat tends to dry it out as well.

Uses

It is not entirely a nuisance as it has numerous medicinal purposes. It is considered a diaphoretic. Astringent, diuretic, purgative, and styptic.

• Its leaves are helpful to external wounds and cuts. They help stop bleeding.
• It contains strong anti-inflammatory properties, meaning of course that it can help reduce inflammation.
• It helps to treat bad odor and vaginal discharge.
• It is also known for reducing allergies. This is due to its antibacterial and antifungal components.
• Its highly abundant in vitamin C, iron and fiber. These properties help boost immunity and fight infection.
• The oil found in its seeds is rich in antioxidants.
• The purple deadnettle is considered edible. It can be used to make salads, tea, soups, smoothies, etc. It works similar to other greens.

Caution is advised as it may have a laxative effect if taken in large quantities.

Deadnettle Control  

A pre-emergent herbicide or a post-emergent herbicide can be used to control the weeds when they are in their earliest stages and not blooming. If you prefer to not use the chemicals, mow them constantly to prevent them from blooming.

Another possible solution would be to grow a healthy lawn. The weeds don’t take well to competition so your grass is likely to win the competition for nutrients and space. Sometimes you might need a special grass blend. Your local nursery or professional lawn care experts will advise you best depending on your conditions.…

Sedges look a lot like grasses at first but are not the same. They can be very difficult to control. As one article said they are like the good witch and the bad witch from the Wizard of OZ. Some are used for ornamental purposes and others are invasive and difficult to eradicate once they are established.

To make matters worse, there are different types of the invasive ones and they require different strategies. Some of the common problem ones are yellow nut sedge, purple nut sedge, umbrella sedge, globe sedge, cylindrical sedge and annual sedge.

Prefer Moist Environments

Sedges tend to like moist environments, sometimes marshy, although some varieties do fine in drier soil. They tend to grow taller, have larger blades to their leave and have seed heads that are much larger and not as fine and delicate as grass seed heads when you let grass get that long. Most of the sedges also have a triangular stem although some have round stems.

Since most sedges like moisture, one way to control them is to add soil to low lying areas so water doesn’t collect there as much. Another way is to keep the grass mowed so the sedge can’t form seed heads. If they are in the garden where you don’t mow, even if you don’t pull them, make sure that you cut off the seed head before they drop their seeds.

Different Strokes for Different Folks (Or Sedges)

You also need to identify which sedge or sedges you have so you can plan the correct means of attack. Some sedges are perennial and others are annual. If yours are annual, the key to control is to prevent it from dropping any seeds.

If you have a perennial variety, you have more of a problem. There are some herbicides that could be effective. They are different from ones for grasses and broadleaf weeds. One is called SedgeHammer.

On the Scott’s website it says that the nutsedges are perennial. They have roots that can extend down 10-14 inches and they have small tubers or nutlets that grown on the roots that new plants grow from. So if you don’t get all of the root, they just grow back.

Long Grass or Short?

Scotts says to mow the grass long. It says that nutsedge are stimulated by short cutting and by leaving the grass longer it helps the grass to crowd out the nutsedge.

An article by two weed scientists from the University of Tennessee say to cut the grass quite short and cut it a couple of times a week to control nutsedge. Not sure whether to believe them or Scotts.…

Japanese stiltgrass looks a bit like a miniature bamboo. Not the tall variety that you get bamboo poles from but one of the smaller varieties. Stiltgrass only gets at most about 6-8 inches high but if not controlled, it can get up to two feet high.  To see a picture, click here.

Annual but Long-Lived Seeds

It is an annual, so that makes it slightly easier to deal with. However, the seeds can be viable for years, so if you pull them and they are close to going to seed, don’t compost them. You will regret it next year.

Remove by Weeding / Pulling

Luckily, they barely have any root structure at all so they are easy to pull up. They appear in the summer but grow extensively in the fall. Pull them before they can go to seed. Pull the weed after a rain or wet the area you will be weeding. This goes for any weed. It is much easier to pull them and have the roots come to when the soil is wet. When it is dry, they tend to snap off and leave the roots in the ground and you will just have to come back and do it all over again.

Stiltgrass likes moister and shady conditions which grass doesn’t do too well in. You can condition the soil to make it better for your grass so it can compete better with the stiltgrass. You could also help things by doing some pruning of trees in the area to get more sunlight to the ground.

If the soil is too moist, core aeration can help. Also, once the stiltgrass is pulled, you should put down something to prevent the seeds from germinating. A natural product is corn gluten which should be put down in the spring. Or you could use Preen. You might want to retreat after 3 months with either Preen or the corn gluten.…

Creeping Charlie / Ground Ivy

Creeping Charlie is a perennial that can be difficult to control. It generally stays low to the ground and puts out shoots or stems along the ground which root at spots along the vine or stem. It will sometimes go up if it has something to support it. It is evergreen and considering that it is in the mint family, it is not surprising that when crushed it smells somewhat minty.

If you are into brewing beer, you might want to encourage its growth. The ancient Saxons used to to brew beer. It is European and was brought to North America for medicinal reasons and is now found in almost the entire United States.

The stems are squarish and the leaves are round and scalloped. It gets into grass in shaded areas, preferrably moist and then expands to sunny areas. It is also happy in flower beds and can become a quite dense mat. It spreads in two ways, rhizomes and seeds.

The vines have nodes which is where the leaves grow from. If the node touches the ground, it will sprout roots. If you then pull the vine and it breaks and leaves those roots in the ground, it just starts growing a new plant.

Controlling / Killing Ground Ivy

To control it, use a broadleaf herbicide. The University of Maryland Extension program suggests one with several active ingredients. Particularly look for the ingredient triclopyr which is supposed to be more effective.  They say that two applications are usually necessary and that they should be done 14 days apart.

Another website says that the only effective herbicides for Creeping Charlie are ones that have dicamba. Apparently even this herbicide is only effective if done at the right time of the year. If you apply in late spring or summer, it will only stall its growth and not kill it. They recommend treating it in early fall when it is growing most actively. The idea is that it will weaken the Creeping Charlie enough that the winter weather will finish it off.

Here is the prescription for when you do do this. Cut the grass and wait three days. This will cause the ground ivy to put out more leaves and take up more of the herbicide. Once you have treated it, wait another 3 days before cutting the grass again.

In flower beds you can get rid of it by hand pulling (best after rain or watering). Or you can smother it which can be done with newspaper or mulch or both.

Good luck!…

Purslane’s scientific name is Portulaca oleracea. This one is interesting because it can be seen as an invasive weed or something great to eat. It is native to India and Persia and has spread to many places around the world. In some cases it spread by accident, but other times it was spread on purpose because many people like eating it and brought it with them to plant.

Purslane has fleshy leaves and stems. Almost reminiscent of aloe plants or other succulents. The University of Illinois Extension program has a nice article about purslane which was one of the sources for this.

Purslane as Weed

Now, if you want to control it and consider it a weed, the first thing to know is that it is an annual. Therefore it is critical to not let it go to seed. Even if you leave some of the plant, get the flowering portion. The seeds can remain in the soil for as much as 40 years and still be able to grow. During the growing season, it can sprout from sections of stem as well. So if you chop it up and leave it there, bad move, you will just get more purslane.

It likes a soil temperature of 90 degrees or more. Therefore it tends to germinate in June and on into the summer. Pre-emergents like Preen are effective for about 3 months. So many people put Preen on first thing in the spring and then forget to spread it again in June or July. This gives purslane and other plants a foothold.

Purslane as Food

Purslane used to be eaten commonly and in many parts of the world still is. Mother Earth News has a nice article about it as a food and health food. It has started to make a resurgence in restaurants that are into local produce and in farmer’s markets. It is high in Omega-3, so it is very healthy and beneficial to eat.

Purslane has a lemony flavor and because of the fleshy leaves and stems is crunchy. When it is young, it is quite good in sandwiches and salads. It can also be stir fried and used in place of spinach. If you make pesto, try mixing some in to that too.

Purslane as Health Food

You will wonder why more people don’t eat purslane when you find out what is in it, which is rather remarkable.

It has more Vitamin E and Omega-3 fatty acid (alpha-linolenic acid or ALA) than any other plant. If you think spinach is good for you, purslane has 6 times as much vitamin E. And what about carrots and beta carotene? Purslane has 7 times as much! And if that is not enough, it is also has magnesium, potassium, riboflavin, phosphorus, and vitamin C in abundance.

The human body doesn’t produce vitamin C or essential fatty acids. They must be eaten and the current American diet high in processed foods has no where near enough Omega-3 which has been linked to increasing heart problems and other health issues.…

Another invasive weed that is difficult to control is Lesser Celandine. It is native to Europe and West Asia and is in the buttercup family. Wish they had kept it to themselves. It does have a pretty little yellow flower, but it gets into everything.

Due to the fact that people used it to treat hemorrhoids, it used to be known as pilewort. In German, the word for it translates as Scurvyherb because the leaves are high in vitamin C and it was used to treat scurvy.

The good thing about it is that it comes out early and dies back early. You might have a chance of eradicating it when you first get it if you are diligent about weeding. But once it gets a foot hold, it is almost impossible to get rid of. When weeding, make sure to get as many of the underground tubers as possible. Also, get to it before it dries up and drops its seeds.

Lesser celandine likes wet areas but will do fine in drier areas. You can almost forget about getting it out of wet areas but there is a chance in drier areas. Test the pH of the lawn or the garden bed. If it is low, spread ash, and put a heavier load on the areas with lesser celandine.

There are also natural broadleaf herbicides that has iron as its main ingredient and works well on celandine. One is named IronX.

Also, because lesser celandine loves water, don’t overwater. Another thing you can do is to put down Preen early in the spring. That will help prevent the tubers from the prior year from sprouting and coming up again. It won’t be perfect but should improve things year to year, until eventually you should have it under control if not completely removed.…