COMMON MALLOW
It shows up in flower gardens and on the margins of lawns and curbs. It is not a particularly harmful weed, except that it tends to crowd out desirable plants, and may look unsightly in an otherwise well‐maintained area.
Common mallow leaves look somewhat like small geranium leaves, but they grow from a central stem with a tap root. It does not creep like ground ivy, but spreads by seeds. The plant continues to bloom from May to October, with blossoms varying in color from white to lavender. Each blossom produces many seeds, so it can produce seeds all summer.
Dense turf helps prevent the spread of
common mallow in lawns, and low
mowing will keep it in check. Thus
good turf management controls this
weed in lawns. However, they often
pop up along the edges of lawns, in
flower gardens, and along street curbs.
(Yes, even in sidewalk cracks.)
Common mallow is actually easy to kill
using mechanical means, so there is no
need to use chemicals. It is easy to
pull by hand if the soil is wet and
soft. Otherwise, use a hoe or hand
trowel to cut them off below the
surface of the ground. If your lawn is
too dry for pulling the weed up by the
roots, soak the area to soften the
ground. |
PRICKLY LETTUCE
Prickly lettuce is a common annual
weed in our area. It is essentially
harmless, except that it takes water
and nutrients needed by other plants,
and can totally take over an area if
blossoms and seeding are not controlled.
The flowers are yellow and about 1/3
inch in diameter, and it blooms from
late spring to mid‐summer. The plant
has a tap root and develops a tall stalk
about two feet tall or taller, depending
on the amount of moisture. All parts
of the the plant have a milky sap that
is sticky to the touch. It gets its name
prickly lettuce from small spines on
the upright stems and the underside of
the leaves. This weed is easy to control
in the yard or garden.
Simply pull it to cut it off below the
ground before it blooms. (Hoeing is
good.) It pulls easily when the soil is
moist.. If you only mow it, the remaining
stalk will branch into several new
stalks, and you are no farther
ahead. Once you let the weed go to
seed and launch the seeds into the
wind, you are in for a new and larger
crop next year—and so are your
neighbors. It can be controlled by
herbicides, but there is no need to use
toxic chemicals when mechanical
controls are effective. |
SPOTTED SPURGE
A real scourge. Spotted spurge is a
summer annual that sprouts quickly in
hot weather, grows like crazy, and
produces a gazillion seeds! It germinates
and flowers from June to September.
Though there are other plants
known as spurge in other places,
spotted spurge is one of our worst
local weeds. By competing for light,
food, and water, this pesky invader
retards the growth of more desirable
plants.
Spotted spurge flowers are the same
green as the leaves, and it can produce
seeds while the plant is relatively
small. It will appear in lawns and can
quickly produce its own green carpet,
and on relatively dry ground where it
appears as a dull gray‐green. It commonly
appears in flower beds, border
areas, and just about anywhere there
is bare soil. Ragged and stressed lawns
are especially vulnerable.
As pesky as spotted spurge is, it is easy
to pull by hand because the roots are
fairly straight and small. Their leaves
and stems contain a sticky, milky juice,
so be prepared to have sticky hands!
Herbicides sometimes (but not always)
kill the growing plants, but prevention
is best—by applying a pre‐emergent
treatment in the early spring. |
CRAB GRASS
You can't miss its unique shape—the
stems are thick and angular like the
legs of a crab. Beginning with seeds in
the soil, crab grass grows rapidly
throughout the summer, spreading
into a large course‐looking mat of
grass.
Crab grass is an annual grass that
germinates from seed in April and
May. While Roundup and similar
complete herbicides will kill it, that is
not what you want to do to your lawn
and flower bed. After crab grass
plants appear, hand weeding is the
only effective treatment. And they are
impossible to pull, because they
have a spreading root system. The
only ones you can pull are the very
young plants in soft, wet soil. Otherwise,
you will just pull off the tops of
the plants, and they will grow back.
What to do? You need a sturdy weeding
tool or sharp knife. Dig them out
by the roots or cut them off below the
crown of the plant. The crown is the
point where the roots and stems
join. In garden and border areas, you
can chop them out with a sharp hoe.
You can protect your lawn from crab
grass with a timely application of a
pre‐emergent herbicide. The same
pre‐emergent treatment will also
protect you from foxtail grass, spotted
spurge, and other annual weeds. |
