When those first mild days of March and April arrive, many of us are more than ready to get outside to start the garden chores or just watch our daffodils emerge. As eager as we are for spring to arrive those warmer days also mean that we begin to see those familiar weeds that plague us in our borders, beds and lawns. Fortunately doing a little homework about the life cycles of a particular weed nemesis can help determine the course of action in controlling them.
Taking Notice..
The common weeds of spring are mostly annuals. An annual is a plant that grows, produces seeds and dies within one growing season. The weeds that become noticeable to us in the spring actually began their lifecycle in the fall. The seeds start to grow in the fall, survive through the winter, start to grow again in the spring, flower, set seeds and disperse them. In the heat of summer they die. A few of these spring weeds are perennials. These are plants that survive and grow through multiple years. Unless there is an incursion of these weeds in your lawn or garden beds they get overlooked. They are short-lived and we get busy with raking out beds, prepping and sowing early veggies/flowers and thinking how and when to tackle the crabgrass. All of these necessary jobs distract us from these seemingly innocuous weeds.
Taking Action..
Nature is relentless, so that inattention will come back around to you. One spring morning you will notice that half your lawn and the edges of all your beds are full of weeds! That is not awesome!
Many of the annuals have thin branching roots and can be pulled by hand or hoe. The perennial weeds may have a taproot or stolons that grow horizontally above or below ground. These are tricky. It can be pulled but any pieces left behind will root and sprout additional plants.
Observe and tend to weeds either by pulling or at least mowing them before they go to seed. Then, establish a strong healthy stand of turfgrass. This will help eliminate the seasonal ‘bummer’ a gardener can feel when inspecting a yard after winter hibernation. In landscape beds handpulling might be the only appropriate action. It may still take 3 or more growing seasons to really make a dent in the weed crops in landscape beds.
If there is a weed take over in your lawn, consider a post emergent herbicide. Read labels and apply as directed. Start in small areas. After eliminating weeds, reseed shortly after with turfgrass seed. Life is busy and lawn renovation may not fit your schedule or budget. In short, if the consistent watering necessary for germination and establishment and/or the cost of professional help is just not a viable option there are still steps a home gardener can take. Work on the small eyesore areas that are especially annoying. As with any large project take it in chunks. Many university agricultural extension offices offer detailed information on renovating the lawns.
The 7…
Wild Garlic
Lifecycle: Perennial from bulbs. When we see these straight blue green skinny stems we think of wild onions but many times it is wild garlic. Wild onions have flat thin stems and wild garlic has rounded hollow stems. Reproduction: does flower and produce seed when undisturbed but mostly reproduces bulblets off of the larger bulbs. A trowel or a straight weeder can be used to dig up a clump of them. The act of mowing will actually stimulate this plant to produce bulbs so gardeners really need to dig it out. Wait for when the soil is moist(a day or two after a rainfall) and the clumps can be loosened from the soil easily.
Broadleaf Henbit
Life cycle: winter annual, less than 12-in. tall; noticeable in spring for pink to purple flowers. Member of the Lamiaceae or Mint Family-has square stems Reproduction: seed germinating in early fall or early spring. Mow it before it goes to seed!
Common Chickweed
Life cycle: Common chickweed is a winter annual that has smooth stems and leaves; can have several generations a year during cool wet seasons and forms prostrate dense patches in turf, landscape and vegetable gardens. Reproduction: seed dispersed in spring; germinates in fall; remain viable up to 10 years. Chickweed can produce amazing dense mats of green, fortunately the roots are shallow and can be dug up easily.
Purple Deadnettle
Life cycle: Winter annual noticeable in spring when light purple flowers are in bloom. Member of the Lamiaceae or Mint family. Often confused with Henbit.
Reproduction: Produces seed in the spring; seed germinates in the early fall or early spring. Dig it out or mow it low to ground if it is in the lawn. Rake out the area and reseed with grass.
Indian Mock Strawberry
Lifecycle: Perennial . Low to the ground and creeping, often confused with Wild Strawberry which has white blooms. Reproduction by seeds and stolons. Stolons will root out in a line to widen the plant area. Tough to eliminate from a landscape bed, any missed piece of plant root will send out new growth.
Speedwell-Veronica
Life cycle: Annual and perennial species; dense patches noticeable in lawns, especially in early spring. Reproduction: seed. It is a pretty blue color and stays low to the ground, may be hard to mow down.
Hairy Bittercress
Life cycle: Annual and perennial species; dense patches noticeable in lawns, especially in early spring. member of the Brassicaceae family-this is same family that has mustards, broccoli and cabbage to name a few.
Reproduction: seed. If allowed to set seeds, wear some type of protective eyewear when ready to remove it. When the seed capsule is disturbed the seeds fly out everywhere! They can travel up to 10 feet away. Yes, I have been hit in the eye a few times when dealing with hairy bittercress.
More Fun Garden Vocab!
Prostrate– laying flat upon the ground
Stolon or Runner– a horizontal stem growing above ground that may form roots at its tip or nodes.
Basal Rosette-a circular cluster of leaves at the base of the plant