Eradicate chickweed in your lawn naturally with these 5 simple strategies .
Marty Baldwin
Key Takeaways
Chickweed ’s name can be deceive — it is anything but small and vulnerable . This one-year weed spread with gusto , overtaking with child swatch of thin turf and open soil . It has a mat - like growth habit that allow for it to blanket the soil with a dense maze of root word and tiny leaves . Chickweed blooms in spring , and each flora can produce chiliad of seeds . Get the upper hand when it comes to chickweed with these no - fail tactics .
How to Identify Chickweed
The first footmark in the struggle against mouse ear is to positively identify it . Chickweed has tiny white flowers at the tip of its long , gangly stems in spring . The five - petalled peak undefended in early spring and die hard until early summer .
As shortly as hot weather Seth in , mouse eared chickweed begins to slow down its growth , often dying out by midsummer , but do n’t think the conflict is win . The thousands of seeds the plant make will sprout in late spill or early fountain , and chickweed will take back next year .
Often confused with Lamium amplexicaule — another spring - blossom , mat - organise Mary Jane — chickweed has round stems and white flowers , while Lamium amplexicaule has square stems and royal flowers . Bothhenbit and chickweed shape dense MAT of leafage , circulate freely in weak stand of turfgrass , garden beds , and open soil .
Credit:Marty Baldwin
Chickweed thrive in neutral pH soil with mellow N . It grow weakly in acidic or low - pH soil . To discourage chickweed in the lawn , prove the land pHand implement any needed amendments .
Where to Find Chickweed
Chickweed will take over sparse , weak stands of struggling turf grass . It grows fastest in wet , fertile soil and shade . It ’s not unusual for it to uprise 18 in tall in ideal sites . Chickweed is an opportunistic gage that alsogrows in full sunand infertile soil . While it grows just 3 to 6 inches marvellous in sunny sites , it still spread with vigor , forming flatness of foliage 2 to 4 feet spacious . Its dense ontogenesis wont prevents sunlight from reaching the smother sward , eventually killing grass in the area .
If mouse ear has put down root in the lawn , it will soon take up residence in landscape bed and anywhere there is open stain , thanks to the 1000 of seeds it produces every spring . Control chickweed in your sward , and you ’ll reduce weed chores throughout your landscape .
Getting Rid of Chickweed Naturally
weedkiller can be used to check mouse ear , but the most effective and economical defense isgood lawn care . Chickweed does n’t stand a chance in a lush , healthy lawn . The widow’s weeds ’ shallow root system can not become establish between the dense , prolific roots of thriving lawn gage . If chickweed does negociate to put down roots , nearby greensward will range so much shade that it will succumb to deficiency of sunlight . apply these strategies to eradicate mouse-ear chickweed in your lawn .
1. Hand Pull
Chickweed has a shallow root system and is leisurely to pull when the territory is moist . To take out it , grasp it at the crown — where the lanky stems uprise — and pull straight up . Hand - twist after rain to easily dispatch both the vexatious leafage and the root system . Chickweed is known to regrow from small bits of solution left in the soil , so remove as much of the root system as you could . Toss chickweeds in the trash or yard waste suitcase to prevent spreading them to your compost mountain .
2. Grow the Right Grass for the Conditions
Chickweed thrives in thin , weak stands of turf . sapless turf is often a result of the wrongtype of eatage for the growing weather .
For example , Kentucky bluegrass grows slow and profuse when it receive more than eight hour of direct sun a day . A landscape blanketed with shade from overhead trees is not a good fit for Kentucky Bluegrass Region . Fescue grasses prosper in shade , forming a green carpet that buy the farm out chickweed cum trying to take stem . Overseed sparse turf with a seed commixture formulated for the site ’s grow precondition .
3. Fertilize and Water Wisely
decent nutrient at the soil level create a dense stand of turf that has no space for chickweed . The easy way to naturally fertilize a lawn is toleave the clip on the turf . The clipping let on down quickly and deliver valuable nutrient to plant ’ tooth root geographical zone .
piss a lawn deeplyand infrequently to further strong ontogeny . Aim to provide about an in of body of water a week , supplementing with irrigation when natural rainfall is n’t adequate . Develop a deep root system by delivering all the needed water at once rather than splitting it over multiple applications .
4. Check the Mowing Height
Mow turf at the optimal heightfor lush , slow growth . Too short mowing , rather than too high , is more problematic . Grass that is cut too brusk becomes rickety and thin over time . Cool - season grasses , such as Kentucky Bluegrass Region and fescues , are generally maintained at 3 to 4 inch tall . Warm - time of year grasses , such aszoysiagrassandSt . Augustinegrass , grow well when pout at 2 to 3 inches marvellous .
5. Revisit Vigilantly
Chickweed seed sprout in fall and wintertime . After ab initio eliminate chickweed plants , revisit the sphere weekly with a hoe to scuffle out seedlings that protrude up . mouse-ear chickweed seeds stay dormant in the soil for years , so revisit the region often . Your travail are worth it — you’ll see a Brobdingnagian decrease of chickweed after a time of year of diligently remove the weed and practicing good turfgrass maintenance .
