Use the photos and details in this guide to help identify the weeds invading your lawn. Green Planet offers
effective solutions for eliminating weeds.
With
its three leaflet clover like leaves, this legume is often confused with white clover. Low growing, with
trailing, slightly hairy stems, it produces clusters of small, bright yellow flowers in late spring to early
summer.
Broadleaf plantain has gray-green, egg-shaped, wavy-edged leaves growing in
ground-hugging rosettes. Narrow seed heads appear in a long cluster on a central, upright
stem.
The leaves are
compound, with 3 broad leaflets (sometimes 4, if you're lucky!) 1.3 - 2.5 cm long, with tiny teeth on the
edges, a pale triangular mark appears on each leaflet.
Bright,
shiny green, lance-shaped leaves appear in spring. In summer and fall, the puckered wavy edges of the leaves
are tinted reddish purple. Small greenish flowers appear on a tall, narrow spike coming from the center of
the plant.
Look
for coarse blades somewhat upright in a bunch-type growth. Rhizomes are so closely jointed that they appear
almost scaly.
Everyone
recognizes the bright yellow flowers of dandelions; they appear in early spring and are followed by puffy
seed heads. They arise from rosettes of lance-shaped leaves.
Leaves
of this perennial vary from nearly smooth to hairy, and form an extremely dense cluster. The daisy like
flowers growing on 2-inch stalks have bright yellow centers highlighted with white to pinkish outer
rays.
Also
called creeping charlie, is a common lawn weed problem. Lawns in shaded areas and often with poorly drained
fertile soil are typical sites for ground ivy to develop into a major problem.
The name of this weed offers a clue to its appearance. It has long, narrow, fleshy
leaves that look fuzzy. Small, white flowers appear in late spring and early summer, followed by seed heads
in mid summer.
Oxalis has
bright yellow flowers and green leaves. It grows upright. Oxalis is a perennial with seeds and rootstocks so
that it sometimes appears to be a creeping vine.
Purslane
has sprawling, thick, fleshy stems with rubbery leaves. Tiny, yellow, five-petaled flowers open when the sun
is shining brightly.
Quackgrass
is characterized by light green to blue-green coarse blades that are rough on their upper surface. If not
mowed, it can grow 5 feet or more in a single season.
Smooth and hairy crabgrass have a prostrate growth habit with coarse, light green
blades. The blades are short, pointed, and hairy.
There are
several types of speedwell, all characterized by small, lobed, and numerous leaves, and by tiny white or
purple flowers. The scallop-edged leaves are paired, growing opposite each other. Heart-shaped seed pods
grow on the stems below the flowers.
Spurge is 6 to
36 inches in height. Erect stems support linear, alternate leaves of a bluish-green hue. The species
exhibits yellow-green inflorescence on an umbel near the top of the stem.
Tall
fescue does produce short rhizomes but has a bunch-type growth habit - it spreads primarily by erect
tillers. Individual tillers, or stems, terminate in an inflorescence, reach 3 to 4 feet in height, and have
broad, dark green basal leaves.
Wild
violet is a winter perennial, growing 2 - 5 inches tall. It can have a tap root or a fibrous root system,
and also can produce rooting stolons and rhizomes.
Though
it resembles a grass, yellow nutsedge is actually a sedge. Its coarse, light green leaves grow upright from
triangular stems. Seed heads appear from July to October.
For more information on Green Planet's lawn maintenance and tree care services:
Call 810-742-5555, or contact Green Planet Lawn & Tree Care online.
Serving Genesee County, Michigan: Grand Blanc, Flint, Davison, Burton, Swartz Creek, Fenton, Frankenmuth, &
Flushing, MI.