I need to know the name of this lawn weed. If I know the name I can get
rid of the weed effectively. This is a common lawn weed. It spreads as
a creeper.

Thanks. Bill S.

On 6/12/2020 10:34 AM, bilsch01 wrote:
I need to know the name of this lawn weed. If I know the name I can get
rid of the weed effectively. This is a common lawn weed. It spreads as
a creeper.

Thanks. Bill S.


It appears to be oxalis (O. corniculata). It is somewhat hard to tell
from the photo. If the flowers have five petals and resemble a star
and the leaves resemble clover, then it is indeed oxalis.

When I see oxalis in my garden, I dig it out with a paring knife. It is
important to get the entire plant. As it grows, new roots form along
the runners. Thus, just pulling it does not work.

An herbicide based on ammonium thiosulfate will kill it but not kill its
seeds. That herbicide also kills spotted spurge (Chamaesyce maculata,
aka Euphorbia maculata) another creeping weed, but generally does not
damage other plants except for junipers (genus Juniperus) unless it has
been improperly mixed too strongly. The herbicide quickly decomposes
into a nitrogenous fertilizer.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

"David E. Ross" writes:

On 6/12/2020 10:34 AM, bilsch01 wrote:
I need to know the name of this lawn weed. If I know the name I can get
rid of the weed effectively. This is a common lawn weed. It spreads as
a creeper.

Thanks. Bill S.


It appears to be oxalis (O. corniculata). It is somewhat hard to tell
from the photo. If the flowers have five petals and resemble a star
and the leaves resemble clover, then it is indeed oxalis.

When I see oxalis in my garden, I dig it out with a paring knife. It is
important to get the entire plant. As it grows, new roots form along
the runners. Thus, just pulling it does not work.

An herbicide based on ammonium thiosulfate will kill it but not kill its
seeds. That herbicide also kills spotted spurge (Chamaesyce maculata,
aka Euphorbia maculata) another creeping weed, but generally does not
damage other plants except for junipers (genus Juniperus) unless it has
been improperly mixed too strongly. The herbicide quickly decomposes
into a nitrogenous fertilizer.

I sure couldn't tell from that tiny picture,
even after blowing it up.

I just used Tenacity (Mesotrione) for the second year.
Good stuff, it kills 46 broad leaf weeds.
Got the Oxalis, wild violets, nut grass.
It seems like it only stunned the clover.

The lawn looks much better this year.


--
Dan Espen

On 6/12/20 5:27 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
O. corniculata

Thanks for the info.
Bill S.

bilsch01 wrote:
On 6/12/20 5:27 PM, David E. Ross wrote:
O. corniculata

Thanks for the info.
Bill S.

if it is oxalis it is a pretty difficult weed to
eradicate without using some digging or chemicals.
i don't use sprays on the lawn or gardens here so
when we had this weed show up and take over some
gardens it took me some time to get it mostly
under control (there's some still around but many
fewer than before).

the important thing for me was to dig fairly
deep holes and to scrap the top layer of soil
with the roots and plants into the holes and to
bury it. this was done before most of the flowers
had set seeds so that kept a lot of the next
generation from having an easy start. that was
last year, this year in that same garden i use
a stirrup hoe to scrape the surface so any
remaining plants cannot spread or drop seeds and
there are only a few of them in there. which i'm
just now finally getting back to weeding the
whole thing so there are going to be some pods
and seeds. those pods have a lot of very very
tiny seeds in them.


songbird