Invasive IDs

[Red '57]

Well it's that time of year and all my favorite "plants" have reappeared in my yard. I live just north of Atlanta ( 7b ) and would like to ask for some assistance from the group.

I have a particularly nasty form of violet that followed me home after I got a plant from a friend. It is a violet, often called culvert kudzu and I would like to eradicate it. It does not respond well to Roundup and I really don't like to use that much of it. If it is dug up and any is left in the ground , it spreads faster.

Here are two examples:

Here is another plant that is not too bad, but is spreads very fast. I had never seen it until last year and that was 100 yards away from my house. Seems to be a shade lover.

Here are two examples:

The rest of my backyard potted plants:

thanks,

jim

[Cereus-validus]

Yep, you have weeds. Welcome to the club.

It is difficult to ID the plants without flowers.

The purple Violets are an especially difficult group to ID, even with flowers.

[Vox Humana]

Have you tried painting the leaves with RoundUp concentrate?

[Red '57]

You must be clairvoyant to know they have purple flowers ;-)

jim

[Bob S.]

to get rid of. Best control I found is products containing 2-4-D (Like weed-b-gon). A lot of persistance is needed to eliminate them.

could be button weed. If it has deep pink flowers it could be knotweed (aka smartweed). It spreads by tiny seed. Again, a 2-4-D product would be your best bet to control it.

Bob S.

[xplorer]

The first weed looks like Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica). It is a well-known herb but it is really invasive, sending lots of runners. I successfully eradicated it from my Arachis pintoi lawn by manual weeding!

The second one looks like a member of the grass family. The local agriculture bureau could probably ID it.

[Cereus-validus]

Oops, my secret slipped out.

You mean everyone isn't capable of psychic plant identification?

It turns out that most of the white or yellow flowered violets in the southeastern US have elongate leafy stems.

I didn't even say whether that the second plant is a Commelina or Murdannia species.

[JMagerl]

I too find that 2,4,D is good for killing wild violets with a few disclaimers:

1) Timing is everything in trying to get rid of violets. Spring is best. Fall is second best. Don't waste your chemicals in the summer. 2) 2 doses may be needed. 3) Weed-b-gon has slowly reduced the amount of 2,4,D in it. LAst time I looked it no longer said it killed violets. There are several other products with higher 2,4,D levels and work better at killing violets (spectricide, Trimec come to mind). Look for a 2,4,D level in the 5 to 7% region. 4) you might try something with triclopar in it (I may have spelled that wrong). A.K.A. Brush-b- gon

[Bob S.]

Right. Or if you plan on using a lot of it, you can get the agricultural strength which is around 45%. I believe one product is called Remedy, comes by the gallon, and costs in the neighborhood of $150. Seems like a lot of money, but figured by gallon of mixed solution is a much better buy.

Bob S.

[Kathy Bilton]

It looks to me like what you've got is Microstegium vimineum - Asiatic stiltgrass. What makes me think that is what it is is the line of white down the center of the leaves. I've heard that it's the invasive of most concern to managers of mid-Altantic forest areas. See:

Bilton