Identify lawn weeds

[Tony Sivori]

Like Demons, they seem to be easier to kill once you know their name. :-)

Weed #1

Weed #2

Located in Zone 6, Louisville KY

[Jim Elbrecht]

Looks like Purslane from here. In my book, they aren't weeds, they're salad greens. The oxalis is a biting little thing that brightens up a salad - especially if you're Irish.

The purslane is good raw or cooked. When cooked it acts like okra and adds that gooey texture.

Search for purslane recipe and you'll find hundreds of ways to eat this one.

Jim [and have your soil tested and balance the nutrients and you'll probably get rid of both as they like 'poor' soil]

[The Daring Dufas]

Some people in the government have been trying to rid the country of that second weed for some time but it keeps showing up like a bad penny. *snicker*

TDD

[Mitch]

I definitely have that first one, because not 10 minutes ago I sprayed some with Roundup.

[RicodJour]

You can also treat your lawn with corn meal - it inhibits broadleaf germination.

But I agree with Jim. We're omnivores - if you want to get rid of something, eat it.

You know that pigeon problem we have in cities all over? Well, I was in Egypt recently and saw some of these structures:

The occupants end up here: R

[Tony Sivori]

Thank you. After a Google I know what herbicides are most likely to work on them. Looks like the Oxalis (a.k.a. Wood Sorrel) might be the most difficult of the two.

[Nate Nagel]

Hell, I just let the sorrel fill in the bare patches in my yard. It's a hell of a lot nicer than chickweed, mile-a-minute vine, poke plants, or this other weedy thing that I haven't identified yet... I figure if I let it grow it'll choke out all the REALLY bad stuff.

nate

[Master Tang]

I get something like the 2nd one in my backyard garden. Very easy to pull up. Why use poisons?

Clover is very easy to just pull up too. If it's in your lawn just weed it, let the yard take over. Just use common sense.

Instead of herbicides, use compost and feed your lawn so the weeds don't have any place to grow.

mt

[Hipupchuck]

Or smoke it. The police will come and pull it all up.

The occupants end up here:

[Tony Sivori]

In a third of an acre lawn, my back just isn't up to weeding it by hand as I might do in a small garden. Also, some of the weeds that I have, among them Wild Violet, pulling them up is all but impossible.

What I am doing to minimize chemical use is spraying with a two gallon hand pump sprayer. That way I spray the weeds only, rather than the easier way of using a garden hose attached broadcast sprayer to soak the whole lawn.

[LouB]

LOL

[Tony Sivori]

That is pretty much what is happening in my case. It is just my second Summer in this house and it was previously a repo. So the lawn was well neglected.

Last year it was overrun by dandelions and wild violets. I've put a dent in the violets (Bayer Bush Killer Plus gets fair results on this hard to kill weed), and I've 95% exterminated the dandelions. I did seed last Fall, but the sorrel seems to be occupying the bare patches where the seed didn't take.

[Stepfann King]

You only have 2 weeds? That's nothing.

[JIMMIE]

If its green I let it grow. The healthier my lawn gets the less of this kind of thing I have in it. Until I get a well established lawn these weeds fill in the bare spots.

Jimmie

[aemeijers]

The occupants end up here:

My vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, and lapsed vegetarian sisters all do that. I always pack various antacids and other tummy potions when I visit them- most of the strange-to-me veggies they serve me taste okay going down, but some of them give me monster heartburn an hour later. And yes, the salad bowl usually looks like the bottom of my wheelbarrow after cleaning up the yard. I tend to agree with the rabbits- if the leaf has pointy things and a sharp taste, eat something else if available.

-- aem sends...

[Pat Kiewicz]

This is oxalis (AKA wood sorrel), most certainly. Edible, tart-flavored. Persistant.

This is not purslane, it's chickweed.

It's a fall/winter sprouting weed, so spring pre-emergent herbicides are not going to control it.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

Mea Culpa-- A second look and I retract my mis-identification as purslane. Too bad-- Chickweed is also an edible weed- but I'd much prefer purslane.

Probably doesn't need saying- but just in case. Make a choice of nibbling or poisoning. Don't eat the plants if you're using an herbicide.

Jim

[Tony Sivori]

Thanks for that. The Chickweed pictures that google brings up do match perfectly.

[Tony Sivori]

Reminds me of that old saying: "There are bold mushroom hunters, and there are old mushroom hunters. But there are no old, bold, mushroom hunters."