There are lots of weeds that spring up from time to time, but the weeds in your garden might be different from the weeds in your lawn. That’s why we’ve put together this article about the most common grass weeds.
Grass weeds can be a challenge to remove, but they’re not impossible. The best thing to do is educate yourself about them.
The 5 Most Common Grass Weeds
These are the 5 most common grass weeds that you’re likely to find in your yard.
Plantain
Plantain is a very common grass weed. There are two types of plantain: broad-leaf and thin-leaf. The seeds of broadleaf plantain can settle in your yard.
These weeds have strong roots but can still be pulled out if you don’t want to use a harmful pesticide. However, they are also hardy plants and natural alternatives may not always work.
Dandelion
You’re probably familiar with dandelions. They are the weeds with tall stalks and yellow flowers that puff out into beautiful seedlings.
As children, these seedlings were fun to blow around the neighbourhood. But now, we realize that these seeds lead to an abundance of dandelions the next year.
You can mow your dandelions to keep them from going to seed, but if you want them gone forever, you have to uproot them.
Crabgrass
Being an actual type of grass, crabgrass is the definition of a grass weed. Crabgrass has flat, pointed leaves and can produce more than 150,000 seeds per season.
Crabgrass spreads not just by its seeds, but also by the lower stem pieces that can take root. Again, your best bet is to uproot the whole plant. Sometimes this requires a shovel.
Quickgrass
Quickgrass is another type of grass weed. It has upright, flat leaves that have rough edges. This is a perennial grass (most grasses are not biennial) that tends to be most active during spring and fall, when the weather is milder.
This plant mainly spreads through its underground tubers, which means you need to uproot the whole plant if you want it gone.
Clover
Clover is another perennial groundcover plant. It’s a good pollinator and bees love clover, so some people prefer to keep it around. Otherwise, remove small clumps by hand and mow the rest.
Wood Sorrel
Wood sorrel looks quite similar to clover, but the two plants are not the same. Most notably, wood sorrel has yellow wide flowers.
Wood sorrel grows dense, and creates a mound that can spread either by seeds or through the spreading of its roots.
That’s one of the reasons that wood sorrel can be tricky to get rid of by hand. If you try to uproot it, you’ll probably end up leaving some of the plant behind.
This is one of the few plants that may require post-emergent herbicides. Of course, it’s always wise to try a natural alternative, like vinegar, first.
Conclusion
There are lots of grass weeds, and each one needs to be treated differently. Hopefully, this article has helped you understand how to get rid of the most common lawn grass weeds.