Hi Everyone,

I'm at my wits end trying to identify this weed - I need to get rid of it - and fast - as it's everywhere on my lawn in the last few days.

I need to get rid of it safely as the kids are here for the summer and the dogs are always here and I'm afraid it may be poisonous to them both.

Please help.

Ronan


<br><br>

I don't recognize it but I doubt if it is poisonous. You don't need to identify it to get rid of it. Just pull it out with a Weed Hound tool or spray it with vinegar. The vinegar will kill the topgrowth of the weed and also any grass that gets vinegar on it. Then hopefully the grass will return but the weed will be gone.

I have this same weed in NJ; I looked everywhere and couldn't identify it; it is spreading so fast it is unbelievable; it is easy to pull, but there are so many of them, since they don't necessarily grow tall enough for the mower blade to clip;

I have English Ivy nearby, is it a young ivy plant? I've never seen it before this year

I'm new here, heard the Dirt Doctor on local radio by accident, and came for a visit.

I haven't used chemical fertilizers or weed control on my lawn in years, I cut high, and mostly leave the clippings. I was concerned about using chemicals on my lawn anyhow, but even more so now that I have a dog.

Will corn gluten meal kill this? I read somewhere it could actually FEED weeds?

All corn gluten meal can do is prevent weed seeds from germinating and taking root. If the weed is already growing, then yes, it will have the effect of fertilizing the weeds along with everything else.

Maybe you brought the weed with you in seeds stuck in your clothes??? It might spread faster in Texas because the climate might suit it better here. Some things are weeds here that barely grow at all elsewhere.

I'd get comfortable and go dig it out. We have a weed called horse herb down here. You can actually buy it in stores but I'll give you all you want. It grows like a weed in my lawn.

I have both in my yard,the 1st one is easier to pull out after it flowers,a purple color and the 2nd. one is more like a vine( at least that what it looks like to me) and it tends to die here in Austin,Tx. when the weather gets warmer.Last year we had about70 days of over 100F and I noticed that that weed died.
Just remember when you spray with vineager that it's gonna KILL EVERYTHING it LANDS ON so be careful.

Looks like the leaf of a weed I have that has yellow flowers and is called fig buttercup. It is everywhere! Need help too!

Do what you want, but this is an awsome flower.

This, my friends, looks like bindweed, and there is absolutely NOTHING that can be done to get rid of it. It has purple and/or white flowers which need to be thrown away. The roots are extremely long, and the weed will return. Does it entwine itself around your other flowers? If so, pull it up from the ground, as far along the root as possible, and throw it away. Do NOT share it with others and do NOT put it in the compost pile. It's pretty as a ground cover (which I thought it was for a time), but once it gets on the other plants, well, it will snuff the life out of them. I did spray some vinegar on the leaves at one time, and it did seem to kill them, but the roots kept coming back producing leaves & flowers. Good luck! I have it in my backyard. Howard says it hates good soil, but I beg to differ: my vegetable garden has some of the best soil around, and it's headed toward that soil! It's all I can do to keep it out. Nasty stuff.

maybeljj is right...about everything.

I know this is an organic forum but there is no known organic solution to bindweed. Most people, even my organic friends, spray annually with RU and it comes back every year. I might get hung out to dry for saying this, but here is what seems to work against bindweed. Pull some of the living weed out of the turf and stuff it into a small container. Baby food jars work well. Dilute some Round Up at a 3:1 ratio with water and fill the jar. What happens is the bind weed takes the RU to the roots and dies. But apparently the plants are interconnected through the roots and much more of the weed dies than you would expect. You might only have to treat a few sprigs to get rid of the entire mess.

The advantages to this use of RU are that it is not a spray over the whole yard, it is diluted from the start, and it only affects the plant you stuff into the jar (not the entire lawn).

Still there is no Round Up solution that can be called organic. If you wanted to try an organic approach to this, you might do the baby food thing and use regular vinegar. If that worked for you, then we could declare victory once again over the Monsanto chemical purveyors.

Thank you, Mr. Hall. This weed is nasty stuff. It lies dormant in the dirt for at least 30 years; I live in a fairly new development, and this weed didn't show it's ugly face until last year. I've lived there since 2003. Fortunately, I only have it in the backyard, but it keeps multiplying every year! With so many plants back there, I find my weedeater is best, and boy do I "tear up the new ground," especially those weeds. Some I must pull out by hand, naturally; they're around (and up!!!) plants I want to keep. Can't stress enough that people get rid of it by throwing it away in the trash. My co-worker buys something (even though she, too, is organic, she uses a chemical. Sorry; don't know the name of the chemical) and once she pulls up the weed, uses an eye dropper to put the chemical straight into the weed root. Seems to do the job, but good grief! As much as I have???!!!!! Good luck!

Thanks again for agreeing with me.

Dont pull or dig this stuff. the roots go very deep (10') and when broken off below ground the will split into 4 or 5 new roots and just spread more. I have had it for years and have never found any thing that works. The best that I have found is to cut it off just above ground level (1/4" or less) and stay after it, but it still wins.