What is this weed/plant that is taking over my lawn?

September 9, 2013 9:24 AM

This weed/plant is rapidly taking over the lawn around our house in Central Ohio. Can you identify it and let me know how to go about getting rid of it? Here is a photo
posted by crosten to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Looks to me like wide-leaved plantain (Plantago major) that has been trimmed by a lawn mower. It's a weedy species not native to the U.S.
posted by Empidonax at 9:33 AM on September 9, 2013

Oh, and if you're avoiding herbicides, "control by repeated removal of plants is usually most successful in a home garden or lawn. Because the leaves lie close to the ground, mowing is not an effective control."
posted by Empidonax at 9:35 AM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Wild violets. Ugh. They spread underground via these horrible mat-like root systems. You're not the only person with this problem. Here's an old OSU extension page (search for wild violets). Google "invasive violets" for photos to see if they match your un-trimmed weeds.
posted by purpleclover at 9:36 AM on September 9, 2013 [5 favorites]

Yep. Wild violets.
posted by putzface_dickman at 9:42 AM on September 9, 2013

Thirding wild violets. Exceedingly difficult to eradicate because the little rhizomes/corms they grow from are capable of regrowing from but the smallest sliver. They also self-seed, so bonus. They will likely need to be dug up repeatedly, as most herbicides are pretty useless.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 9:47 AM on September 9, 2013

Yeah, looks like wild violets or maybe creeping charlie. If using herbicides, I've used Weed-B-Gon for chickweed, clover and oxalis to deal with creeping charlie (it's specifically also used for wild violets) with pretty good success, but that sort of weed will be very difficult to eradicate 100%.
posted by odin53 at 10:37 AM on September 9, 2013

yah, xxing vild violets. Pretty, but will take over.

Pull the corm out. Even if the corm dries up, it can still revive, so throwi t away, don't compost it, etc.
posted by k5.user at 11:05 AM on September 9, 2013

Take a look at your neighbors yards. If it's overtaken the adjacent yards, then it really nasty. Best case is that you ask your neighbors if you can spray their yards when you do yours. Do it now.If you don't catch it in the Fall, then it will have won the war by next Summer.
posted by 26.2 at 11:17 AM on September 9, 2013

Violets. Pull 'em out, use weed killer, and burn the refuse.

Be prepared for a multi-year effort.
posted by valkyryn at 11:23 AM on September 9, 2013

I agree with Empidonax---it looks more like damaged plantain. (But another couple pictures---one of another plant, and one from farther away---might help.)

An easy test to tell the two plants apart:

Does it make green spikey things (these are the flowers)? Wild plantain.

Does it make kind of pretty small white or purple flowers (that look like violets)? Wild violet.
posted by leahwrenn at 11:40 AM on September 9, 2013 [1 favorite]

Plantain is more rugged, leaves are larger and oval. Violets can be anywhere from pretty tiny to tall (6-7") and the leaves are smaller and more rounded. Violets have pretty blooms in the spring, like lots of decayed vegetable matter. Plantain has a spike that has tiny sort-of-flowers. Both are edible.

I encourage the violets in my yard, as I love the flowers, and the rest of the summer it's still green. I occasionally pull the plaintain or use a spiky tool to dig it out.
posted by theora55 at 11:43 AM on September 9, 2013

I have had success eliminating creeping Charlie with a borax and water solution. Fall is approaching which is a good time to weedn feed.
posted by TheLibrarian at 12:36 PM on September 9, 2013

I'm oscillating between the wild violet and the plantain crowd, though I'm inclined to go with plantain myself. Plantains have more leathery leaves (if the trimming left you with no flowerheads to judge by), and if you tear one apart (pull top of leaf and bottom of leaf in opposite directions) you get sort of threads dangling from the tear. Fun plantain use for kids - two kids pull, one on each ends, the number of threads on your end of the torn leaf is the number of kids you will have when you grow up. In other uses, plantain is a highly regarded medicinal plant with some scientific backing, we use it a lot for cough syrups/ respiratory infections/ sore throats where I come from.
posted by miorita at 2:40 PM on September 9, 2013