Maryland Grows

You can hear them cackling. The winter weeds are laughing because they’re sure you haven’t noticed them.  

They think you’ll just stroll by and not notice them lurking in your lawn and beds, sneaking and snaking their way across your landscape.  

The loudest howls come from the mighty few that have the audacity to be unfurling a few flowers or a smattering of seedheads.   

Think this is fiction? Nope. Weeds classified as winter annuals are having a field day out there and they spell big headaches for our springtime gardens.

Winter annuals germinate in the fall to kick-start their growing. Cold weather slows them down some, but in milder winters they do some serious expanding to vex us in the spring.

Don’t let them. Get out there and show them who’s the boss.  

I got a call from a client whose lawn was being eaten by henbit (Lamium amplexicaule), a notorious winter annual. Its scalloped leaves and purple flowers make us think it belongs, but it doesn’t. Be merciless.  

The yellow flowers of common groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) are popping up around our offices. It’s another one that needs to go. 

Common chickweed looks innocent enough with its tiny white star-shaped flowers. Don’t be fooled.  

Chickweed, purple deadnettle (Lamium purpureum), and hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) have all done well in the last few years. While their names are lovely, they have terrible habits.  

So how do you banish these beasts? Knowledge is power. Scout your gardens and look for plants that are out of place and looking particularly vigorous. They might be winter annuals.

Next, use a good resource to identify them. One is our Home & Garden Information Center website which has photos and management tips.

You also can send me photos for identification and advice on cultural, mechanical, and chemical controls.  

Cultural controls focus on how you manage your landscape. Many lawn weeds can be controlled by beefing up your lawn to stave off interlopers.  

Other preventive cultural controls include planting tightly, mulching, and using groundcovers or cover crops.

Mechanical controls are physical controls such as pulling, digging, or mowing to keep weeds from making seeds.  

It’s particularly important to control winter annuals before they set seed. Annuals make up for the fact that they only live one year by making ridiculously large amounts of seeds.  

Beat them at their game. 

I generally stress organic, non-chemical controls. A good reference is our fact sheet on managing weeds without chemicals.

But sometimes it is necessary to reach for a chemical herbicide to control weeds. I can recommend ones that work.    

Using chemicals is all about applying the right product the right way at the right time so they work and have minimal environmental impact.  

Always, always follow the directions on the product label. More is not better and can cause harm. 

Break the cycle of winter annual weeds in your landscape. Use all the tools in a smart gardener’s toolbox:  prevention, identification, and informed controls.    

By Annette Cormany, Principal Agent Associate and Master Gardener Coordinator, Washington County, University of Maryland Extension.

This article was previously published by Herald-Mail Media. Read more by Annette.