Having more than 4 varieties of weed, chickweeds are very common in warm climate lawn grasses. Some of these group weeds are annual and some of them are perennial.
Mouse-ear chickweed is a perennial weed but common chickweeds are annual in lawns. If you have a lawn in Bermuda or St Augustine, then maybe someday common mistakes will cause chickweeds on your lawn.
Let's understand how to identify them and remove them explicitly.
Removing chickweed from the lawn
Common chickweeds belong to herbs in variety but their excessive consumption can cause many internal allergies or diarrhea, upset stomach, etc. But still, sometimes, we can use them for medicines.
Let's understand how to identify these chickweeds in the lawn.
Identification of chickweed in lawn
Every variety of chickweed has different shape of leaves and different color of flowers that blooms on it. Following are the identification factors of common chickweed in the lawn-
- Leaves- Small, rounded pointy shape, flat, and very tiny sharp fur border
- Shape- Like herbs
- Size- 1/2 ft to 1 ft max
- Nature- Invasive
- Flowers- Distinct flower petals bloom toward the sky
- Color- Dark green leaves and white flowers
Is chickweed good anyway?
For lawns and gardens, there is a clear no for chickweeds. Because they are invasive, grow in compacted soil, and create several problems at once for primary lawn grass.
For human consumption, it shouldn't be a part of their daily diet. Though it is not poisonous and delicious to consume after chopping and boiling like spinach but not good for a daily diet, especially for those who are sensitive to allergies.
I won't suggest you use it as pasture for animals. Without having any solid scientific evidence, it is better to avoid this weed.
Although Birds eat chickweed often and even chickens don't hesitate to consume it.
Requirements to eliminate chickweeds from lawn
Don't worry, you don't need much stuff to remove chickweeds from the lawns. One can remove chickweeds with basic knowledge, simple stuff, and a simple process-
- You need a PPE kit or at least a half-body cover like gloves, face mask, head cover, and glasses.
- Organic weed-removing herbicides of a quality brand.
- Small cultivator tools, dethatching reck, and aeration tools.
The removal process of the chickweed in lawn
It is not as difficult to remove it from the lawn as it seems after its invasion. Once it establishes itself in lawns, it becomes very tough to work to eliminate it permanently.
Let's understand what options we have to remove it more effectively at a particular stage of weed growth.
Hand picking method
Picking weeds from the hands is a very common method to remove weeds immediately. Don't hesitate to wear safety gloves while removing the chickweeds.
In the initial stages, hand-picking methods are very effective and for matured weeds, it can help to remove them fast but not enough to avoid further growth. You can grab chickweeds with stems and pick them up with roots.
If possible then try to use cultivator tools to dethatch or remove the roots left in the turf.
Using weed-removing herbicides
Using organic weed-removing herbicides may help to take permanent relief from the chickweeds. Many market chemicals promise to kill weeds permanently but it is always best to use only organic herbicides.
If you think you can do it yourself, make sure you wear a PPE kit before using it. Use a long-handle sprayer to make it more precise.
Only trust quality, licensed, legal, and organic weed-removing herbicides like Scott's weed removal and natural weed removal.
Basic steps of prevention
If you don't want to enter weeds into your lawn, then it is better to prepare your lawn from time to time to prevent the weeds.
The following tips will help you to avoid or prevent common chickweeds in your lawns-
- Aerate your lawn once or twice a year if the soil gets compacted too fast. For that, you need to inspect the soil first. Take a slice from the turf(including the soil) and examine it in the glass pots. It will provide you with valuable information about your grass roots and soil health.
- Check the overall lawn drainage in the soil to avoid weeds and unnecessary moisture.
- Overseed and reseed your lawn if lawn turf has brown patches after dormancy.
- Keep the mowing regular on your lawns. Mowing can remove young and small weeds in their early stages very easily.
Is it difficult for beginners to remove chickweeds?
Well, if you don't know the basics of lawns, soil health, grassroots, drainage, or even mowing lawn grass, then it will be better for you to call professionals to remove weeds from your lawn.
If you know at least the basics and have some working experience, then it will not be hard work for you. With some basic requirements, it is possible to remove chickweeds from lawns.
Chickweed removal is not a very costly process. Most of the portion of investment cost the PPE kit and buying herbicides. Apart from that, it is not a costly task. But calling professional experts may increase your cost twice to three times.
The life cycle of chickweeds
Common and sticky chickweeds are not perennial so they die within a year after completing the cycle. Few varieties live longer because of their perennial nature.
Generally, common chickweeds start to grow in mid-spring to mid-summer. During the entire summer season, they grow comfortably in moisture and soil fertility. Before fall, they bloom their flowers for a few weeks and then go into dormancy for the entire winter. They don't recover from this dormancy in the future. But before that, they produce and left their seeds for the future. Some other annual weeds in lawns are crabgrass, lambs quarters, knotweed, etc.
Though perennial chickweeds can recover themselves in the next spring. They follow the same cycle but live further after dormancy.