Asked on Jun 08, 2014

The bane of my gardens existence!

Keri
by Keri
I dont know what these are but they get harder to handle every year. I only use preening and pulling as a weed barrier but these are coming in more and more every year. Does anyone know how to prevent themif I can at all?
It grows with my perennial seedlings like Alyssum. Makes it very hard to pull.
A close up
Fuzzy weed
Close up of fuzzy
  38 answers
  • Janet Bergner Janet Bergner on Jun 08, 2014
    the first plant looks like a type of mint maybe....If it is pulling it won't help. get an herbicide as for the second I don't know what it is but I get it and I pull it but when all else fails...herbicide
  • Carole Lee Carole Lee on Jun 08, 2014
    a layer of bark chippings in your flower beds usually stops weeds ..you could try that ..I don't think that is a plant ..it looks like what we call monkweed in the UK it grows fast and furious !
  • Rhonda B Rhonda B on Jun 08, 2014
    The first plant listed is Acalypha rhomboidea aka copperleaf. It is a weed.
    • Patti Patti on Jun 09, 2014
      @Rhonda B thanks for identifying I have it too. weedwacking does zippo do not use weedkiller since it kills bees and i am on a well do not want it in our bodies
  • Jerri Wolfe Jerri Wolfe on Jun 08, 2014
    Don't know the name, but it's a weed. Pull it, hoe it up, get the roots... I hate using chemicals on my plants, but this one always tempts me...
    • Patti Patti on Jun 09, 2014
      @Jerri Wolfe they say to use white vinegar and baking soda... wonder if it woks
  • Keri Keri on Jun 08, 2014
    Not a mint but I think it is something that i pulled out when I bought this house. We pulled a bunch of shrubs and plants...
    • Judy Judy on Jun 11, 2014
      @Keri Pigweed & plantain.....dig or pull then mulch like mad.
  • Linda T Linda T on Jun 08, 2014
    Please don't use Roundup. It is one of the poisons that are killing the bees.
  • Keri Keri on Jun 08, 2014
    I dont use roundup Linda T. Thanks for identifying the weed everyone. Now any ideas thw best way to prevent it? I have to much ground cover and other perrenial seedlings growing to hoe.
  • Keri Keri on Jun 08, 2014
    Guess I just have to keep pulling....and pulling.... and pulling...and pulling. ..
  • Kay M. Kay M. on Jun 09, 2014
    @Keri, when you till your garden, move some of the dirt aside, and lay a thick layer of newspaper in between and around your perinneals, then put your dirt on top. No one sees it, and it's earth friendly, but it discourages the weeds.
  • Kathleen Feicke Kathleen Feicke on Jun 09, 2014
    The first one looks like mint as Janet says. I get the fuzzy one. We live in Florida and yard work is year round. I love the plants, but the weeds....yuk.
  • Shari Shari on Jun 09, 2014
    Does the first one have a distinctive smell to the leaves if you rub them? It looks so much like my lemon balm that has taken over. It, too, is a member of the mint family. It has a very distinct lemony smell when you bruise the leaves.
  • Barbara Barbara on Jun 09, 2014
    Try white distiller vinegar to kill weeds, instead of Round Up. It kills grass in gardens, then cover with wet black and white newspapers, and then cover with bark mulch. Bark mulch.
  • Annie Smith Annie Smith on Jun 09, 2014
    I found this technique helpful. ..identify when this weed grows the most. For example, May and June. If so, clean, barrier protect, like the newspaper, and mulch one to two months before, like March and April. Then, when your weed season starts, it is much more manageable. I even had one year of no weeds! I also use coco coyer for my mulch since it is so easy to work around. I never use weed killer. Don't let the weeds go to seed, if they have seeds, and don't use them in your compost. ..just toss them. Better luck next year!
  • Julie Haller Julie Haller on Jun 09, 2014
    i'd try 1 gal vinegar a cup salt & a good squirt of dish soap mixed together, If you can't spray w/o hurt'n other plants try a bowl & a small paint brush. Brush the weed killer on leaves that has helped me in the past
  • Liliana Wells Liliana Wells on Jun 09, 2014
    Kay M. has the right idea: use several layers of newspaper, then mulch. I leave a little space around the plants that I am growing. You still get some weeds, but as many. The newspaper and mulch prevent the sun from reaching the weeds. I get stacks of newspaper from my local public library. You are recycling the newspaper and it wiil be gone by next year, so you may have to do it again.
  • Keri Keri on Jun 09, 2014
    Its not mint or lemon balm. One stem weed and leaves give off no smell.
  • Keri Keri on Jun 09, 2014
    Because I have a ground cover perrenial (alyssum) and other perrenial s that grow from seed and sprout up all over I cant do the newspaper.
  • Mary Law Mary Law on Jun 09, 2014
    I would use Brush Be Gone. That's just me. As someone else said. paint it on the leaves.It will kill anything, even poison oak and poison ivy.
    • Judy Mitchell Judy Mitchell on Jun 09, 2014
      @Mary Law on the poison ivy and poison oak do you just spray the brushbe gone on them ?
  • Melissa Soucy Melissa Soucy on Jun 09, 2014
    I use vinegar under plastic to kill off weeds than I out newspaper down under mulch and I very seldom have to pull a lot of weeds. Ii use news paper and straw in the garde around tomatoes and other veggies to ward off the blights. and it does help.
  • Elizabeth Elizabeth on Jun 09, 2014
    I always boil my vinegar and salt before pouring it on weeds. It seems to kill them even faster !!!
  • Ang Ang on Jun 09, 2014
    id worry about using salt . it hurts the dirt and can make it harder to grow there .i use layers of newspapers and mulch works good and rots away and makes your dirt better .. i use vinegar and dish liquid in between the cracks of sidewalk ( no onw will be growing anything there ..
    • Sharon Kavanagh Sharon Kavanagh on Jun 11, 2014
      @Ang Can you tell what the ratio is for the vinegar to dish detergent? Also, do you use white vinegar and Dawn?
  • Lynn Lynn on Jun 09, 2014
    I have used 1 gal vinegar (white) 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup dawn dish liquid...works rather quickly. :)
  • John J John J on Jun 09, 2014
    Hmm... It maybe a plant/Weed called Common Elder - there is an alternative that is classed as a perennial plant - variegated Aegopodium podogaria Variegatum variety should go nice with the Alyssum. The weed is tough to get rid of as it will regrow from any root that is left in the ground - generally a good weed spray or paint on will generally do the trick to eradicate this if you truely don't like it. To spray do in batches place a tall enough cardboard or plastic sheeting around the area and spray the weeds then leave until dry then move on to repeat. Hoipe this helps in redressing your weed problem - Happy gardening ;D
    • Nancy F Nancy F on Jun 12, 2014
      @John J NEVER EVER plant Aegopodium unless you want it EVERYWHERE! It is EXTREMELY aggressive and will completely overrun your entire garden and yard. The variegated variety is only slightly less virulent than the standard variety. Sorry, John, but my neighbors planted this cursed stuff several years ago and it has come into my yard and completely ruined by perennial border. Not even Roundup kills the stuff since its runner run up to a foot underground and every tiny bit of root grows a new plant.
  • Rita Hlasney Rita Hlasney on Jun 09, 2014
    Looks like mulberry weed. Google it and see if that is like yours..if so, don't allow it to go to seed..pull up before it can go that and it will help control. Timing of the preen is important as whether it is a winter annual, it need to be put on maybe July and August..check the label.
  • Dee Dee on Jun 09, 2014
    What a bothersome weed. I have it all over my flower bed and I, too, can't lay newspaper down because of the many plants. Other than pulling them out I can't think of anything else to do. If you find a solution please repost. Good luck!
  • Nancy Hatcher Nancy Hatcher on Jun 09, 2014
    The best way I've found to get rid of weeds that spread by seed is Preen - only if you are not also planting flower seeds. You do have to pull the weeds that have already sprouted. After the plants you want have grown a little and you've pulled as many weeds as you can simply sprinkle Preen around where you don't want weed seeds to germinate. Works like a charm as long as you follow the Preen directions.
  • Mark Hopple Mark Hopple on Jun 09, 2014
    these fuzzy weeds are easier to pull when they get a little bigger.. or just go pull after a good rain..
  • Debe Debe on Jun 09, 2014
    The fuzzy one looks like lambs ear. I get them and I live in the valley(Arizona). The older they get the pricklier they are and leave little splinter like things in your fingers. They will flower and produce more.
  • Pat Pat on Jun 09, 2014
    Almost looks like my perennial Asters that bloom in the fall. They spread like crazy also...have to pull them out to keep them contained.
  • Mary Law Mary Law on Jun 10, 2014
    Spraying gets everything. Brushing is 1plant
  • Jootsie Sivad Jootsie Sivad on Jun 10, 2014
    the fuzzy one is rag weed.. gets little daisy like flowers with lots of teeny petals.. also will grow to 3 or 4 feet tall. Pulls out easily. The other stuff-- Never let it go to seed.. it will take the place the next year. I put on gloves, pull it out by the hand full, put it into my garden pail (a 5 gallon bucket) and then take it to the burn pile.. Pulling is a lot more work, but more beneficial to eradicate the unwelcome growth. ;o)
  • Joyce Barnes Joyce Barnes on Jun 11, 2014
    It also could be chick weeds and its really difficult to get rid of
  • Judy Judy on Jun 11, 2014
    I get both of these weeds also. The first one is pigweed & the second is one of the plantains. If they're growing anywhere near veggies, flowers or anything else you want to survive, for God's sake don't use vinegar or salt! Instead, pull or dig them out then put down a couple layers of newspaper & cover that with several inches of mulch. That will prevent the weeds from coming up plus enrich your soil when they eventually compost.
  • Julie Haller Julie Haller on Jun 12, 2014
    Judy To say what you said is disrespectful. I have used that non toxic solution & it works very very well! In a congested garden using a paint brush to put the solution on the leaves to insure that only the weeds you want to get rid of are the only ones that die, ., i'd wager a bet that you have NEVER tried it, if you had you would find it does work very well & is safer than any store bought chemical. I have been a gardener for over 50 yrs , I believe this site is to "GIVE" suggestions NOT to tell people who make suggestions YOU are a know it all & the tried & true things they have used for years are wrong.
    • See 1 previous
    • Kari Samuel Kari Samuel on Jun 12, 2014
      with that being said, i think your idea of gently painting each seedling is a GREAT way of controlling any over-spray! i'm gonna work on my pigweed (??) tomorrow morning! let the sun do it's magic, and be patient!
  • Nancy F Nancy F on Jun 12, 2014
    The first is definitely Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus). The second intruder could be a number of things, but it is NOT New England Aster, Ragweed, Lambs Ear, Common Elder, or Plantain. It might be a form of Goldenrod (Solidago) but I can't be sure based on your photos. Preen is a good idea for prevention of the annual Pigweed - as long as you are not sewing anything else from seed in that area. It needs to be applied BEFORE germination. (In the northeast, we generally apply pre-emergent when the Forsythia bloom.) If the other plant is also an annual, the Preen would work on it as well. Otherwise, you'll need to carefully dig out all of the roots to prevent regrowth. Good luck!
  • Deb K Deb K on Apr 08, 2023

    Hello, the fuzzy one look to me like it could be coneflower (bachelors button.

    https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/cornflower.

    The other one, I'm not sure, but could be spreading pellitory

    https://www.fws.gov/species/spreading-pellitory-parietaria-judaica


  • I use straight vinegar to get rid of weeds. You need to be very careful though, because it will kill anything it comes into contact with...but it will get rid of the weeds.

  • Mogie Mogie on Apr 13, 2023

    I save my old carpet and use it under the soil or gravel as a weed barrier. Then you only need to remove the surface weeds before they have a chance to take hold.