Every Common Lawn Weed — Identified & Beaten

Taraxacum officinale

Bright yellow flower on a leafless stem, with a rosette of jagged, deeply-lobed leaves at the base.

Trifolium repens

Low-growing plant with three rounded leaflets and white or pink round flower heads.

Stellaria media / Cerastium vulgatum

Soft, hairy, low-growing mat with small oval leaves and tiny white flowers; mouse-ear is fuzzier and more persistent.

Lamium amplexicaule

Upright plant, 12–18 inches tall, with heart-shaped leaves and small purple or pink flowers clustered at the top.

Glechoma hederacea

Creeping vine with small, round, scalloped leaves and small purple flowers; spreads via runners that root at nodes.

Euphorbia maculata

Low-growing mat of reddish stems with tiny oval leaves and small white or reddish flowers; bleeds milky sap when broken.

Plantago major

Rosette of thick, oval, deeply-veined leaves with parallel ridges; tall flower stalk with a dense, pencil-like seed spike.

Cirsium arvense

Spiky, deeply-lobed purple leaves with prickly margins and purple-pink thistle flowers; grows 2–4 feet tall.

Viola sororia

Heart-shaped leaves with small purple, white, or blue flowers; spreads via runners and seeds.

Oxalis stricta

Clover-like leaves with three heart-shaped leaflets (often reddish underneath); small yellow or pink flowers followed by seed pods that explode when touched.

Hydrocotyle spp.

Shiny, round or disk-shaped leaves on long petioles (leaf stems), resembling small coins; very low-growing.

Fallopia japonica

Fast-growing stems 3–10 feet tall with broad, triangular leaves and small white or greenish flowers in late summer.

Convolvulus arvensis

Twining vine with arrow-shaped leaves and white or pink trumpet-shaped flowers. Wraps around and smothers other plants.

Portulaca oleracea

Low-growing succulent with thick, fleshy, paddle-shaped leaves and reddish stems. Small yellow flowers. Thrives in hot, dry conditions.

Cardamine hirsuta

Small rosette of rounded leaflets with tiny white flowers on upright stems. Seed pods explode when touched, flinging seeds several feet.

Senecio vulgaris

Upright plant with deeply lobed leaves and small yellow flower heads that quickly turn to fluffy white seed puffs (like tiny dandelions).

Capsella bursa-pastoris

Rosette of deeply lobed basal leaves with a tall flower stalk. Small white flowers produce distinctive heart-shaped seed pods along the stem.

Stachys byzantina

Soft, fuzzy, silver-gray leaves that feel like velvet. Sometimes planted intentionally but spreads aggressively via runners.

Digitaria sanguinalis

Thick clumps of coarse, yellowish-green grass growing in a star pattern, much coarser than your lawn grass.

Paspalum dilatatum

Coarse, clumpy grass that grows in distinct tufts, 2–4 inches tall, with seed heads that resemble fingers on an open hand (3–6 spikes).

Eleusine indica

Coarse, yellowish-green grass in a low, dense rosette pattern; seed heads radiate like the spokes of a wheel from a central point.

Poa annua

Bright yellow-green, fine-textured grass finer than most turf, with distinctive seed heads that appear papery and light-colored.

Elymus repens

Fine-textured grass similar to perennial ryegrass but coarser; flat, grayish-green leaves; distinctive seed heads with spikelets arranged in a zigzag pattern.

Panicum repens

Coarse grass with broad, somewhat stiff leaves; deep purple or bronze seed heads in summer; spreads via tough underground rhizomes.

Cyperus spp.

Thin, upright stems that grow taller and faster than surrounding grass with a distinct yellowish-green color. Comes in yellow and purple varieties — both are treated the same way.