What Buckhorn Plantain looks like
A flat rosette of long, narrow, deeply ribbed leaves that almost look like grass blades, sending up bare stalks tipped with a short brown bullet-shaped seed head — the narrow leaves are what separate it from broadleaf plantain's wide oval ones.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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Best approach: Spray or dig
Either approach works: a dandelion fork gets the whole taproot when soil is moist, or spray in fall. Like dandelions, any taproot fragment left behind can resprout, so check back in a few weeks.
Best products for Buckhorn Plantain
Formulated to kill buckhorn plantain without wiping out your grass — see the timing and chemistry below.
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Spectracide Weed Stop + Crabgrass Killer Concentrate (40 oz)
✓ Kills buckhorn plantainBeginner friendlyFour active ingredients in one bottle - knocks out broadleaf weeds, crabgrass and nutsedge in a single pass, so you treat a mixed-weed lawn without buying three products.
BioAdvanced All-In-One Weed & Feed (22-0-4)
✓ Kills buckhorn plantainBeginner friendly
Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action1
✓ Kills buckhorn plantainBeginner friendlyPrevents crabgrass for up to 4 months, kills dandelion, clover and other listed broadleaf weeds, and feeds. Apply to wet grass, no more than twice a year. Not for St. Augustine. Its label allows centipede, but centipede does better with a stand-alone weed killer and a lighter feeding.
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Herbicide is dosed by lawn size. Pick your yard size for a quick estimate:
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When to treat Buckhorn Plantain
Spray in spring or fall when temperatures are 60–80°F and the weed is actively growing. Avoid summer heat — stressed grass takes collateral damage.
Chemical treatment
Use a three-way 2,4-D + dicamba + MCPP — 2,4-D alone gives patchy results on buckhorn — or a combination product with carfentrazone or sulfentrazone for faster burndown. Mid-to-late fall is the best window, mid-spring the backup, spraying at 65-85°F (above 85°F you risk burning the lawn, so skip midsummer). Repeat applications are normal for this perennial taproot. On St. Augustine and centipede use the reduced label rate, and on ALL warm-season lawns — St. Augustine, centipede, bermuda, zoysia, bahia — wait until the lawn has fully greened up in spring, because spraying during green-up injures these grasses even at reduced rates. Don't treat newly seeded areas until the new grass has been mowed three times.
Non-chemical management
Mow at 3 inches or higher and core aerate to relieve the compaction it thrives in, so grass outcompetes it. Digging only works if you remove the entire taproot and crown.
How to stop Buckhorn Plantain coming back
Overseed thin spots and keep mowing height high — buckhorn plantain colonizes compacted, closely mown, thin turf.
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What does Buckhorn Plantain look like?
A flat rosette of long, narrow, deeply ribbed leaves that almost look like grass blades, sending up bare stalks tipped with a short brown bullet-shaped seed head — the narrow leaves are what separate it from broadleaf plantain's wide oval ones.
What's the best way to kill Buckhorn Plantain?
Spray or dig. Either approach works: a dandelion fork gets the whole taproot when soil is moist, or spray in fall. Like dandelions, any taproot fragment left behind can resprout, so check back in a few weeks.
Is Buckhorn Plantain hard to get rid of?
Buckhorn Plantain is rated moderate to control. Consistent treatment over a season usually does the job.
How do I stop Buckhorn Plantain coming back?
Overseed thin spots and keep mowing height high — buckhorn plantain colonizes compacted, closely mown, thin turf.
Other broadleaf weeds
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