Seeing flowers on your lawn is a good feeling, but sometimes these flowering plants can destroy your lawn and make it ugly.
If you are seeing a white flower plant establishing in your lawn fast then it is not a usual flower plant but a weed.
There are two white flower weeds found in lawns and gardens. White clover weed and chickweed. Both of these weeds are very common in lawns and produce white flowers in the middle. Both of the weeds have different life cycles, White clover is a perennial weed and chickweed is an annual weed.
Now you know about white flower weed. Now let’s discuss in detail both weeds, how they look like and you can get rid of them:
All about White clover weed
The white clover is a perennial plant which means it can stay on your lawn for many years to come and can be a headache. White clover loves to grow on the patchy and thin lawns because it grows very low to the ground and needs some space to grow. White clover propagates fast. It has three leaves with tear-shaped leaflets and a white flower blooming from the middle.
The clover weed also establishes fast because it can grow roots wherever a stem node gets in contact with the soil.
It has leaves consisting of 3 oval-shaped leaflets and there is a characteristic white band on each leaflet. Clover weed also has white flowers blooming in early summer and the flowers usually grow in clusters of 40 to 80 florets.
The clover weed reproduces itself by seed or by stolons and grows best in cool places below 30 celsius.
Specifications
- White clover weed has a shallow root system, due to which it can’t tolerate drought and dry conditions.
- White clover is a low-growing plant and grows just 2 to 3 inches in height but some branches can grow over and get up to a foot tall.
- White clover is a perennial plant which means it can stay on your lawn for years before dying.
Why Do You Have So Much Clover On Your Lawn?
Clover weed loves to grow on low-nitrogen soil and you will see white clover growing in lawns where the grass is starting to turn yellowish. This is due to the low percentage of nitrogen available in the soil which is very essential for the grass to grow. On the other side, the white clover will thrive on this lawn because it doesn’t need nitrogen from the soil to grow.
White clover weed is a plant that can extract nitrogen from the air and grow in low-nitrogen lawns.
So if your lawn is full of white clover weed and the grass is turning yellow then these are all the signs of low nitrogen in the soil and you need to fertilize your lawn with nitrogen to restore it to a healthy condition.
There are some other reasons that help white clover weed to grow and thrive in your lawn:
- Bad pH level
- Compacted soil
- Stressed lawn
- Insects and pesticide
- Shade in the lawn
How To Prevent White Clover On Your Lawn
White clover is a very hardy plant and can be very difficult to remove from your lawn and can easily come back in your lawn after removing it. So prevention of this weed is very necessary to make your lawn clover-free. Let’s talk about how you can prevent white clover from your lawn:
- Test your soil regularly – testing your soil is very crucial to prevent weeds from the lawn. Check for the pH level and nitrogen level. If any of these are not in good condition then take the necessary steps to restore your lawn and make it healthy.
- Overseeding – Overseeding your lawn is a good way to prevent weeds in your lawn as it will make your lawn thick and leave no space in the lawn for the weeds to grow.
- Aeration – aeration is important as loose soil makes all the nutrients reach the roots of the grass, but weeds love to grow on compacted soil because of their shallow root system. So if your lawn is well aerated then it can prevent weeds very effectively.
- Proper fertilization – weeds love unhealthy lawns with low nutrient levels. So proper fertilization is key to preventing weeds from growing in your lawn.
Is White Clover Beneficial For Your Lawn?
Although white clover is considered to be a weed in lawns, there are some benefits of having this weed in your lawn. Let’s discuss these benefits in detail:
- Clover weeds don’t take nitrogen from the soil due to their special ability to extract nitrogen from the air. So clover makes your lawn nitrogen-rich by providing nitrogen from the air to the soil.
- White clover doesn’t need any protection from other weeds as it can dominate a lawn pretty well and doesn’t need any herbicide or pesticide applications.
- White clover doesn’t need mowing as it grows very low to the ground and it can save a lot of effort for a lawn owner.
- Financially it is very affordable to grow clover as it doesn’t require any special chemical or fertilizer to grow.
- White clover can grow in shade or sunlight and needs little to no maintenance which is very helpful for some lawn owners. It will stay green all summer and never make your look dull.
- Clovers prevent insects and pests from the lawn by attracting bees and wasps to their flowers and providing them with nectar to produce honey.
White Clover Problems
Usually, white clover grows unwanted in lawns and can be very difficult to remove from the lawn. There are other problems which we talk about in detail:
- Stops grass growth – white clover grows very low to the ground and covers the lawn pretty quickly, blocking off every part of the soil near it, which prevents other plants from growing. This can be a problem where it can block other important plants on your lawn.
- Hard to eliminate – clover weeds is a very hardy plants and can grow anywhere, and this makes them one of the toughest plants to remove from the lawn.
- Bad for foot traffic – white clover is very bad at tolerating foot traffic, so if you want clover on your lawn then you need to make sure that your lawn doesn’t have any foot traffic or animals playing in the lawn.
How To Get Rid Of White Clover Without Destroying The Lawn?
To get rid of white clover on your lawn you can try these 4 methods:
- Vinegar – to kill clover with vinegar, mix vinegar and water in the same ratio and add a drop of soap so that the solution can stick to the leaves and plant very easily when you spray it. Apply the solution to the weed. The vinegar will make the weed dry out and then kill it in two to three days. For better results, you need to apply the solution 2-3 times to eliminate all the plants from the lawn.
- Pull it out – the best way to get rid of weeds in your lawn is to remove them manually. If you have a small number of plants then you can do it manually but it can take a lot of effort to remove weeds manually if you have a large infestation in your lawn. If you are doing it manually then beware to remove the plant from the roots and don’t leave any part behind or the weed can re-establish itself in your lawn.
- Apply herbicide – applying herbicide to your lawn is an effective and very effortless way to eliminate weeds from your lawn. Choose a herbicide that only kills white clover and not grass in your lawn. This will ensure that your lawn stays intact and your grass doesn’t get affected. Apply the herbicide when the soil is moist and irrigate your lawn after the application so that the herbicide gets washed away from other plants.
- Using nitrogen – clover weed hates nitrogen in the soil as it can take it from the air. To eliminate clover in your lawn fertilize it with quick-release fertilizer which will make your soil rich in nitrogen fast. Don’t use slow-release fertilizer as it will take time and will not work effectively.
Chickweed
Chickweed, also known as starwort, and common chickweed, is an annual plant that grows from seeds that sprout in the fall. Chickweed is a very common lawn weed that every lawn owner hates to see on their lawn. While chickweed is difficult to control, it is not impossible to eliminate it from your lawn.
This weed grows no taller than 2 inches along the ground and makes a lush carpet wherever it grows. Chickweed has a white flower which blooms in the spring and produces seeds for the reproduction of the plant. The seeds start to germinate in late summer and start the cycle again of blooming and producing.
Chickweed has a shallow root system which means it can grow an unhealthy and compacted lawn where other plants can’t grow.
Specifications
- Chickweed is a broadleaf plant
- Chickweed is a winter annual plant
- This weed spreads with the help of seeds.
- The seeds are produced by white flower blooming in the spring and producing hundreds of seeds in a year
- chickweed loves to grow in moist and shady areas with a nutrient-rich soil
How To Get Rid Of Chickweed On Your Lawn?
The best way to kill chickweed is by pulling as much as you can from the soil without leaving any parts behind. If there is any part left behind then the weed will grow back itself.
But pulling out the plant can be an effective way to eliminate chickweed from your lawn but it will take a lot of effort to eliminate if you have a big infestation.
In this case, the herbicide will be the best and most effective way to eliminate chickweed from your lawn. Use herbicide containing glyphosate which is found to be an effective chemical to kill weeds in the lawn.
Before applying the herbicide, moist the lawn so that the soil can absorb all the herbicides and irrigate your lawn lightly after the application. This will make sure the herbicide spreads into the soil.
You will start to see the result in 2-3 days when the weed starts to turn yellowish and then brown. After the weed is dead, rake the lawn to remove all the weeds very carefully so that you don’t spill any seeds from the plant. Dispose of the dead plant into the bin.
After eliminating the chickweed from the lawn, apply pre-emergent herbicide to the lawn to make sure that if you have spilled any seeds or there are some seeds already in the soil then they won’t be germinating in the lawn.
What Does Chickweed Look Like?
Chickweed is a short plant that grows very low to the ground and looks like a dense carpet. It has small white flowers in the spring. The leaves look shiny and have a pointy end.
Why Do Lawns Get Chickweed?
Chickweed loves to grow in damp soil with shady areas. So if you irrigate your soil too often then you need to reduce the frequency and water your lawn deeply.
Another thing to prevent chickweed in your lawn is to aerate your lawn because chickweed has shallow roots in your lawn and loves to grow on compacted soil.
Chickweed also loves to grow in shady areas, so if your lawn has shades in its lawn then try to remove it or take precautions in that area.
Is Chickweed Edible?
Yes, chickweed is an edible plant. The leaves and flowers are used for salads and garnishes. Chickweed is also very nutritious and used as a supplement. Chickweed has a corn cob-like flavour in its raw form. it is also used as a herb in some dishes.
Benefits to Chickweed In Lawn?
Chickweed is a very beneficial plant, it has white flower blooming which provides nectar to bees and wasps. It also poses nutritional elements in leaves and other parts of the lawn which can be taken into the diet as a supplement.
Lawn Weeds With Little White Flowers
There are two lawn weeds with little white flowers. White clover weed and chickweed. Both of these weeds are commonly found on the lawn and can be a very difficult task to remove from the lawn. If you are seeing white flowers blooming on your lawn in spring then the chances are one of these weeds is growing in the lawn. Take necessary precautions before it makes your lawn unhealthy and looks ugly.
HOPE YOU FIND OUT WHICH WHITE FLOWER WEED IS IN YOUR LAWN AND HOW WILL YOU GET RID OF IT.
