Now that it’s spring, we’re seeing the grass, trees, and flowers coming back to life. Greenery is getting greener, and colorful buds are springing forth. While you may be happy to see color come back to your yard, some of it may not be what you think. Take, for instance, little purple flowers that pop up in the grass or garden, but you don’t remember planting anything there. This may actually be a weed known as henbit. To control henbit, you have to remember these are flowering weeds that could potentially take over your yard.

How to Control Henbit

Henbit tends to show up in your yard during the cooler seasons—like late fall or early spring. When it’s finished flowering it’s tiny purple petals, it releases seeds that stay dormant in your yard all summer until the conditions are cooler. When it gets cooler, apply a pre-emergent herbicide to control the spread of seeds and create a barrier against them germinating in spring

Control Henbit After Germination

If you don’t catch the weeds before they seed, apply a post-emergent herbicide to the plant as soon as you see it. For best results, hit it before the weeds stop flowering and release more seeds again so there’s less chance of it coming back next year. If you can catch it before the purple flowers appear, even better—because once they do, the seeds will soon follow.

More Weed Control

Another way to prevent the spread of any weed is with mulch. Organic mulch conserves soil moisture, something weeds thrive on. Simply add a layer of mulch around your plants to block the sun from reaching any weed seeds on top of the ground. Two to three inches of mulch goes a long way to help control weeds without using herbicides.

For more tips and tricks on controlling henbit and other weeds, contact the lawn care specialists at Cardinal Lawns.