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Central Ohio Weed ID Guide: The 8 Weeds You Are Seeing in Your Lawn Right Now


When your lawn in Circleville, Columbus, Lancaster, or Chillicothe starts looking spotty this week, there are about eight weeds doing most of the damage. Here they are, how to identify each one on sight, and what actually kills them.


  1. Dandelion

The yellow-flowered weed everybody knows. Rosette-shaped leaves, jagged edges, one flower per long stem. Right now you are seeing them at peak bloom. Each plant throws 100 to 200 seeds within 10 days of flowering.


Kill with: spot-spray 2,4-D/MCPP/dicamba or triclopyr on each plant at the base of the rosette. Two hits one week apart kills the taproot.


  1. Common chickweed

Low-growing, bright green, small 5-petaled white flowers. Grows in mats that spread horizontally across thin turf. You will see it especially along sidewalks and driveways where soil stays moist.


Kill with: broadleaf herbicide containing 2,4-D plus triclopyr. Spot-spray or broadcast. Chickweed is an annual, so one good treatment this spring plus thick turf next fall ends the problem.


  1. Purple deadnettle / henbit

Square stems, triangular or rounded leaves, small purple flowers in a crown near the top. Often mistaken for clover at a distance but has distinctive purple flowers. Thrives in shady, moist spots.


Kill with: standard broadleaf herbicide. Both die out naturally by early June but they leave seeds that come back next spring.


  1. Crabgrass (just emerging)

Coarse, light-green grassy weed with wider blades than your lawn grass. Grows in a star-burst pattern flat against the ground. Right now it is just barely emerging in Central Ohio — you will see it as small pale green tufts along sidewalk and driveway edges.


Kill with: dithiopyr if still very early emergence, or quinclorac post-emergent if crabgrass has developed multiple leaves. This is a grassy weed, so regular broadleaf herbicide does not work on it.


  1. Clover (white or red)

Three-leaf trifoliate pattern, often with a small white crescent on each leaf. White-flowered type (most common in Central Ohio lawns) has small globular white flowers.


Kill with: triclopyr or dicamba. Note: some homeowners leave clover intentionally — it fixes nitrogen and bees love it. Decide before you spray.


  1. Plantain (broadleaf or buckhorn)

Broadleaf plantain has wide, oval leaves in a rosette with prominent parallel veins. Buckhorn plantain has long narrow lance-shaped leaves with a long seed stalk sticking up. Both are perennials with taproots.


Kill with: broadleaf herbicide with 2,4-D. Two applications two weeks apart kills the taproot.


  1. Creeping Charlie (ground ivy)

Small rounded scalloped leaves with a distinctive mint-like smell when crushed. Small purple flowers. Spreads by creeping stems that root at nodes. Very hard to remove once established because every node becomes a new plant.


Kill with: triclopyr is the most effective. Apply in fall for the strongest kill, but spring spot-spraying slows the spread.


  1. Wild violet

Heart-shaped leaves, small purple flowers, very hard to distinguish from yard violets you might want. Grows in shady moist areas, often competing with turf under tree canopies.


Kill with: triclopyr is the only thing that reliably kills wild violet. Expect multiple applications. Resist pulling them — the rhizomes fragment and regrow.


The two rules that cover all 8


Match the chemical to the weed type. Broadleaf herbicide (2,4-D, triclopyr, MCPP, dicamba) kills dandelions, clover, plantain, violets, chickweed, deadnettle, creeping charlie. Grassy-weed herbicide (quinclorac, dithiopyr) kills crabgrass. Using the wrong one wastes money and time.


Hit timing. Spring applications between 60 and 85 degrees with no rain for 24 hours after. Morning applications after dew dries.


What NOT to do


Do not spray in windy conditions. Broadleaf herbicide drifts onto ornamental plants, shrubs, and garden beds and damages or kills them.


Do not spray right before rain. The chemical washes off before it can absorb.


Do not spray if the lawn is drought-stressed. Stressed grass can be damaged by broadleaf herbicide that healthy grass ignores.


Do not keep trying to pull perennials. Dandelion, plantain, wild violet, creeping charlie all have root structures that regenerate from fragments. Chemical control is the only reliable option.


What else to pair with weed control this week


Since you are already treating the lawn:


Mulch installation — bed coverage suppresses the same weed seeds the herbicide is missing. Peak window closes late May.


First hedge trim — boxwood, arborvitae, privet. Window is open right now for shaping before buds harden.


Power washing — driveways, fences, siding concrete cleanup. Cheapest time of year before summer schedule fills.


Stump grinding — spring ground conditions are ideal. Do it now before bed work and seasonal cleanup rates climb.


First fertilizer app — starter fertilizer 10 to 14 days after weed control keeps grass growing to crowd out future weeds.


The takeaway


Identify the weed by shape and flower, match the chemical class (broadleaf vs grassy), apply in the right window (60 to 85 degrees, no rain), and treat perennials twice with two-week spacing. A thick, healthy lawn crowds most weeds out on its own — that is what fall overseeding and proper fertilizer timing deliver.


If you would rather just hand the weed calendar off to someone who handles timing for you, we run full seasonal programs across Circleville, Columbus, Lancaster, and Chillicothe. Mowing starts at 40 dollars a visit.


Get a free quote for your property — takes about 60 seconds.


Get Your Free Lawn Care Quote for Central Ohio: https://quick-mow-quote.emergent.host/


Call or Text: 614-425-9789





· Columbus · Lancaster · Chillicothe · Central Ohio



 
 
 

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