The green color fits, but the rest doesn't. Chickweed simply has no place in a beautiful lawn. At first, the delicate herb does not attract attention. But soon the small white flowers cannot be overlooked. They diligently contribute to an ever faster spread. This is how you unload the Chickweed.

Chickweed spreads wherever there is space, including in the lawn

Gaps as a welcome invitation

The perfect lawn is rare. Most specimens have one or the other weakness. So most of them are riddled with small gaps. There is still enough room inside for a small seed. As soon as the conditions are right, a young chickweed will grow out of it and conquer the gap for itself.

Abundant seed production

Chickweed reproduces from seeds. This weed masters this type of propagation perfectly. Every single plant provides for three new generations per year. Each chickweed contributes around 15,000 seeds during the long flowering period, all of which remain viable for around 60 years under ideal conditions. This shows how difficult it is to fight once it has gained a foothold.

Grass makes combat difficult

A chickweed in the lawn is surrounded by countless blades of grass. In addition, the soil is usually very compacted due to years of stress. Chickweed can neither be simply weeded nor prevented from spreading by a layer of mulch. The use of chemicals is also not justifiable for ecological reasons.

Mow the lawn short

Mowing the lawn is one possible method of combating chickweed in the lawn. Since the herb is both fast and low-growing, care must be taken when mowing the lawn:

  • mow regularly at short intervals
  • mow very short
  • start early in the year and finish as late as possible

Mowing prevents the formation of seeds and is otherwise perceived as disturbing by the chickweed. The only weak point of this method is that the chickweed grows diligently even on frost-free winter days. No lawn is being mowed at this time.

verticulate lawn

Chickweed weed spreads with shallow roots. When the lawn is regularly scarified, the majority of these plants are caught and torn out by the scarifier.

Lime the lawn

Liming changes the pH of the soil. He becomes more basic. This fact does not bother the grass plants. Chickweed, however, no longer likes such changed soil and begins to retreat.

tips

If you are curious, try the edible chickweed. It has a mild taste and can be wonderfully prepared in a salad.

Category:

Herbs