What is this weed that takes over my gravel and how to kill it?
I’ve tried everything to get rid of this stuff. I pull it, it comes back two fold. I spray it with weed killer, it comes back. How do I get rid of this stuff?
Just pull it, the whole tap root should come out with a bit of muscle
jazzhandsdancehands
I love weeding these but I hate the sticky white milk.
o0oo00o0o
Not a weed. Although commonly called invasive, it’s native to the eastern US and has pretty little flowers. You can kill it, or you can just walk on it and appreciate that it’ll help keep your gravel from eroding
shrimptarget
Spurge
mth2nd
Fire, lots of fire.
Forsaken_Star_4228
Spurge, pull it though. With gloves. Should just be one root to pull. I haven’t had much luck spraying it with anything and pulling it when the dirt is moist is pretty easy.
bubbadumbs
Spray it all with weed killer. Then put down a pre emergent to prevent the seeds from sprouting. That’s your best option.
sbinjax
Spurge. You’re having trouble with just pulling it because it’s practically laced with seeds as soon as it germinates. Get a torch. You can put down pre-emergent, but I found that the only way to be sure is to kill it with fire.
JonnaTurtle
Prostate spotted spurge, a late summer weed
It keeps coming back because once it goes to seed, each mat releases hundreds of tiny little seeds.
You’ll have to use either a pre-emergent to prevent seed germination on the gravel space every few months. Or you could continuously pull it before it goes to flower –> seed and eventually you’ll mostly win that battle.
I do a combination of both in areas heavily invested with this. I put down Preen, and then do a sweep once a week to pull every single little piece I find
Read the instructions for preen, and know that it won’t work well on trafficked areas. It’s basically creating a barrier to prevent seed germination, so if that barrier is greatly disturbed, it won’t hold.
internetsman69
It seeds out like crazy. So pulling it likely just spreads more seeds.
MrFoxx123
Prostrate spurge. 2-4D with dish soap mixed in.
xgaryrobert
That’s taken over bc you haven’t weeded all summer. Nothing grows that big overnight.
TrueNorthGamer
The key is to pick them when you see em OR what I do is keep a little chemical to spray them (roundup etc.,)
Like crabgrass, they spread outward and the root system gets more established as they mature, making your life miserable.
15 Comments
Spurge
Use a roofing torch.
Just pull it, the whole tap root should come out with a bit of muscle
I love weeding these but I hate the sticky white milk.
Not a weed. Although commonly called invasive, it’s native to the eastern US and has pretty little flowers. You can kill it, or you can just walk on it and appreciate that it’ll help keep your gravel from eroding
Spurge
Fire, lots of fire.
Spurge, pull it though. With gloves. Should just be one root to pull. I haven’t had much luck spraying it with anything and pulling it when the dirt is moist is pretty easy.
Spray it all with weed killer. Then put down a pre emergent to prevent the seeds from sprouting. That’s your best option.
Spurge. You’re having trouble with just pulling it because it’s practically laced with seeds as soon as it germinates. Get a torch. You can put down pre-emergent, but I found that the only way to be sure is to kill it with fire.
Prostate spotted spurge, a late summer weed
It keeps coming back because once it goes to seed, each mat releases hundreds of tiny little seeds.
You’ll have to use either a pre-emergent to prevent seed germination on the gravel space every few months. Or you could continuously pull it before it goes to flower –> seed and eventually you’ll mostly win that battle.
I do a combination of both in areas heavily invested with this. I put down Preen, and then do a sweep once a week to pull every single little piece I find
Read the instructions for preen, and know that it won’t work well on trafficked areas. It’s basically creating a barrier to prevent seed germination, so if that barrier is greatly disturbed, it won’t hold.
It seeds out like crazy. So pulling it likely just spreads more seeds.
Prostrate spurge. 2-4D with dish soap mixed in.
That’s taken over bc you haven’t weeded all summer. Nothing grows that big overnight.
The key is to pick them when you see em
OR
what I do is keep a little chemical to spray them (roundup etc.,)
Like crabgrass, they spread outward and the root system gets more established as they mature, making your life miserable.