Sammy, how about a picture? I got LOTS of green stuff in my yard, flower beds, lawn etc. :)

Moni

Sammy, I agree with Moni. There are many different kinds of weeds and weedy grasses in yards and gardens right now. It would be hard to guess what you have without a description or photo.

Is it a broadleaf weed or a grassy weed?

Tall and more vertical or broad and creeping?

Flowers? If so, what color?

I've linked a website below that has images of weeds found in Oklahoma. I bet I have every weed shown there right now. In fact, I was pulling several of these various weeds out of a flower bed late yesterday afternoon.

Being in a rural area where (a) a perfect lawn is not expected and (b) there's often more weeds than grass because we're surrounded by thousands of acres of them, I don't worry about weeds in tha lawn. Once the bermuda is growing a bit more actively, most weeds will 'go away' because the combination of bermuda grass and regular mowing will greatly decrease them. I just consider these spring weeds in lawn grass to be part of a thriving ecosystem that supports a lot of small wildlife and beneficial insects.

I do pull those weeds out of my flower beds and veggie garden beds, of course. Here at our house, the weeds tend to be pesky in March-May, and by the end of May, I've pulled and mulched enough that they aren't an issue in cultivated veggie, fruit, herb and flower beds, and the grass/lawnmower have them in control in the lawn area. Out in the pastures and woodlands, of which we have quite a few acres, the "weeds" are native grasses and wildflowers and they support the local wildlife population.

There are some organic weedkillers like 10 or 20% vinegar, which I found at Mike's Garden Center in Southlake, Texas, this week (we used to have to go to Fort Worth to get it, so Southlake is an improvement) or Sharpshooter and other weedkillers of botanical origin, but I seldom use them. They're pretty pricey and since we surrounded by wild areas, we're never going to have a perfect lawn.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Oklahoma Weeds

The green--pale green--stuff that is covering my lawns, fencerows and gravel walkways right now is chickweed. We have never ever had as much chickweed as this year, thanks to 70" of rain last year. We have a gravel area in front of our house that is a solid mat that should have been sprayed a month ago. Now the seeds are shattering everywhere. Which means that next year will be as bad. I WILL RoundUp it on time next year.

Dorothy,

I thought of you and your chickweed (and me and my chickweed) the other day when I was looking at a gardening catalog....it might have been Johnny's Selected Seeds....and they were selling chickweed seeds! It made me laugh our loud. Chickweed is one of those things that I know you and I never would plant on purpose...not that we need to!

I suppose all the weeds this year are a result of all of last year's rain. I've never seen so many of them. On the good side of the equation, my bluebonnets spread more and came up in areas I usually don't see them, and all my herbs reseeded a lot, as did some flowers. I guess we've got to take the bad reseeding weeds along with the more desirable reseeding herbs and wildflowers.

Dawn

Oh, Dawn, thanks for the link. It answered my burning question about the weed taking over my flowerbed...carolina geranium.... at least I think it is. Between that and the wild morning glory, that bed is a mess....

Lisa

Thanks everyone. Dawn thank you for the link. It does not show chickweed, but that is what I have, although I think I have all the others too. Carolina Geranium is a bad one as are quite a few of what I have always called dandelions.

I am so glad that they have officially labeled Evening Primrose a weed. That stuff is awful.

We have had so much rain, but the south side of our house near the house is super dry. I don't know why that is.

Sammy

Lisa, You're welcome. I have a lot of that Carolina geranium stuff too and have been pulling it out for days, trying to get it before it flowers and sets seeds. It sure can go from tiny to big in about 3 days.

Sammy, You're welcome. It sure is a weedy year. I thought I finally had gotten rid of all my Pink Evening Primrose because we have had none or just a tiny amount the last couple of years. This year it resurged big time, and I've been taking it out for days and days. Everytime I think I have them all pulled up, they pop up somewhere else.

I like seeing Pink Evening Primrose alongside the highways. I just don't want it here, unless it promises to choke out all the bermuda. Hmmmm? Which would everyone choose to keep....the bermuda grass or the pink evening primrose?

There must be a reason one side of your house is so much drier than the rest of the area, but I don't know why. Might be drainage? Might be a different soil from the other? We have a narrow band of sandy soil that cuts right through our clay, and it dries out much more quickly than the rest.

Dawn

Fifteen years ago a friend was inspired (by me, she said) to plant a flower bed. She built a lovely raised bed boredered by sandstone and bought some annual flowers to go in it. Then she wanted me to come look. It was very nice, but in the center of the bed there was a wilty looking chickweed plant.

"It looks lovely," I said, "all except this nasty thing," and I reached down and pulled up the chickweed.

"Oh, is that nasty? I found that little thing in the ditch and thought it was sweet so I put it in there."

"Then it's lucky I got here when I did." I said.

A few years later she moved to a house in BA. She called me and invited me to come visit. When I got there she showed me the back yard. It had a tremendous amount of chickweed in it, and we had a laugh about how she had come to hate the "nasty stuff." It is my worst weed this year, and I have a bunch of all kinds.

I didn't see cleavers on the website above, but this year have lots of that too.

The evening primrose is threatening to take over my front bed....I like it, but OH DEAR, this year is definitely the leap year.

Lisa

The pale green, creeping friend in our yard this year is vetch. Nasty stuff. It had taken us so long to get the mower repaired that by the time we were able to mow, our little push mower just could not do the job. So in we brought my dad with his tractor and he took care of it. My yard was absolutely overrun with it this year while my nearest neighbors seemed to go unharmed. We won't let it get away from us like that again.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Elizabeth,

It might surprise you to learn that many people plant vetch as a soil improver/cover crop.

When you have large amounts of naturally-occurring vetch, it usually indicates your soil is low in nitrogen. When you learn to 'read' weeds, they can provide great clues about what is going on with your specific soil.

Dawn

I had no idea, Dawn! Thanks for that information. Next year we are looking at doing some work to improve the soil here, so I'll tuck that tidbit in my brain and see what we might be able to do with it.

I think I mentioned earlier that I didn't have chickweed this year! Wrong..............I have it. I just read where herbalists use it for itching skin. Between it and henbit, I am kept busy chopping and pulling.

I also have another grass, maybe brome, covering the cellar. The previous owners planted it on purpose. Of course, she climbed all over and mowed that thing regularly.....not me. I spreads by seeds, by stolons, and maybe osmosis....I hate it.

It spreads by stolons, has some pure white roots and is in the flower beds where you cannot spray. It is as bad as Bermuda grass. I hope I can cut if off when the seeds set so maybe I can get control of it.