Sorry, I love this Oxalis! Pink flowers, right? Did you have another ground cover in mind for there?

Knowing a bit more about this garden would help. Are these recently created beds? Is there a smother layer under the mulch? Maybe some pics of the overall yard...

I looked at all of your pics. IMO, whatever's in the lawn, just mow it. Occasionally I find a prickly thing or basal rosette that's too low to get mowed, remove taproot by hand with a thin trowel, giant screwdriver, dandelion fork.

For the areas where there's really nothing but weeds, I would smother and mulch them if they're too shady for grass. If you want lawn and there's enough sun, throw down some grass seed appropriate for your area and just start mowing whatever grows. Most plants that aren't grass can't survive bi-monthly mowing to a very low height.

Yes, pink flowers. And I like it too, as it reminds me of being a kid and picking through thinking I'd find a four-leaf clover. LOL! I don't have another ground cover in mind... was going to just leave it mulched. I'm attaching pictures of the area. (And cringing because there's so much still to do!... and because I just discovered, while taking these pictures, that the fire ants are back... owwie! *scratch, scratch, scratch!*)

The heavily mulched area is behind the waterfall and pool. This is the view facing North. (FYI, this is in full sun starting in Spring) Down the slope on the right is where the "Allium" is growing... where the dirt slope meets the grass.

This is the view facing South. The Oxalis is visible in the mulch.

This is the view facing SouthWest. This side of the house stays shaded all year. The dichondra is growing on each side of the path in the shade.

Here is where the Dichondra is.

This is the view facing West.

This is the view facing East. Here you can see almost the entire mulched area that I wasn't planning to use a groundcover in.
{{gwi:1340217}}

Your closeups made it look a lot worse, your yard looks GREAT! Are you new to this yard?

Given the overall appearance of the yard, I'm pretty sure the bulb things I thought/think could be Allium are ornamental and there on purpose.

I would be in/by the pool enough to ensure I didn't worry about what was getting mowed in the "lawn." The Dichondra will grow where it's too shady for grass, and really doesn't get tall enough to need mowed that I've seen. As trees make more and more shade, the grass can succumb in those areas to other plants more suited to low light. I think it's an exotic, but if it wants to grow at the edges, under the porch, I'm cool with it. OT about it, but saw a potted plant with that as ground cover, very cute...

I see a sprinkler... and dying palm fronds. Did frost do that, or are you watering too much maybe? Hopefully it's not sensitivity/overspray to/from the RU sprayed on the Oxalis. RU is known to not really do much to bulbs, unless the timing is just right, and probably repeated. I don't think you need it, at least not for the Oxalis.

In that mulched area, I would smother closer to the base of plants, pull the mulch back a bit, put down some overlapping cardboard, cover with mulch. Where they can be easily dug, I'd get the Oxalis out and put it where I did want it, if there such a spot for you. They are bulbs, so easy to find and move. Getting every single baby one... maybe more cardboard before you put the mulch back where you were digging.

We bought this house in 2007. At that time, there was really nothing here except the mature trees. (Three Live Oaks, two Laurel Oaks, a Silk Floss tree, some citrus, and some Loquats. There was no fence, no pool, no patio, no flowers, no pathway.
As for the Allium... before the pool was put in last May, the entire yard was grass and weeds. No one planted those things there, they just turned up. (And I wonder what all got stirred up when the pool was dug.)
The sprinkler is only there because we were testing the irrigation we just installed, it's not staying. We haven't been watering for a while now (against the law this time of the year) The palm damage is from frost. Every single year, the North side of everything gets hit, and these are newlings... just planted in May/June when the pool was finished.
As for Round Up, I haven't sprayed any... I knew better than to try with the other plants' proximity and the natural grade... I didn't want it to seep into the ground and travel.
I wouldn't know where to move the Oxalis. In some areas of the lawn, it's yellowing all of a sudden, and in others it's happy as a clam. What does it prefer?

You might also consider a lawn-safe herbicide (2,4-D) around the palms and bamboo. Keep it away from the Philodendrons, bird of paradise, and other dicots though.

Purp, that oxalis can be very invasive here in the South. I have some that's purple, but pull out the green whenever I see it.

Thanks, eahamel. I just can't kill it, it makes such a cute little border.

Many people I know that have sprayed 2,4-D have nearby desireable plants showing the signs of poisoning, even when barriers are used to be sure those plants do not get sprayed.
Those plants are growing in a mulched bed where scuffing the mulch is the simplest, easiest means of control of any unwanted plant growth.

What does "scuffing the mulch" mean?

With all the good advice you've gotten, I would suggest you use Round-Up over 2,4-D or other growth regulator herbicides unless it is in the middle of the lawn, and I'd be careful even there. 2,4-D will vaporize to some degree, and any sensitive plants that catch the vapors will be damaged. I find it too hard to predict air currents to use 2,4-D anywhere near (within 20 feet or even more) something sensitive. Instead, I would stick with Round-Up as it won't vaporize and is quickly degraded in the soil. At recommended rates, Round-up will be extremely unlikely to travel in the soil and affect anything. If you are really close to something you don't want damaged and worry about spray drift, use a small paintbrush to apply the Round-up to the weeds so that you don't get any on the "good" plants.

Scuffing means using a forked cultivator to move the mulch around a bit so the roots of any unwanted plants are disturbed enough to cause those plants to die.
Many people, using only the misinformation the manufacturer supplies, think that the glyphosates and other poisons are fairly innocuous while there is much evidence that they are not. Would the manufacturer of a product lie to you about its safety? Have manufacturers lied about the safety of the products they sell?

Here is a link that might be useful: about Glysophates

I'll try the scuffing thing. Beyond that, I will rake out the mulch and pull those buggers one by one. I'm very attached to all my new plants in that area and Round Up and I have never really worked and played well together.

I am not convinced this is Oxalis. (It is definitely not Clover). We do not have Dollar Weed (Hydrocotyle spp) in the UK, so I have never seen it. But could your 'clover' be Dollar Weed?

No, my "clover/oxalis/three-leaf clover" and my dollar weed look nothing alike. This is for sure oxalis that I'm trying to get out of the beds. The dollar-weed is in the lawn. Although, in the very first picture I posted, you can see two round dollar-weed leaves mixed in with the clover.

This post was edited by shear_stupidity on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 7:40

Likely O. violacea or O. debilis.