Ragweed is a weed that many homeowners struggle to get rid of. It is often found in gardens or yards where people spend time relaxing or playing sports with their kids.
Ragweed is also a weed that can cause misery for people with allergies. You might not even know you have ragweed in your yard until the fall when it’s flowering and releasing pollen into the air. If you are suffering from allergies and think it may be related to ragweed, there are some things you need to know about the plant.
It’s important to learn how to identify this weed so you can get rid of it before your allergy symptoms start acting up, or if you just want a healthier, weed-free lawn!
The good news is that there are lots of things you can do to help reduce the ragweed population on your property, including using natural weed killers or just pulling them out by their roots! Read on to find out more about how to identify and kill ragweed in your lawn so it does not come back next year.
What Is Ragweed?
Ragweed, also known as Ambrosia Artemisiifolia, Common Ragweed, and Annual Ragweed, is a weed that is a member of the Asteraceae family. This plant has been found growing all across North America, and in many other parts of the world. It’s considered to be an invasive species, and can become a noxious weed, and most homeowners do not want this growing near their home!
The first step in controlling any weed problem is learning how to identify them correctly. So, where and how does Ragweed grow, and what does it look like?
How Can You Spot Ragweed?
Common Ragweed can grow up to three feet tall, has yellow-green flowers, and can be found almost everywhere across the United States.
Its leaves are oval shaped with jagged edges and its roots go deep into the ground making it difficult for other plants to compete with this weed for nutrients. Ragweed has many leaves in a single plant and they look like small but long fern leaves – they’re often very green leaves that look like blades with jagged edges.
The flowers are small, green to yellowish in color with four petals. When Ragweed blooms, the flowers head turns into fluffy seed-heads in distinctive clusters that are usually what people notice first about ragweed plants! These seed heads can look like little corn cobs or a bunch of small peas in a row.
The leaves of this plant are covered in pollen so it often triggers allergic reactions in people who suffer from allergies like hay fever.
If you notice these characteristics on any plant in your lawn, then you know what kind of weed it is!
Where, When, and How Does Ragweed Grow?
Common Ragweed often can be seen growing in dry areas that are low in nutrients, including roadsides, vacant lots, meadows, and lawns. It is a very competitive weed and grows quickly.
This weed is an annual plant that can grow up to three feet tall with stems that branch out. It usually begins growing during late spring up until the fall. It grows and spread mainly through the use of rhizomes, but can also spread by seed.
It blooms from the Summer into October, and that is the ideal time to remove this weed. Ragweed produces thousands of seeds that can be picked up by wind or by birds, but only last about six years in the ground before dying out.
How Can You Eliminate Ragweed From Your Lawn?
Ragweed can be difficult to remove if it has already started flowering because its seeds are able to survive the winter, which means they will likely re-grow next year.
What should you do if you come across ragweed while tending to your lawn? First make sure not to breathe in the pollen since it can cause you to have an allergic reaction.
With Chemical Ways
If you have already spotted ragweed growing in your yard, you can eliminate it using a weed killer containing herbicide. These sprays are made up of chemicals that make the soil toxic to any other plants for a short period of time.
Any Broadleaf weed killer will be effective at killing ragweed, as well as most weed killers that use the primary ingredient glyphosate, such as this Compare-N-Save Herbicide.
Be sure to apply herbicides in the early morning or late afternoon when there is little to no wind in order to prevent the chance of it drifting over onto nearby plants.
Spring and early summer are the best time of year to apply weed killers, because the ragweed plants are smaller then. If the ragweeds are bigger, you might need to reapply an herbicide a few times – be sure to carefully follow the instructions on the label.
If you are using a weed killer that contains glyphosate, then make sure your ragweed plant is not blooming before spraying it. Again, spring and early summer is the best time for this.
With Organic Ways
The most common natural method of Ragweed removal is pulling it up by hand or with a shovel. If the plant is still young, pull up the weed so that its roots are removed completely. This will not allow any seeds to drop off in your grass and lead to more weeds growing next year. Next, use a mulch or another type of temporary plant cover on top of the soil to help prevent any seeds from germinating.
You can also make your own home-made weed killer by mixing 2 teaspoons of dishwashing soap, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of vegetable oil, and 1 gallon of water in a spray bottle. Spray the weeds after it has rained or watered your lawn to help keep this in control in your garden.
Repeated mowing will eventually kill of ragweed by continually removing its top leaves, through which it gets a lot of its energy and nutrients.
How Can You Prevent Ragweed From Growing?
There are a few ways to prevent Common Ragweed from repopulating your lawn. Firstly, as we said before be sure to pull them out by the roots while they are still young. This will prevent it from releasing seeds, and remove any of its roots that could potentially grow back next year.
Another tip is using mulch or other plant coverings to block sunlight for this weed can keep its growth down since ragweed requires full sun to grow! If you find Ragweed in your garden, you can use night tilling methods to reduce emergence by up to 45%.
Lastly, using small grains in constant rotation will suppress the growth of ragweed if they are over-seeded with clover. However, this then produces a clover problem in your lawn, so be sure to know how to deal with clover if you use this method.
Summary
It can be difficult to spot ragweed, but it’s important that you don’t overlook these plants. If left unchecked, they will continue to grow and make your yard an unpleasant place for everyone who visits.
For one thing, ragweed is a common allergy trigger for most people, with symptoms ranging from sneezing and watery eyes to asthma attacks. It is also just unpleasant to look at in your garden.
Luckily we’ve given some tips on how you can eliminate ragweed from your lawn as well as prevent it from growing back in the future. You could use chemicals like weed killer or herbicides that will kill the ragweed plants without harming other vegetation, but this may not be an option if you have pets or kids who play on the lawn.
You could also try organic methods like spraying vinegar onto the leaves (which works best when it’s damp outside) or cutting off all of the plant’s foliage before flowering occurs. If nothing else works, make sure to rake up any fallen seeds so they don’t germinate in future years! With these helpful hints we hope you can get rid of your ragweed once and for all.