You may be wondering what Wild Violet looks like if you’re like most homeowners. You’ve probably heard the term before, but you’re not sure what it means. Wild Violet is a plant that’s classified as a weed, but it can also be considered an ornamental plant.
What exactly is Wild Violet, anyways, and how can you get rid of it if it appears in your yard? This blog post will take a closer look at this annoying weed, where and how it grows, and offer up some thoughts on how to get rid of Wild Violet.
So, what does Wild Violet look like, exactly? Keep reading and let’s find out!
What is Wild Violet?
Wild violets (scientifically called Viola) are the most mainstream species within the violet family, with about 600 varieties. It is an annual or perennial weed with small flowers that is mostly found in temperate northern hemisphere regions such as parts of Europe and Asia, as well as the eastern United States. It has, however, also been discovered in a wider range of locations, including Hawaii, Australia, and the Andes mountains.
Where Does Wild Violet Grow?
In the United States, wild violets are a frequent weed in lawns and gardens. They may be found in full light or shade as well as a variety of settings, including bogs, prairie plains and hills, woodland undergrowth areas, and poorer-quality habitats altered by human behavior, such as roadsides and waste spaces.
The Violets spread by sending out runners along the ground or via seed dispersal using the wind or animals that eat and pass the seeds. Seeds can be dispersed up to 5 meters from their parent plant. Its deep roots systems make grasses struggle to compete successfully with their growth.
How to Identify Wild Violet
Well now we know all about this weed and how and where it can grow, so let’s take a look at how to identify it.
Regardless of the type of violets you have, once they start to grow in your garden or lawn, they’re easy to spot. Identify which kind it is and whether or not you have pigweed before anything else.
Visual Characteristics
The most typical way to identify Wild Violets is by their purple flowers, which bloom over the spring and summer seasons. The flowers are typically purple but may also be white, dark purple, or light blue in hue.
Wild Violet leaves have wavy edges and frequently grow close to the earth, in part because their stems are not particularly long.
Its stems are short and grow about 6 to 10 inches in length. The leaves are glossy, and the flowers have hairs on the bottom three petals, causing the tops of the stems to droop slightly.
Growth Stages
Wild violets produce many flowers from one plant, and the flowers tend to bloom throughout the spring and summer.
Other Unique Traits
This specific plant species can live and reproduce for up to a decade or more. They are also inter-fertile, meaning they can cross breed with other closely-related species.
Plants That Look Like Wild Violet
There are many type of weeds with purple flowers that all end up looking similar, and Wild Violet is one of them. For this reason, Wild Violet often gets mixed up with Creeping Charlie, Common Henbit, and Purple Dead-Nettle.
There are easy ways to distinguish Wild Violet from all of these other weeds. Creeping Charlie creeps along the ground, not really growing upward at all like Wild Violet and other weeds do. Purple Dead-Nettle have flowers that are reddish and purple and have tiny white hairs on them. Common Henbit has flowers that are more pink than purple, and are typically larger than other weeds’ flowers.
How to Get Rid of Wild Violet
When you’re ready to eliminate wild violet from your yard, the first thing you need to do is cut it right down at ground level with a pair of garden shears. This will strip it of the blooms, seeds, and leaves that it feeds on while growing.
You may then remove the wild violet plants from your garden by hand pulling it from the ground, or using a weed killer that has either glyphosate or 2,4-D as its base ingredient.
In the spring, just after the flowers have bloomed but before they turn into seeds, is the best time of the year to regulate and eliminate wild violets in your lawn or garden. The reason for this is that wild violets generate new, softer leaves in the springtime and are more difficult to handle and remove later on in the season.
However, the optimum time to employ a chemical herbicide is in the fall, when the wild violets will absorb the chemicals through their roots throughout the winter.
Conclusion
The common weed Wild Violet comes can be found growing in many neighborhoods and backyards throughout the United States. It has several identifying traits, including growth stages and distinct characteristics.
If you see it in your garden, please set about removing it immediately! There are some other weeds that look like Wild Violet, and it can quickly take over an area if not strictly monitored and kept under control, so it’s important to learn how to identify it before taking action to get rid of it.
Don’t worry if you’re having difficulties removing Wild Violet on your own. For additional information on how to get rid of Wild Violet from your property, contact us. We are here to help. We hope you gained some useful information from this blog post. Good luck with your garden!