Identification of Common Lawn Weeds in Kentucky

Some weeds may produce beautiful blooms, but continue to drain nutrients and water from your lawn grasses.

Nicknamed "The Bluegrass State," Kentucky receives no immunity to lawn weeds. A number of lawn weeds that occur in Kentucky bluegrass and other natural and sown fields and yards in the state also affect lawns throughout most of the continental United States. Identifying these weeds helps homeowners choose the best herbicides. Identification requires a close look at the growth patterns displayed by each weed variety.

Life Cycle

Different types of weeds have different life cycles that include annuals and perennials. Annual weeds, such as the chickweed, live and die in one growing season. Perennial weeds, such as wild garlic, survive for successive growing seasons though root systems or bulbs that remain in the ground and produce again in the spring from the same plant as the previous year.

Blooms

The blooms found on Kentucky lawn weeds may also help in identifying the weed species. Specific-colored blooms like the yellow-headed dandelion offer an immediate means of identification. In other weed species, the location and shape of blooms offers more insight into the weed's species.

Leaves

Lawn weeds generally produce three distinct leaf growths that help to identify the species of the weed. Broadleaf weeds have wide leaves with veins that branch out into the weed and include such weeds as poison ivy and wild violets. Sedge weeds have grass-like blades that produce from a single triangular step and include such weeds as the yellow nutsedge. A large number of types of weeds actually classify as unwanted grasses, with blades that emerge from the base and stems of the weed such as with quackgrass, orchard grass and fescue.

References

• University of Kentucky: Weeds of Kentucky Turf
• University of California: Weed Key
• Purdue University: Weed Identification and Control

Resources

• SeedLand: Weed Identification Chart