How to Identify a Flowering Weed in Your Lawn in Houston, Texas

Identifing Flowering Weeds

Flowering weeds or broadleaf weeds pop up in yards throughout the year in Houston, Texas. Because Houston has very mild winters, there is little break from trying to keep the invasive weeds from crowding out your turf grass. According to the Houston Rose Society, the majority of soil within the Houston borders is made up of clay. Clay soil prevents adequate drainage and can cause the death of lawns and promote the rise of weeds. To find out what type of herbicide to use, identify the flowering weed in your lawn.

Things You'll Need

• Soil testing kit
• Shovel
• Camera
• Pre-emergent herbicide

Instructions

1. Note the time of year that the weed is competing with your lawn for the soil's nutrients. There are two types of weeds: cool season and warm season. Houston gets a high population of spurweeds during the winter months, but when temperatures get warmer these weeds die out. However, buttercups take over yards in the early spring months.

2. Test the pH range of your soil. All plants require a specific pH range in order to absorb the soil's nutrients and survive. By finding out what your existing pH range is in your yard, you can narrow the list of potential flowering weeds. Purchase a soil testing kit from your local AgriLife Cooperative Extension. Collect soil samples and mail off to the lab. Wait a few weeks for the results.

3. Measure the weed to get an idea if it is at its maturity or still growing. If it bloomed in spring and you measure in the summer, it will be at the height of its growth. The measurement can help you figure out when it sprouted. For example, alligatorweed reaches up to 0.2 feet in height. Therefore, if your measurements indicate that it is that size and it is summer you know it must have sprouted in the spring.

4. Dig up your weed to look at its roots. Annual weeds have smaller root systems than perennial weeds.

5. Take a picture of the weed and visit the United States Department of Agriculture's list of Noxious and Invasive Weeds of Texas to compare photographs.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a pre-emergent herbicide in the fall to prevent cool season weeds from growing and in the spring for warm season weeds.

• Avoid spraying your invasive weed within the lawn with a broad spectrum herbicide, because it will kill surrounding vegetation.

References

• Houston Rose Society: Knowing and Working Your Soil Type
• USDA: Texas State-listed Noxious Weeds