Need help with weed ID...

gljo · Post by **gljo** » Jul 09, 2005 3:42 pm

Can anyone identify the weed that is swallowing my hostas? I just want to know so that I can insert the correct name into my cursing and ranting as I pull them, on my hands and knees, AGAIN!

It has a square-ish, very ‘watery’ stem and can get quite tall, 12” or more. The roots are very shallow and can grow along the stem if it touches the ground. If I remember correctly, the flowers are insignificant and kind of greenish/white, late summer/early fall. They must drop a zillion seeds because that’s how many weeds have come up! Preen did not seem to faze them this spring. These (pictured) have re-grown after a complete weeding in June!

I just GOTTA get some mulch!!!

gljo

mommatina · Post by **mommatina** » Jul 09, 2005 5:23 pm

LOL.. I agree with you .. no idea.. but it is a problem for me to... of course it is only one of many I have... weeds that is..

Primroselane · Post by **Primroselane** » Jul 09, 2005 10:39 pm

It's the only one that I do not have.

petal*pusher · Post by **petal*pusher** » Jul 09, 2005 11:06 pm

Hmmmm....I would guess that your pest is from the mint family....Lamiaceae.

That square juicy stem usually is a pretty good indicator. The deep grooves in the leaves also look like this family of plants. Is there any smell to the leaves?? Some types of this plant have no smell, but sure do have the same growth habits!

Any plants in this family are tough to get rid of!! (Sorry)

They send out runners just beneath the soil....and pop up everywhere! As you surmised, they DO have multile flowers, and reseed very easily. (Sorry again)

How to get rid of??.......I'd probably wet down the soil real well, then gently pull out by hand.......or, you could carefully remove your hosta, Round-up, wait a week or so, and replant. Do NOT till the soil....those blankety-blank roots will just bring you MORE plants! Hope this helps!.....p

Snow · Post by **Snow** » Jul 09, 2005 11:51 pm

I pulled a ton of mint out of my daylily beds tonight - thanks to a good rain. Have fun

gljo · Post by **gljo** » Jul 10, 2005 11:13 pm

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I found out, thanks to Petalpusher’s mint suggestion, that it is called Clearweed or Richweed. (Pilea pumila) Google is wonderful, isn’t it?

I was pretty sure it wasn’t a mint (no smell, short roots/no runners) but that gave me a place to start looking. One website mentioned that nettles have the same square stems, opposite leaves, etc. and are often mistaken for mints. Soooo, went looking through the nettles websites and there it was! Clearweed!

Pulling is probably the only way to control it now. This area is about 40x60’ and has over 200 hostas planted in it. Can’t dig them up to spray. And Primroselane, believe me, if you don’t have these weeds, be careful not to GET them! They are soooo invasive!!

I plan to recruit my boys to help pull all that we can (AGAIN) before it blooms! Oh, my aching knees…. I have gotta get some mulch!

Thanks again for your help!
gljo

Snow · Post by **Snow** » Jul 11, 2005 12:32 pm

Now that you mention it - it does look like a nettle.