What are those white flowers?

What are those white flowers that you may be seeing in neighbor’s lawns or possibly even in spots in yours? More than likely they are chickweed. Chickweed is going crazy this Spring in Cincinnati and in Dayton. Chickweed is a winter weed that is blooming right now and will then drop its seeds into the soil. After it flowers and drops, it will then naturally die up with the warmer weather. There are many other winter weeds that are flowering right now. Some other weeds that will be dying off soon with warmer weather are deadnettle and henbit. Both look similar, but henbit has more of a stacking of leaves up the maroon stem and a darker purple flower as opposed to deadnettles light purple flower.  Deadnettle leaves can also be a maroon/purple color.

What can you do about these winter weeds?

• Bag your mower clippings while you see the flowers to avoid scattering the flowers/seeds of the weeds all over
• Hand pull them as best you can to avoid distribution of more seeds into the soil
• Apply Corn Gluten Meal in the Late Fall to help reduce the amount of winter weeds
• Fill in bare/thin areas where weeds invade in the Fall
• Spot Treat the weeds (Call us if you would like us to come spot treat the weeds for you)
• Tolerate them knowing in a few weeks they naturally will die off.  It is a flower.  Just enjoy the beauty of them.