This plant has been rapidly taking over my lawn. I thought it was chickweed as it has the same creeping growth habit, but I've been told chickweed has white flowers, not yellow like this plant. Any identification help and advice on what to do is appreciated. I live in Burnaby, BC and my lawn is south facing.
It clearly looks like a legume, like Michael F. indicated. In that case a selective lawn weed killer like "Killex" or "Weed Out" will most likely get rid of it. Just make sure there will be no sprinkling or rain for at least 2 hours after application.
Thanks you alll for your helpful responses. I think the plant is Black Medick. I had hoped that it might be some sort of beneficial plant or clover, but that doesn't appear to be the case. From researching the plant the only methods to contriol it seem to be hand weeding or application weed killer as suggested by Olafhenny. Excuse this follow-up question if it seems a bit dumb, but will a product such as Killex or Weedout kill all clover in my lawn? As a lazy man use of a weed killer appeals to me, but I also have some white clover in my lawn (which I like) and I don't want to kill it off. So does that leave me to hand weed or is there a product which will take care of the Black Medick but spare my white clover?
It is closely related to clover, and is as good as clover for fixing nitrogen. Equally, a lot of people consider clover to be just as nasty a lawn weed. There's certainly no point in trying to be rid of the Black Medick but not the White Clover; either keep both or get rid of both.
Michael, sorry I probably didn't make it clear what I meant by beneficial. I like my lawn to be green all year long and I'm not picky so I'm content if the green comes from clover or grass. So, I consider white clover beneficial as it works as a lawn replacement. It stays green all year long (and is not attractive to chafers) so it keeps my lawn looking green all year long. AFAIK black medick doesn't work as a lawn replacement as it is an annual which will flourish in the spring/summer and choke out other vegetation, but it will die in the autumn leaving me with large empty patches of dirt in my lawn.
Whoa! Hold it a minute. I would not swear to it in a court of law, but this very Black Medic seems to act as a perennial in my "lawn". I suspect it may be an annual in colder regions, but perennial here on the Wet Coast. I encourage anything that survives mowing in my lawn - except dandelions for some reason that remains buried in the recesses of my brain (I have a dandelion puller -great therapy!). All the nitrogen fixers like this guy are welcome, since I never fertilize my "lawn". Also welcome are mosses, liverworts & various & sundry forbs like lawn daisies, ajuga reptans veronica etc. I never water it & encourage brownness (?). That's why I call it a "lawn". It's much more interesting than a grass monoculture & the bugs & birds like it too. I am looking for a good acronym or name...OSMS - other species mown short, SWARD- short weedy area resisting drought, MAP - Mown array of plants. Can anyone suggest a good one? I promise to give credit when I use it. gb.
Hmm? Nice try, but I would still have to use the ""s. I suspect one of my more traditional neighbours may call it a mess. I like to think he means a "MESS" - Maintained Environment of Shorn Species. gb
Looks more like Medicago lupulina to me - the leaves are blunt tipped, elliptic/ovate and in some images there is a slight red tint on the margin. Trifolium campestre has a divit at the leaf tip; T. dubium most leaves are ovate; T. aureum leaf is elliptic/obovate. Ane none of the Trifoliums show a red tint margin. Never would have gotten there with out the previous posts. Good Job!
Glass Brain, I like Lorax's acronym. Like Boston's commons or any grassy square in the middle of a small town, usually with a place for picnics or band concerts or just for resting after a day of shopping. You need a sign for your lawn in the winter that says "Shhh, lawn not dead - just sleeping". Burnaby, If its green I usually leave it but I agree with you on this stuff. Much prefer the white clover, tiny pink geranium, violets, tiny Daisey and such. barb
COMMONS is very appealing lorax, however I have trouble memorizing what it stands for! I have been patching it (needed often with my way of gardening) with envirolawn (or some name like that) from West Coast Seeds. Some pretty aggresive stuff in that mix. Does the job quite well thank you. This year I got rid of a further 8-900 sq.ft. of lawn by putting in a fancy veggie garden raised bed system. I much prefer eating plants to mowing them. At my present average annual rate of lawn removal, I will have no lawn left when I am 89! I'm working on it - every year a little bit less.... gb.
