Turfgrass Weed Library

A highly adaptable weed (and sometimes managed turf) that produces prolific seedheads and struggles under stress.

A coarse warm-season perennial grass with a distinctive Y-shaped seed head that forms unsightly clumps in lawns and roughs.

A coarse summer-annual grass of thin, wet, or newly seeded turf, growing in spreading clumps with reddish stem bases.

Desirable as turf in the south but an aggressive invader of cool-season lawns via stolons and rhizomes.

A low-growing clover-like legume with trifoliate leaves and small yellow flower clusters; indicates low nitrogen.

A broadleaf perennial forming rosettes of broad, ribbed leaves with rat-tail seed spikes.

A perennial plantain with narrow lance-shaped leaves and cone-like seed heads on long stalks.

A biennial thistle forming a large spiny rosette the first year and a tall spiny flower stalk the second.

A creeping perennial thistle that spreads aggressively by deep roots, forming spiny patches.

A fast-growing summer annual that forms flat, circular mats with whorled leaves in thin turf and new seedings.

A dandelion look-alike perennial with hairy basal leaves and branched, wiry flower stalks bearing several yellow flowers.

A taprooted perennial with dandelion-like basal leaves and sky-blue flowers on tough, wiry stems.

A low-growing winter annual forming dense mats with small white star-shaped flowers.

A wiry, mat-forming summer-annual legume that invades thin, dry, low-fertility turf and tolerates close mowing.

A taprooted weed with round, scalloped, geranium-like leaves on long petioles and small whitish-pink flowers.

A succulent, mat-forming summer annual of thin turf and new seedings that thrives in heat and re-roots from broken stems.

A rhizomatous perennial with soft, fern-like finely divided leaves and flat-topped white flower clusters; tolerates close mowing.

A small upright winter-annual speedwell with hairy leaves and tiny blue flowers, common in thin spring turf.

A summer annual grassy weed that germinates as soils warm and outcompetes thin turf.

A creeping perennial speedwell forming mats with tiny kidney-shaped leaves and blue flowers.

A taprooted perennial with large wavy-margined leaves and reddish, rust-colored seed stalks.

A coarse perennial bunchgrass forming expanding clumps with distinctive seed heads, hard to control.

A perennial broadleaf with a deep taproot and bright yellow flowers turning to puffball seedheads.

A wet-soil indicator weed with round, shiny, silver-dollar leaves that spreads by rhizomes, tubers, and seed in overwatered turf.

A late-emerging summer annual in the dayflower family that mimics St. Augustine and centipede foliage and spreads by stolons, often unnoticed until it displaces turf.

A coarse summer-annual grass that germinates later than crabgrass and forms knee-high clumps in thin turf.

A summer-annual grass of sandy, droughty sites that produces sharp, spiny burs which injure people and pets.

The largest foxtail, a summer annual with a long, bristly, nodding seedhead and hairy upper leaf surfaces.

A tough summer annual of compacted, wet areas, germinating later than crabgrass.

A summer-annual foxtail with a slender green bristly seedhead and smooth, hairless leaf blades.

A low-growing perennial sedge resembling fine turf, forming dense mats in wet areas.

A creeping mint-family weed with scalloped leaves and square stems that forms dense mats in shade.

A low, mat-forming perennial in the mint family that tolerates close mowing and flowers with squat purple spikes in thin, moist turf.

A winter annual mint with square stems and clasping scalloped leaves topped by purple flowers.

A winter-annual speedwell with ivy-like lobed leaves and small pale blue flowers.

An aggressive warm-season grass that invades cool-season turf, forming dense, rough, weedy patches.

A low winter annual that stays inconspicuous through winter, then forms sharp spine-tipped burs in spring that injure bare feet.

A low, strawberry-like perennial that creeps by runners through shaded, moist turf, with yellow flowers and bland red fruit held above the leaves.

Primitive plants that colonize thin, weak turf; an indicator of poor growing conditions rather than a true competitor.

A low, mat-forming perennial with small hairy leaves; tougher and more persistent than common chickweed.

An aggressive rhizomatous perennial of roughs and edges with aromatic, deeply lobed leaves that are silvery-white beneath; very hard to control.

A wiry warm-season perennial grass that forms light-green patches and goes straw-tan when dormant.

A coarse, clumpy cool-season grass that creates rough texture and disrupts turf uniformity.

A wiry rush perennial that thrives on compacted soils — paths, cart tracks, and worn areas — where turf struggles to compete.

A low, moss-like perennial that forms tight cushions in closely mown fine turf — greens and tees — especially where the sward is thin.

An upright-to-spreading summer annual of wet, compacted, thin turf, recognized by swollen jointed nodes with a papery sheath and pink flower spikes.

A desirable turf species that becomes weedy when coarser or less resilient than surrounding turf in fine-turf or premium lawn settings.

A wiry mat-forming summer annual that thrives in compacted soil and is an indicator of compaction.

A winter annual mint similar to henbit but with petioled, triangular upper leaves tinged purple.

An aggressive sedge spreading by chains of tubers; one of the worlds worst weeds.

An aggressive cool-season perennial grass spreading by long white rhizomes, very hard to remove.

A creeping perennial with arrowhead-shaped leaves and reddish seed heads; an indicator of acidic, low-fertility soils.

A light-green perennial grass that creeps into cool-season turf as patches, then collapses to straw in summer heat.

A cool-season winter annual of thin turf, recognized by its rosette of lobed leaves and slender stalks of heart-shaped (purse-like) seed pods.

A tough, bunch-forming warm-season perennial grass named for the black sooty fungus that coats its narrow seed heads in late summer.

A prostrate summer annual with milky sap forming dense mats from a central taproot.

A tiny winter-annual mustard forming ground rosettes with thin stalks of small white flowers in very early spring.

A desirable turf in its own right, but coarse-bladed clumps are a weed in fine-textured bluegrass/bentgrass stands.

One of the most aggressive invasive grasses of the Gulf Coast, spreading by sharp, soil-spearing rhizomes that are very hard to eradicate.

A deep-rooted, mat-forming perennial of wet sites that tolerates very low mowing and is one of the hardest broadleaf weeds to control in southern turf.

A creeping nitrogen-fixing legume with trifoliate leaves and white flowers that thrives in low-N turf.

Perennial bulb weeds with slender waxy leaves and a strong onion/garlic odor that stand above the turf in clumps.

A waxy-leaved perennial with purple flowers and rhizomes, notoriously hard to control.

A summer-annual grass with a bristly, foxtail-like seed head, common in thin or newly seeded turf.

A fast-growing sedge (not a true grass) that emerges above turf in wet areas after rain or irrigation.

A clover-like weed with heart-shaped leaflets, yellow flowers, and explosive seed capsules.

An aggressive warm-season grass used in the South that becomes a serious weed in cool-season turf, spreading slowly but relentlessly.