Can you identify this weed, please

mhardaker12 · August 2023

This weed is taking over my lawn. Is it some kind of bind weed or knotweed ? There are shoots rerooting.
How do I get rid?

AnniD · August 2023

Possibly creeping buttercup ?

mhardaker12 · August 2023

Thanks Ann. It's all over the lawn. Spread very quickly. Any advice on how to kill it off.

Fairygirl · August 2023

I agree - buttercup. They spread on the surface, rooting as they go.
You can pull/dig them out, or you can spot weedkill them, depending on how you feel. I think there are gel weedkillers which are often used for them.

mhardaker12 · August 2023

Fairygirl said:

I agree - buttercup. They spread on the surface, rooting as they go.
You can pull/dig them out, or you can spot weedkill them, depending on how you feel. I think there are gel weedkillers which are often used for them.

Yes thanks for that. Going to be busy for the next few weeks weeding, that's if the rain stops. I'm in Northern Ireland and we've just had the worst wettest July on record. The lawn was relaid last summer and some of these weeds appeared in the first weeks of new lawn growth, but now they are all over the lawn. The contractor just ignores my calls. But at least I have a bit of a chance to control them.

Lyn · August 2023

We’ve had the wettest July in Devon as well, fortunately we had the driest June, so the average is the same as ever it was,

Fairygirl · August 2023

That's very poor from the contractor, but you should really have contacted them at the time. New turf recently laid shouldn't be full of weeds, but you are where you are. The prep may not have been good enough, and it's unlikely they'd have seeded in from elsewhere so quickly.
It's not a problem to use a weedkiller now though. It's not great on a newly laid lawn, but as it's a year old, it's fine.
Wet weather always sees them surge - they grow like mad here all the time, but I just do a quick spray on any that appear, or pull them out, depending on how I feel. On a very large area, it comes down to whether you're too bothered about them or not, so the size of the lawn is a factor.
Regular mowing keeps them reasonably under control, and at least the base of them is green, but they're too low to be completely removed, so they still run across the surface. Those bits are easy enough to pull out if you see them in time

mhardaker12 · August 2023

Great advice FG. I might treat them first, to weaken them, then pull them out. Just so many of them. I'd sue the contractor but it's nearly impossible to prove.

mhardaker12 · August 2023

mhardaker12 said:

Great advice FG. I might treat them first, to weaken them, then pull them out. Just so many of them. I'd sue the contractor but it's nearly impossible to prove. Yeah just to add, I did call the contractor early on but he just didn't reply. I am going to send him a "Letter before action" just to spook him. Following up with a 'small claim' is more or less a waste of the £130 fee as it's hard to prove it was his fault.

Lyn · August 2023

That won’t work very well, treating then pulling out. The weed killer has to travel down the stems to the roots, if you see any tops left it’s a sign that it’s not yet killed the roots, when the weed killer has done it’s job the tops will disappear.

It’s a test in patience 😉

Fairygirl · August 2023

Yes - not possible at this stage to do anything re the contractor.
It's a continuous situation though - weeds of all types will seed in from elsewhere, and if you're more rural, they come from fields etc.
You just have to manage them depending on how you feel about having some in the grass. Dandelions are my bugbear - I don't need them in my grass- there's enough of them growing everywhere else!

Can you identify this weed, please

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