Central Texas Gardener - What is this weed and how do I get rid of it?

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What is this weed and how do I get rid of it?

This is a very common one that's most evident in late summer and fall. It's a prostrate spurge, a member of the Euphorbia family. There are many native spurges that pop up in our gardens and lawns this time of year.

But it's very easy to eradicate. You want to work your way under all of the prostrate stems and find the root. Get a good hold of the center of the plant, and it pulls up very easily.

It does make thousands of seeds per plant, so you do want to get it under control and out of your lawn and garden beds before it goes to seed and casts those seeds everywhere.

Unfortunately, when it's very young, it is harder to pull, so it does go to seed very easily before you can get it under control. And it does grow low to the ground, so you don't damage it much when you're mowing, except to disperse those seeds.

So, if you have a bad infestation this year, you'll likely have a bad infestation next year with all of those seeds. One thing you can do is to apply a pre-emergent herbicide in February to prevent germination.

Hopefully, next year we won't have such harsh conditions that weakened our lawns in 2010. When our lawns and garden beds are lush, prostrate spurge can't get the light it needs to germinate with such abundance.

What is this weed and how do I get rid of it?

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