Tennessee lawns get a variety of weeds, including grassy weeds like smooth crabgrass, broadleaf weeds like common chickweed, and sedges like purple nutsedge. Each has distinct traits and thrives in specific conditions.
Identifying the type of weed is key to successful elimination and control. This article lists some of the most common weeds you’ll come across in Tennessee lawns.
Common grassy weeds in Tennessee
Smooth crabgrass
Smooth crabgrass (Digitaria ischaemum) is the most common crabgrass species in Tennessee. It’s recognizable by its fast-growing, low-lying stems and wide, coarse, light green leaves. Unlike large crabgrass, smooth crabgrass lacks hair on its leaves. We discuss more about crabgrass in our article, What is crabgrass?
Smooth crabgrass isn’t picky about sunlight conditions and often thrives in heavy soils. It easily overtakes a lawn and is a nuisance to remove. You can eliminate crabgrass with a pre-emergent herbicide or, for a more organic approach, by pulling the weed out by hand.
Here’s how to get rid of crabgrass and here’s when to apply a pre-emergent herbicide.
Goosegrass
Goosegrass (Eleusine indica) is another common grassy weed in Tennessee. This grass emerges from April to September and grows in clumps from its central tap root. It has a flat stem with a noticably light-colored lower stem and crown, while the rest of the plant is darker green than crabgrass. These two features distinguish goosegrass from the other common lawn invaders.
Goosegrass often indicates an unhealthy lawn as it thrives in compacted soils with poor drainage. It may especially be a problem in areas with frequent rain, like the western side of the Cumberland Plateau. Just like crabgrass, it sprouts a bit later in East Tennessee.
Besides mechanical approaches, the best way to eliminate and prevent goosegrass is pre- and post-emergent herbicides.
Dallisgrass
Dallisgrass (Paspalum dilatatum) is a clumping perennial weed that’s one of the hardest to get rid of. In some cases, you may need to completely renovate your lawn to get rid of this uninvited, persistent invader. It’s a coarse-textured, gray-green weed that’s easily identified by its prominent mid-rib and seed heads with hairy spikelets.
Dallisgrass loves full sun as well as partial shade. It doesn’t require wet conditions but prefers them, like flooded areas. You should especially beware of this grass if you live on the western side of the Cumberland Plateau, because of how much rain your area gets.
Annual bluegrass
Annual bluegrass (Poa annua) is a winter grass with greenish-yellow, folded blades with boat-shaped tips. The blades may appear rippled or slightly wrinkled. Annual bluegrass grows in patches of clumps amongst turf, particularly bermudagrass, and takes advantage of dormant grass that goes dormant during the colder months.
You should especially be on the lookout for annual bluegrass if your lawn has shaded areas as it likes shady, moist soil.
Green foxtail
Green foxtail (Setaria viridis) is a tall-growing weed that may grow one to two feet tall. It features green, tapered seed heads covered with barbs, and its long, flat leaves grow upright.
Green foxtail thrives in full sun or partial shade and is common in moist, highly fertile soils. It’s the most common Setaria species in northeastern Tennessee, likely because it likes cooler temperatures.
Broadleaf weeds in Tennessee
Common chickweed
Common chickweed (Stellaria media) is a prevalent weed with shiny, egg-shaped to elliptic leaves and vertical hairs growing along the stem. It blooms in small white flowers in clusters.
You’re most likely to spot common chickweed in the winter, outcompeting your turfgrass in its most vulnerable state. It’s especially common if your lawn is shady or your soil is consistently wet. So lawns on the western side of the Cumberland Plateau should be monitored closely.
Here’s all about chickweed and how to get rid of it.
Dandelion
Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale) are known for their yellow flowers, which eventually transform into puffballs. These puffballs are not only a fun summer activity for children but also help in spreading dandelion seeds around.
Dandelions can grow in a variety of soil types and prefer full sun. They thrive in soils with low calcium and high nitrogen and potassium levels. Their deep and strong taproots make it challenging to get rid of them.
But on a positive note, dandelions bring benefits to your lawn if you leave them alone; they’re natural aerators. If you prefer to manage them, an occasional mow can help keep them under control.
Here’s more about how to treat dandelions.
Henbit
Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) features kidney-shaped, hairy leaves with serrated edges. In the spring, it produces dainty, purple flowers in whorls sitting atop its square stems that often have a purple tint. It may easily be confused with the purple deadnettle. However, the deadnettle has a red-to-purple tinge on its uppermost leaves. The leaves are attached to a petiole.
The most ideal soil for henbit is rich soil, such as the soil commonly found in Western Tennessee. The plant also thrives in fertile soil with plenty of shade. However, it also grows in sandy soil.
Dead nettle
Dead nettle (Lamium purpureum L.) is another frequent broadleaf invader. It’s distinguishable by its square stem, fuzzy leaves, purple tops, and dainty, pinkish-purple flowers that appear in April. Young plants also have bright purple top leaves.
Dead nettle often grows in patches in moist soils and in full sun to moderate shade. Even though it may not be desirable on your lawn, it’s a good plant for pollinators. Its name is somewhat misleading; the dead nettle isn’t actually a nettle at all but is a member of the mint family.
Prostrate spurge
Prostrate spurge (Euphorbia maculata) is a low-growing weed that invades lawns in the summer. It has red, hairy stems that contain milky white sap. Be careful, because this sap is hard to wash off. Furthermore, you can recognize the prostrate spurge by its dense ground cover of dark green leaves. From early spring to mid-fall, it blooms with small, white or pink flowers.
Prostrate spurge thrives in weak spots in lawns, in full sun as well as part shade. Because it likes dry soil, you should especially watch out for it in areas with less rainfall, such as the eastern side of the Cumberland Plateau, as well as Sequatchie Valley and the Chattanooga area.
Here’s how to get rid of spurge weed.
Sericea lespedeza
Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) is a tall perennial growing up to 3 to 6 feet. It has one or multiple stems growing from its crown. The stems are usually gray-green and hairy. They often branch out in the middle and grow many green to ashy green leaves, each with three oblong to linear leaflets with hairlike tips. The plant bears small, cream-purple or cream-pink flowers in mid-summer to early fall.
Sericea lespedeza is invasive and aggressive. It grows best on soils with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5, but grows on soils ranging anywhere from very acidic to slightly alkaline. The most likely soil to sustain the plant is clay or loamy, deep, fertile, and well-drained. However, this weed is adaptable and resilient. It even tolerates floods.
Sedges in Tennessee
Purple nutsedge
Purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) superficially resembles grass but is actually a difficult-to-control lawn invader. It often forms dense colonies. Its triangular stems usually grow up to 1 to 1.3 feet. Furthermore, the plant produces dark reddish to purplish brown spikelets with few flowers.
Purple nutsedge is most common in West Tennessee because it’s a better fit for warmer climates. It doesn’t do too well without sunlight. Furthermore, the weed thrives in soil with a pH anywhere from 3.5 to 7.0 and still grows well at pH 8.7 or higher. It likes a variety of soils, from sand to heavy clay.
Yellow nutsedge
Yellow nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus L.) is a common turfgrass weed with long, light green or yellow leaves and a glossy appearance. The stem is triangular, as is typical for sedges. You can distinguish the plant from purple nutsedge because it has yellow- to gold-brown spikelets and blooms with many flowers. It’s also taller, usually growing up to 2.5 feet. Additionally, the weed grows fast and stands out in the summer.
The grass is more prevalent in East Tennessee because it’s cold-tolerant. While the yellow nutsedge loves poorly drained, overwatered soil and full sun, it can grow under any sunlight conditions. If you’re from the western side of the Cumberland Plateau, watch out; it rains a lot here and the plant thrives in it.
Green kyllinga
Green kyllinga (Kyllinga brevifolia) looks and acts similar to yellow nutsedge. It has waxy-looking leaves and a fine leaf texture. Like other sedges, it has a triangular stem. The sedge grows low and blooms even when mowed.
Green kyllinga thrives in warm soils with excess moisture. You’re most likely to encounter it if you overwater your soil, if there’s too much rain, or if your soil just drains poorly. Once again, watch out for it if you live on the western side of the Cumberland Plateau, where it rains most frequently out of all of Tennessee.
Other Tennessee lawn care resources
Weed control is just one aspect of lawn care, but there’s much more you need to do. Here are other Tennessee lawn care resources:
Hire a pro
Ultimately, it’s easy to make a mistake when identifying and treating weeds. But those mistakes can end up being costly. Prevent such inconveniences by hiring a pro to do all the hard work for you.
Main Photo Credit: Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule). Cecelia Alexander | Flickr
