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| Purple Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) |
IPM Strategies for Weed Control
- Identify the weed.
- Dig or pull the weeds in the winter or spring before they flower and set seed for the next year.
- Use good sanitation practices to prevent the spread of weeds. Small weed seeds can be spread by machines, clothing, pets, and by contaminated seed.
- If necessary, for the established weeds in your garden the best time to apply post-emergent herbicides is early spring when the weeds are actively growing but before they go to seed.
- To prevent germination of the seeds of winter annual weeds, apply a pre-emergent herbicide in late summer or early fall before the weed seeds have germinated.
- Follow-up the application of herbicides with non-chemical methods such as installing mulch, pulling weeds, or filling cracks.
Information Regarding Herbicides
- Be sure the label lists the weed you want to control.
- An herbicide will kill all susceptible plants, not just weeds. Make sure the label says it’s safe to use on or around the plants in your lawn, garden, or landscape.
- Be sure the weeds are in a stage that is susceptible to the herbicide.
- Herbicides that kill most plants they contact are called non-selective.
- Weed killers that control some kinds of plants but not others are called selective herbicides.
- Herbicides that control the germinating seeds before plants emerge from the soil are called pre-emergent herbicides. They won’t control weeds that already have emerged.
- Use post-emergent herbicides to control plants that already have emerged.
- The younger the weed, the better a post-emergent herbicide will work.
Please try to minimize the use of pesticides that pollute our waterways. Use non-chemical alternatives or less toxic pesticide products whenever possible. Read product labels carefully and follow instructions on proper use, storage and disposal.
Additional Resources
University of Tennessee - Deadnettle and Henbit
Rutgers University - Weed Gallery
UMass Amhurst - Weed Herbarium
