Author Topic: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?  (Read 4641 times)

Chris N

Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« on: 25 July, 2016, 09:44:53 am »
Any suggestions for a broadleaf weedkiller for a relatively small (but rapidly spreading) patch of violets in my lawn?  Thanks. :thumbsup:

caerau

  • SR x 3 - PBP fail but 1090 km - hey - not too bad
Re: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« Reply #1 on: 25 July, 2016, 11:59:27 am »
My first thought is why you want to weedkill a pretty plant.  You'll be killing daisies next ;)


My second is that most violet cultivars are annual or biennial and therefore should not need to be killed.  But that's not universal of course.


Roundup (glyphosate) would work if you must  - just spray the leaves and cover the surrounding grass with something the spray can't penetrate so you don't get the grass too.
It's a reverse Elvis thing.

Re: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« Reply #2 on: 25 July, 2016, 12:05:30 pm »
Something with Triclopyr or 24D in it.

Chris N

Re: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« Reply #3 on: 25 July, 2016, 02:10:09 pm »
My first thought is why you want to weedkill a pretty plant.  You'll be killing daisies next ;)

Anywhere else in the garden, if hacking it back or digging it up doesn't work, it can stay.  On the lawn, if you're not grass then gtfo.

My second is that most violet cultivars are annual or biennial and therefore should not need to be killed.  But that's not universal of course.

I meant to type wild violets - either Viola odorata or sororia.  They are perennials.

Roundup (glyphosate) would work if you must  - just spray the leaves and cover the surrounding grass with something the spray can't penetrate so you don't get the grass too.

Would work, but I'd like something a bit more specific - hence my request for a broadleaf weedkiller.

Something with Triclopyr or 24D in it.

Ta. :thumbsup:

Re: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« Reply #4 on: 11 August, 2016, 08:53:36 pm »
Viola spp are characteristic of base rich and poor fertility soils; therefore if you add some fertiliser to your lawn you will likely disfavour viola spp and also enhance the growth of vigorous grasses, ie you will provide conditions to favour grass growth and disfavour viola spp thereby getting rid of viola spp without recourse to herbicides
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Weedkiller for violets in lawn?
« Reply #5 on: 12 August, 2016, 12:31:40 am »
Viola spp are characteristic of base rich and poor fertility soils; therefore if you add some fertiliser to your lawn you will likely disfavour viola spp and also enhance the growth of vigorous grasses, ie you will provide conditions to favour grass growth and disfavour viola spp thereby getting rid of viola spp without recourse to herbicides
Which is roughly the opposite of what we (Warwickshire Wildlife Trust) do to encourage wild flowers on our grassland nature reserves. Reducing nutrient levels discourages the vigourous grasses. Wild meadow flowers don't compete successfully with vigorous grasses. There's more to it than that, but...
I've been gently encouraging dog violets in the lawn for several years. That's mostly about mowing around them when in flower, to let them set seed. As weeds, they're benign, like herb robert, but unlike the hawkweeds, our local wood avens, the wretched green alkanet and several others.

You evidently have a problem with your violets. Can you identify what sort (deliberately vague) they are?