Lawn Weeds
Annual Bluegrass
Grassy Weed, Winter Annual
Leaves are soft, often a lighter green than turfgrasses and have a boat-shaped tip. Seed heads are arranged in the shape of a pyramid.
Bedstraw (Catchweed)
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
Leaves are egg shaped and oblong that somewhat resemble a frogs foot. The leaves have fine hook-like hairs that often catch on clothing and animal fur giving it the nickname Catchweed.
Broadleaf Plantain
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
Leaves are broad and somewhat egg-shaped with prominent veins. Produces a 4-12 inch stem with a flower spike.
Carolina Geranium
Broadleaf Weed, Summer or Winter Annual
Leaves are hairy on both sides and alternate near the base. Leaves are rounded and divided into 5-9 segments. Produces a light pink to pale purple flower cluster.
Carpetweed
Broadleaf Summer Annual
Smooth leaves with brownish to pink underside. Rapidly spreads and grows in prostrate circular mats.
Common Bermuda
Grassy Weed, Perennial
Leaves are small and smooth with a ring of white hairs at the leaf base. Grows best is warm, wet weather and sometimes used as a turfgrass.
Common Chickweed
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
Leaves, arranged in pairs on the stem and egg-shaped and smooth. Juicy-tissued, shallow-rooted with small flowers having five white, deeply notched petals.
Crabgrass
Grassy Weed, Summer Annual
Crabgrass is one of the most prevalent grassy weeds and is a severe problem in turf grass. Large crabgrass has hairy leaves and smooth crabgrass doesn’t. Smooth crabgrass has a purplish to blueish tint. Thrives in summer, growing well in dry conditions.
Curly Dock
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
Rises from a basal rosette with a single smooth stem. Can be 1-4 feet in height with smooth leaves that are much longer than wider and become reddish-purple with age.
Dallisgrass
Grassy Weed, Perennial
Coarse Hairy leaves produced near the plants base on shoots. It grows in clumps and is often mistaken for crabgrass, but has a much larger seed head.
Dandelion
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
Leaves are 3-10 inched in length and usually are covered with short hairs. The stem is long and thick and contains a milky juice. The yellow flowers usually show in May and June. The seed head is what you probably picked and blew as a kid helping this weed spread.
Dollarweed
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
The leaves are round, dark green and look like miniature lily pads measuring around an inch in diameter with scalloped edges. It gets its name from its silver–dollar-shaped leaves.
Goosegrass
Grassy Weed, Summer Annual
It looks similar to crabgrass, but has a distinct silverish-white center. The stems are branched and form a dense mat.
Ground Ivy (Creeping Charlie)
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
Leaves are hairy, bright green, round or sometimes kidney shaped with rounded edges and has a minty odor. Ground Ivy often grows in shady, moist areas.
Henbit
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
Also known as winter mint, leaves are opposite having two at each stem joint. Flowers are pinkish purple.
Japanese Honeysuckle
Vine, Perennial
This vine climbs and trails and is often grown as an ornamental plant. Stems are woody and slightly hairy to smooth. The leaves are opposite and evergreen. The fragrant flowers are yellow and white and form in pairs.
Johnsongrass
Grassy Weed, Perennial
This invasive grass grows and spreads rapidly often choking out wanted turf grass. It has large, coarse blades with a distinct dividing line in the middle. It is extremely difficult to kill, but can be controlled with proper maintenance.
Knotweed
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
This weed has a prostrate growth habit and often found in high-traffic, compacted areas of the soil. The stems form a dense mat. The leaves alternate, are oblong and have a blue-green tint. It has tiny white flowers.
Kochia
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
This is occasionally used as an ornamental and can grow up to 6 feet tall. Stems are smooth and green with many branches. The leaves are alternate, hairy and pointed.
Kudzu
Vine, Perennial
Kudzu is very invasive and can take over your lawn or even your house if not controlled. It is a high climbing vine that grows rapidly with woody stems. It has reddish-purple flowers in the summer and kind of smells like a Grape Jolly Rancher.
Kyllinga
Grassy Weed, Perennial
Kyllinga is not actually a grassy weed, it is a sedge. The leaves are narrow and long. It has green flower heads with three leaves growing beneath the flower. This vine loves areas with moist, full sun areas.
Lambsquarter
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
This weed is nicknamed Goosefoot because of its large, dense, broad leaves that resemble the foot of a goose. It is a very fast grower and stems can vary in color to red, pink or sometimes yellow.
Mousear Chickweed
Broadleaf Weed Perennial
The weed grows close to ground. The leaves (that look like a mouse) are opposite, small, oblong, dark green and covered with soft hairs. It can have small white flowers with notched petals.
Nimblewill
Grassy Weed, Perennial
This is another weed that gets mistaken for Crabgrass. I forms dense patches and its stems are smooth and slender with short, flat leaves.
Oxalis
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
This leaves of this weed have a very distinct appearance. The form in groups of three leaflets on long petioles and are heart shaped, some might say shamrock looking. The flower is yellow, but can sometimes be a pale pink that form in clusters.
Poison Ivy
Vine, Perennial
Poison ivy can be grown as a low shrub or climbing vine. Its leaves are pointed, occur in three and are shiny. Found often in brush areas growing up (climbing) trees. Any part of this plant can cause blistering of the skin or a rash.
Pokeweed
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
This weed can grow very fast. As much as a couple of feet in a week or two. It is also poisonous to humans, dogs, and livestock. The roots of the plant contain the most concentrate of the poison, but all parts of the plant are poisonous including the dark purple and black berries.
Prickly Lettuce (Wild Lettuce)
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
The leaves are larger and distinct at the near the bottom of the plant and get smaller towards the top. They are oblong, waxy and greyish-green. The underside of the leaf has whitish veins. The stem contains a milky latex when cut.
Ragweed
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
This weed has coarse, hairy stems that grow up to 4 feet tall. Male flowers are green, occur in spikes and produce a large amount of pollen. The smaller, yellow flowers are female.
Red Deadnettle
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
This weed is often confused with Henbit. Unlike Henbit, all of Red Deadnettle’s leaves are on short little stems. The leaves are lobed and dark green, but the upper leaves are triangular and have reddish-purple tint.
Shepherd’s Purse
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
The leaves are somewhat hairy and vary in shape. The stems are thin and can grow up to two feet tall. The flower is usually white, but can sometimes be a light pink.
Spurge
Broadleaf Weed, Summer Annual
Most spurges contain a milky, acrid, irritating sap. Spurge is low growing and has reddish green stems that form a dense mat. It has opposite leaves and very small pinkish-white flowers.
Star of Bethlehem
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
This weed is a winter bulb belonging to the Lily family. It is very invasive and easily identified because of the white star shaped flower. Its stems can be slick and oozy, in Tennessee it blooms in Late Spring.
Thistle
Broadleaf Weed, Annual or Perennial
Thistles have spines along the leaf margins and their flower heads are generally pinkish-purple and surrounded by bracts that are spiny. Very fast growing and can reach heights over 6 feet easily and are very unsightly.
Virginia Buttonweed
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
This is a deep-rooted weed with prostrate branches. It usually is found in moist to wet areas. The leaves are green to light green, slightly thickened, opposite without petioles and slightly rough along the margins. The flowers are white with four star-shaped petals, which sometimes have pink streaks in the center.
Virginia Pepperweed
Broadleaf Weed, Winter Annual
The lower leaves form from a basal rosette, and are deeply lobed. The leaves initially develop from a basal rosette. Lower leaves are oval and the upper leaves are alternate and toothed. They have white to greenish flowers with four small petals.
White Clover
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
This weed has trifoliate leaves and stems that root at the nodes. If leaf is composed of three leaflets that are egg-shaped. They have smaller, rounded white flower heads. This is a very common weed in middle Tennessee and relatively easy to control.
Wild Onion
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
Like Star of Bethlehem, the Wild Onion weed is produced by a bulb. Stems are hollow, slender and round similar to your garden variety onion, but are shorter and thinner. The underground bulbs can remain alive in the soil for several years making this a tough weed to control.
Wild Violet
Broadleaf Weed, Perennial
This weed has very distinct heart-shaped leaves, purple flowers and grows 2-5 inches in height. Leaves are hairless. This is another tough weed to eliminate, but can be controlled with repeat proper maintenance.
Yellow Foxtail
Grassy Weed, Summer Annual
Yellow Foxtail has erect stems 1-2 feet high, topped with a yellow to sometimes reddish, bristly, spike-like flower head 2-3 inches long. Leaves have long hairs on the upper surface.
Yellow Nutsedge
Grassy Weed, Perennial
Nutsedge is not actually a grassy weed, it is a sedge. These are easy to spot in the summer because they grow faster than turf grass and have a light greenish-yellow tint. The leaves resemble grass, but are tubular and have edges. If not treated, when the weed matures it will produce a yellow flower cluster.