Types of Weeds

Types of Weeds in Our Area

There are plenty of weeds in our area (Chino Valley, Dewey-Humboldt, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Verde Valley, Williamson Valley, and Yavapai County) that just need to go. Call Mel’s Outdoor Services to help get rid of these nuisances and to keep your yard clear and healthy. Click on the weed’s name below to learn more about the weeds on which we’ve declared war!

Puncturevine aka “Goat Head”

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What is it:
  • It is an annual weed typically found in sunny, dry areas. Usually flat, the stems can be nearly erect where growing in competition for light.
  • The spiny seedpods often lie hidden under the plant. Mature seedpods break apart into 5 burs, each containing 2–4 seeds, which are viable for up to 7 years.
  • The mature puncturevine weed is a matlike plant up to 10 feet in diameter with stems radiating from the crown. There are 1/4 inch, 5-petaled, yellow flowers and multipointed sharp burs.
  • Look for small yellow flowers, open in the morning, between April and October. Each leaf, comprised of 4 to 8 pairs of opposite leaflets, is 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and is covered with fine hairs.  Puncturevine burs embed themselves in tires, shoes, feet, fur, and clothing to travel to new locations where the cycle begins again.
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Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

 Horehound

Horehound / Mel's Outdoor Services

What is it:
  • It has square stems (often woody near the base) densely covered with white hairs with leaves opposite each other. Leaves are hairy above, very hairy to woolly underneath, rounded with a crinkled surface and sharply aromatic when crushed.
  • It has small white flowers in dense clusters above the nodes (where the leaves join the stem) around the upper sections of the stems.
  • Clusters of flowers dry to form brown burrs with small hooked spines. Each burr contains up to 4 small (1-2 mm long) spear-shaped seeds.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Foxtails

barley_foxtail_op

What is it:
  • It has wide leaf blades, much like the turf grass in which it may grow.
  • The base of the leaves has fine hairs and the stem rises from a collar at the base of the leaf. Stems bear three- to ten-inch long spikes of flowers, which yield to seeds at the end of the season.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Prickly Lettuce

What is it:
  • Leaves are oblong football shaped to egg shaped, often have slightly indented tips, have bases that abruptly taper into a short stalk, and usually have a few fine, gland-tipped hairs, especially on the edges.
  • The mature plant can grow up to 6.5 feet tall.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

London Rocket

What is it:
  • Plants exist as rosettes until they develop flowering stems at maturity.
  • Stems mostly branch near the base, and usually grow to about 2 feet tall. Leaves are nearly hairless.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Russian Thistle

What is it:
  • Russian thistle is a large and bushy noxious annual broadleaf plant.
  • Mature plants are large and bushy with rigid, purple-streaked or green stems that typically curve upward giving the plant an overall round shape.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Silverleaf Nightshade

What is it:
  • A member of the tomato family, silverleaf nightshade is a branched and deep rooted perennial herb that grows 1 to 4 feet in height with purplish-blue flowers.
  • Silverleaf nightshade lowers crop yield through competition. The species is also toxic to livestock.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Filarees

What is it:
  • Filaree plants are low-growing, common winter annual and sometimes biennial broadleaves.
  • Depending on the species, stems grow from spreading to more-or-less erect and reach 2 to 3 feet in height or length.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.

Red Root Pigweed

What is it:
  • Mature plants may grow up to almost 10 feet tall but in general are found growing to about 3 ft.
  • Under certain conditions, free nitrates in redroot pigweed leaves are high enough to be toxic to livestock when consumed.
Plan of attack:
  • Biological, chemical and mechanical removal. Contact us for more information & to schedule a consultation.