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Help identifying plants/weeds

17 years ago

I have two things growing in my pachysandra that I cannot identify and am having a hard time controlling.

One is a thistle like plant that is erect (about a foot tall now). The young leaves remind me of dandelion leaves but the older leaves have thorns/spikes on the outside but the leaves are straight-edged. Also, the stem is hairy. Has not flowered yet so I don't know what the flower looks like. I am attaching a couple pictures.

The second is a grasslike plant that has a purple flower. It grows in clumps and looks like an overgrown clump of grass but the blades are much thicker. I attach pictures of the 'grass' and flower.

Also, if there is a way to rid the pachysandra of these plants without having to spray them individually, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful: picture of weeds

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Comment (1)

malna
17 years ago
The thistle-like plant may be a Canada Thistle. Hard to tell until it flowers. I tried digging these out, but that didn't work - they just came back. I had pretty good luck with cutting off the top and painting the stem (not the leaves) with Roundup. Still a PITA, but better than the digging.

The second plant is a Tradescantia or Spiderwort. They are a quite common garden flower that is very good at escaping into the wild. Someone actually gave me a clump of these that I planted, but the deer love them, so I don't have to worry about them spreading too much :-) Mine pull out pretty easily. But they are persistent, and will re-appear if you don't get all the roots out.
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