There is no treat-and-forget solution where it has been well-established in a lawn. It requires constant vigilence like being a lawn security guard. I've tried the oxalis-destroyer but fear it has made matters worse. The problem is that the chemical stresses out the lawn grass while it is attempting to control its targeted foe and a stressed lawn makes it that much easier for any weed to take hold. So you may need to just live with a slightly brown lawn until the violets have succumbed. Fall treatment followed by the following Spring is the best success and figure on a few years followed by close monitoring and more treatments when new eruptions occur. Use a surfactant to help break the wax (yes, the violet leaves have been preparing for our attack for thousands of years). And before you violet sympathizers begin to suffer the effrontery of eradicating this natural botanical... try to understand and sympathize with the lawn maintainers. Homeowners who spend years planting and caring for a lawn (in this context, "lawn" means grass!) resent any invader that seeks to undo all their efforts and expense which created the lawn in the first place. It's not the occasional tuft of violets that is at issue but rather an entire lawn covered to the point where the grass has been all but eliminated. If we wanted a field covered with violets we would have planted them in the first place. And trying to bag clippings is near impossible because violet leaves do not shear like grass and discharge through the chute. They create a slurry of green sludge that must be removed from the bag by hand or with a trowel. There is a difference between coexisting and invading. Wild violets are about as invasive a weed as there is and confounds lawn care all over the country. They have ceased to be "cute" additions to a cultured environment.

I'll apologize in advance for a lengthy response (no matter how quick an answer I think it will be, it always turns into several paragraphs. Look, here's a 2nd paragraph already!) I've dealt with violets in my lawn since we moved in 4 years ago. I'm trying to be organic as well, but I'm more on a hybrid program currently. My experience with this @#$@*&! weed is as follows: 1. Vinegar sort-of works for me. But I think the root/bulb system is too strong for it have much effect. Plus, the difficulty of spraying a non-selective product in the middle of the rest of the lawn you're trying to keep. Side note on vinegar - I used a whole spray bottle 2 weekends ago (if you're in the DC area, Maureen, you may remember the sunny weather that Saturday). Sprayed around 10 AM - no real effect after 45 minutes to an hour. This was in direct sun. Sprayed again around 11, when the temperature was up around 80 - turned weeds brown in about 20 minutes. My conclusion - vinegar doesn't only need sun - it needs heat. At least 80 degrees. Caveat - it may just take much longer to work in lower temps, and the 2nd dosage may not have been needed. Anyway, back to violets - I think it will take repeated doses - it may shrivel the leaves, but it won't take out the root system - will probably require constant killing of the re-sprouted leaves. 2. RU / Glysophate - Don't recall if I've used this on the violets. Most of my violets are in the lawn, so I'm hesitant to use it there. The rest are in my rose beds - I'm VERY hesitant to use it there! However, violets, due to their nice large leaves, are execellent candidates for the RU on the sponge/glove treatment. 3. Weed-b-gone / 2-4-D - I've sprayed them several times. Violets are like George Foreman in the ring - you can hit him several times, but they just won't go down. I've direct sprayed, and I've used the hose attachment to spray the whole lawn. With one application, they'll shrivel. I think it will work - but as the directions say - it will take several applications. 4. Hand pulling - I've had the same observations as you - a weed hound would not work on these, as they lack a true tap root. I believe they're related to the Iris family, and thus have a sideways bulb, and it's very prone to snapping off. When I weed them from the mulched rose bed, I'm able to get the bulb and most of the rhizomes (may not be the correct term), as the soil is fairly loose. (another observation - I used leaf mulch last year - they still grew through about 3/4 inch of the mulch). If you're digging them out of the lawn, the lawn has to be damp from rain or a THOROUGH watering. I've had success with a dandelion weeder/spear. It's really more a "prying them out of the ground" process than "picking". 4a. Hand pulling with regular garden gloves won't work as well. Try latex medical/food prep gloves (they're more durable than you would expect). That will let you get a better "feel" of the bulb when you're burying your finger in the soil let you know if sure you're getting the whole thing, and not snapping it in 1/2. 4b. You said they leave a hole? Are you actually using a shovel to dig them out? 5. Current state of my lawn - This year, I haven't noticed that many of them. I re-seeded last fall, and I believe the thicker lawn (and the higher cut when I mow) is either a.) shading them out so that they aren't growing as quickly or b.) hiding them so well it's tough to find them unless they showing off their purple flowers. If you haven't raised your mowing height yet, that would be my first suggestion. 6. Seeds? I haven't noticed any seeds - I thought they spread by rhizomes? It could be both - I have not researched them lately. I always assumed it was just sprouting new "colonies" due to their extensive root systems (which I only have success pulling in the rose beds - they're too fragile to pull successfully from the lawn) 7. I copied and saved a posting from someone (maybe garden forum? not sure), that mentioned 90% weed control after 2 spraying in 3 weeks. He used weed-b-gon Chickweed, clover and oxalis killer. It supposedly has some form of triclopyr that is suitable for lawn use. No personal experience here, just passing along previously read information. 8. The other research I saved on violets mentioned that violets like a lower pH. But again, it's just a posters comment, no hard reasearch or facts to back it up. Hope this book helps. Gags

As Morpheus said, Tenacity will kill them but at the point you're currently at painting each leaf with glyphosate ( aka RoundUp) might be just a trad more work but a lot quicker in the end. Keep in mind, you'll likely be fight these things for several years to come so anything to make it easier is good. I'm on my second year since a full reno and I've finally got the wild violets down to an easy manageable point. With a small hobby type paint brush and straight glyphosate I just paint each violet leaf. In a week it's gone and this also takes care of the roots. As said, I still have one pop up from time to time but this method takes care of them.

Use a spray weed killer and I prefer the concentrate that you mix. All you need is a 1 or 2 gallon pump up sprayer and it's much cheaper and more effective. The Weed-B-Gon CCO works well. The recommended mix rate is 1 ounce per gallon of water but for wild violets I've found that 2 ounces per gallon works much better. Also add either baby shampoo or liquid dish detergent in with it to help it stick. You'll want to treat them every 10 to 14 days until they're completely brown. If you don't have too awful many of them painting them with straight RoundUp works even better. I use a small hobby type paint brush and a plastic cup and paint each leaf with the RoundUp. This will kill them in a week or so. Either way you go, keep a close eye out for new ones to pop up and hit them as soon as possible. Be prepared because it's probably going to take 3 to 4 years to completely get them gone.