![[Midwestern US] What is this taking over?](https://www.allforgardening.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/1756113730_dnne0o3xw0lf1-scaled.jpeg "[Midwestern US] What is this taking over?")
This stuff started in my rock flower bed and has just slowly but steadily taken over my side yard and is creeping into my front yard. I’ve tried spraying and even pulling it out by the root, but it is so hearty and stubborn. Would anyone know what it is and how I can finally, effectively, treat it?
by Acky1425
37 Comments
Spurge
big box store 2-4d mix hose end spray will kill it.
I hate that fucking shit. It grows out of every fucking crack in my driveway and sidewalk. I pull them and the roots are ridiculously long
Spurge!
Dicamba and pre emergent treatments
Does one brand work better than the others, or are they all pretty much the same?
I tried pulling them, and it’s coming out the next day. The weeds grow so quickly.
I’ve lived here 10 years and this is this first time this maddening Spurge has show up, and spreading quickly. I guess I’ll have to dig it All Out.
Spurge is slick and the spray seems to run right off
Spurge, probably spotted spurge. Be careful when hand pulling, the sap is a skin irritant. standard 3 way herbicides should kill it, and it doesn’t root to deep so hand pulling can work too, if you wear gloves and take your time with it.
Spotted spurge. 2,4D mixed with dicamba should get rid of it
Spurge is the worst. You pull it and it drops seeds and comes back worse. If it’s in rock beds or between patio cracks, I have fun pouring boiling water on it, it kills it faster than the quinclorac I use on it in my yard.
Roundup max (the yearly treatment) works well in my rock bed
I’ve sprayed it with 24-d and roundup, both kill it easily. It spreads like mad tho
Looks like spurge
Spurge thrives in heat. Anywhere you have rocks, stone, or concrete you’re going to see spurge popping again and again.
I had this in my driveway. I normally use industrial strength vinegar on weeds. It mostly killed it but some started growing back. I dowsed it again and when the plant dried up, I used a weed torch to disintegrate it. If it grows back, I’m trying dynamite.
https://preview.redd.it/gtbabv6y51lf1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd10bc1f78af54d5692cb9c17d75f2fd92970c91
This is what I use to kill it. Does not harm the grass.
Insert hand. Squeeze nearest the ground. Exert pressure in an upward fashion. Significant results await you.
Spurge
Just smash it with glyphosphate
Spurge. It has waxy leaves so mix your weed killer with a surfactant.
Had this shit come up in my backyard, was able to kill it with a gallon of 30% vinegar, cup of iodized salt and a squirt of dish soap (for surfactant purposes). Worked like a charm, but made the weeds turn dead and brittle, making it super hard to remove them. If I could do it over again, I’d pull them first, then treat the area to prevent continued growth
“What is this taking over”
… your rock beds. The spurge is taking over your rock bed.
Im dealing with it in the northeast. Just bought my first house. Theyre driving me crazy
I hate these guys but you can just pull them, especially in gravel.
That’s spurge and there’s a product called Spurge Power. Spurge is nasty. The larger it grows, the easier it pulls out however.
Spurge
Ok
A nightmare.
Rocks or gravel of some type
Japanese clover. Quinclorac will kill that. The orange ortho weedclear wiped it out. May need two applications depending on how mature it is but the second destroyed everything for me
Purslane, roundup, and it comes back, roundup again.
“Spurge City B… Spurge Spurge City B… Spurge City B… Spurge Spurge City B…” The stuff nightmares are made of.
Spotted spurge or purslane
They produce so many seeds is crazy
Spurge is the worst man.
I just use vinegar mixture.
After it rains. Go out and pull weeds. It’s much easier.