What Are The Purple Weeds In Grass

When people talk about weed, it does not necessarily mean unattractive green plants that take over gardens. They can look beautiful too! 

If you are a gardening enthusiast like me, then you must have noticed tiny purple flowers growing in between the grass. While they look pretty, you might soon see them taking over other useful plants if you allow them to grow. 

Plus, they can spread very quickly as the flowers usually contain thousands of seeds. Now my neighbor and I were discussing the growth of purple weed, and that is when she told me about the numerous varieties out there. 

Some types are more difficult to kill, and you will need specific weed killers for them. On the other hand, there are some varieties, which can easily be pulled out by hand and you can remove them yourself.

So, if you are wondering: what are the purple weeds in grass? then let me answer that. Hi! I am Stacy Smith, and I will be sharing all my knowledge about them in this guide. 

Read on!

What Are The Purple Weeds In Grass?

There are 6 major types of weeds that have purple flowers, and they are: 

• Red clover
• Creeping charlie
• Wild violet
• Henbit
• Purple Deadnettle
• Purple Loosestrife

I will now be telling you about each variant in detail. 

1. Red Clover

The red clover has flowers that are pink and purple in shade, with a number of flower heads on top. This is a very resistant variety of weed, as it can grow in cool weather as well as in drought-like conditions.

Red clover is primarily used by farmers to fix the nitrogen level in the soil, but when this weed gets into gardens, it could take some effort to remove them. However, they have to be removed as otherwise, they have the capacity to displace other flowering plants that you have in place. 

To remove this weed, you will need weed killers that have quinclorac, fluorspar, and dicamba.

2. Creeping Charlie

If you observe that your lawn is slowly being covered with a variety of purple weeds, it can easily be creeping charlie. This variety has broad leaves and can form dense masses of leaves that are about an inch tall. You can recognize them by their round or kidney-shaped green leaves, along with bluish-purple blooms on top. 

They are difficult to remove, and often appear in lawns that are not maintained well. So, one of the best ways to prevent its entry is to regularly mow, water, and add fertilizers to your lawn. 

But in case it has already started taking over the other greens, you can use a post-emergent weed killer to get rid of it. However, be careful to apply it only to the weed and not on the surrounding grass.

3. Wild Violet

When I was new to gardening, I was guilty of letting the wild violet weed grow on my lawn. And the bluish-purple flowers of these plants are at fault! These usually grow under shade in a moist environment, but some mature varieties can spread in sunny areas too. 

This variety can easily spread through seed, so you will need a broadleaf weed killer to kill the plants. Also, the weed killer will have to be applied more than once to clear off the dormant rhizomes. 

4. Henbit

Believe it or not, but Henbit is actually an edible weed variety and has been named after chickens. It is one of the top varieties of purple flowering weed, and you will mostly find them around buildings and lawns. However, they generally don’t grow in fields or lawns. 

You can recognize the variety by checking  the leaves, which have a distinct square shape. They can slowly turn into a shade of purple over time as they grow. At the same time, they look slightly wrinkled, and the leaves towards the bottom grow from the stalks. On the other hand, the leaves on top will be growing from the stem. 

To control the spread of this variety, you will have to use herbicide before the seeds are dispersed. Otherwise, they will have to be pulled out by hand. 

5. Purple Deadnettle

The purple deadnettle looks a lot like henbit, with the only difference being that the leaves are not connected to the stem. They grow up to 10 inches in height, and you will find them in moist and damp places. I have seen these around ditches and wet fields, and they should be pulled out immediately. 

However, if there is a large number of purple deadnettle, then you will have to use a post-emergent herbicide. It should be applied in early spring to prevent the growth and subsequent development of the plant.

6. Purple Loosestrife

This variety is generally found near water bodies, ponds, and ditches. The purple loosestrife is tall and has small flowers with millions of seeds in them. Hence, they have the capacity of spreading like wildfire if you do not stop them from growing. And one of the simplest things you can do to minimize the spread is cutting off the flower heads.

Other than that, you can pull out the plants individually or use herbicides that contain glyphosate if they have already spread a lot.

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