Foxtails
These aggressive growers are dangerous for your dogs or cats as their seeds can travel into their body (skin, nose, ear, paws, etc.)
Life cycle
They are annuals and reseed quickly.
Hazard
They can enter pet’s body when the seeds are dried out and hardened.
Control
How to get rid of them?
Prevention
How to prevent those suckers from coming out in spring?
Life cycle
They are annual: germinate in spring and anytime after. Each plant can generate thousands of seeds.
They can grow between 4″-3′ tall and very tolerant to dry condition.
Each plant can produce 5,000-12,000 seeds which are viable for 6 years.
When it’s dried and hardened, it will fall on the ground and easily stick on your shoes, socks or animal’s fur.
Hazard
Foxtails can enter the body through the nose, mouth, ears, eyes, and they can also penetrate the skin, causing abscesses. Lots of pet owners have thousand dollars of vet bill because of foxtail.
How do you prevent your pets got foxtail abscesses?
Besides getting rid of foxtail in your yard, shave your pets (if they have long fur) can minimize carrying foxtail seeds. Check them thoroughly every time when they come back from outside.
How do you get rid of foxtail?
The next section we’ll explain the common methods.
Control
They don’t just produce massive amounts of seeds, they also can grow 1″ seed stalks after you mow it over. Mowing cannot control foxtail.
Handpull
from the roots- 100% effective
- No equipment needed.
- No other plants are harmed.
- Hard to get rid of the seeds on the ground
- Back hurts after pulling for an hour
- If there are seeds on the stalk (even when they are young and green), they need to be disposed not composed as they’ll still get dry and mature.
Physical removal
Solarization, burn, vacuum- No chemicals involved.
- Solarization requires full sun area and moist the area first before you cover a clear plastic sheet. It will kill all the weeds and seeds in 1-2 months.
- Single plastic use for solarization.
- Burning can be very effective (with a hose around to control it)
- It’s very dangerous to burn when it’s dry.
- Solarization and burning only work when you want to get rid of all vegetaion in that area.
Herbicides
quinclorac- Only effective within 2 to 3 weeks after germination.
- convenient and low-cost
- Also get rid of other weed grass like crabgrass
- Can also get rid of squash bugs, grasshoppers, other undesirable pests
- When the grass already goes seeded, it doesn’t help much as the seeds will still dry out and mature.
- Quinclorac can contaminate groundwater and be harmful to aquatic life. It’s not easily biodegradable.
Solarization
It utilizes the penetrated sunlight to heat up the ground to 140°F with moisture to “cook” the weeds, seeds, pathogens, etc. Get a sheet of clear plastic tarp (>2 mil), moist the ground, cover it and secure the sides with dirt or rocks.
Tips…
It has to be in full sun. It doesn’t work on shady areas.
The ground needs to be soaked before it got covered. Dry ground doesn’t help.
The sides have to be secured well. Too much ventilation allows heat escape.
Prevention
Catch them early in spring to prevent your garden get completely destroyed.
Pre-emergent spray
Apply chemical spray before it sprouts (late winter/early spring)
Clover or competitive grass
Foxtails are resilient so you need something that is stronger to compete.
Healthy lawn
Keep your lawn healthy to avoid foxtail take over the whole yard.