Goathead
Also called Puncture vine, Bindii. Just like its name, the spiky seed pods can stick under your shoes, tires and even puncture your bike tires.
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 annuals and reseed quickly.
Control
How to get rid of them?
Hazard
They can enter pet’s body when the seeds are dried out and hardened.
Prevention
How to prevent those suckers from coming out in spring?
Life cycle
They are annual and love heat and dry climate. They can flower 3 weeks within germination and go seeded after 2 weeks. A single plant can produce 200–5,000 seeds and seeds are viable for 4-5 years.
They germinate when it’s warm (early summer) – usually after bur buttercup.
Goathead plants stay low on the ground and yellow flowers only open during daytime.
The bur (seed pod) is
Hazard
Sharp burrs cause serious injury to people, pets, livestocks and puncture bicycle and vehicle tires. They are easily spread by vehicles, pedestrians, and animals.
Can you have goats or livestock to get rid of goathead?
No. Goathead’s leaves contain saponins that can be toxic to livestock, especially sheep, if eaten in large quantities. All parts of the plant are toxic at all growth stages, but wilted plants are the most hazardous.
Control
Easy to pull by hand before it goes seeded. If the seeds already go in the ground, consider a big scale of physical or chemical removal methods.
Handpull
from the roots- 100% effective
- No equipment needed. (Gloves are recommended.)
- No other plants are harmed.
- Hard to get rid of the seeds on the ground
- Back hurts after pulling for an hour
- Unless you’re sure that your hot compost is over 140°F that can kill the seeds, do NOT compost bur buttercup.
Physical removal
Solarization, cardboard, mulch- 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.
- Or cover the area with cardboard and mulch it after. It composes as time goes.
- It only works for the areas that you want to completely redo.
Herbicides
2,4-D, Glyphosate, preen- Apply herbicides to kill it. Apply pre-emergent in early spring to prevent it sprouts.
- It’s toxic for animals and you.
- Herbicides might harm your plants around it, with potential health hazards if you don’t use it correctly.
- The most efficient way to get a big infestation area under control
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.
Cardboard method
1. We removed the topsoil with millions of dry mature bur buttercups. (We dumped it in big black garbage bags, moist it with water and let it “cook”. Use the soil after a few months.)
2. Cover the ground with cardboard. Cut some holes where we want to put plants in.
3. Mulch it with woodchips ~3″
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)
Enrich your soil
Goathead thrives in hardpacked soil. Work on your soil and allow other plants/grass to thrive.
Plant native species
The most sustainable long-term way is having strong native perennials occupying the space to outcompete weeds.