If there are splashes of blue in the green of the lawn, Veronika (Ehrenpreis) has spread. No matter how pretty the delicate plant looks, if you don't fight it, over time it will displace the grass, it will become holey and other wild herbs can colonize. You can find out how to get rid of weeds in this article.
How do you remove veronica weeds from your lawn?
To combat veronica weeds in the lawn, you can weed individual plants by hand, mow regularly with a grass catcher and fertilize the lawn properly. The addition of algae lime on lime-poor soils is suitable as a preventive measure.
Determine honorary award
- Plant family: Plantain family
- Other names: Allerweltsheil, Veronica, Grindheil, Woundheilkraut
- Location: Sunny, preferably in places protected from the wind.
- Soil requirements: Rich in nutrients and clay, low in lime
- Growth habit: Creeping, grows up to 15 centimeters high
- Leaves: Noticeably hairy and relatively broad
- Leaf color: Elliptical, greenish gray.
- Flowering period: March to June
- Flower color: delicate violet-blue
Fighting Veronika
You can simply weed individual plants by hand. If this creates holes in the lawn, you should specifically reseed so that these gaps close quickly.
If speedwell spreads in the lawn, regular mowing weakens the weeds. However, new growth can develop from parts of the stem, so you should definitely use a grass collection bag.
Prevention
The most common cause of the spread of lawn weeds is a lack of nutrients. In contrast to weeds such as Veronika, grass has a very high nutrient requirement that must be covered through fertilization. If the living carpet has weak points, speedwell can establish itself and gain the upper hand over time.
Veronica prefers lime-poor soils. The additional supply of greenery with preparations such as algae lime (€25.00 on Amazon) prevents further spread.
Chemical weed killers
These liquid or granular products should only be used if there is no other way to deal with the weeds that have settled in the lawn.
The preparations should only be used when the soil is warm and moist. Do not mow the grass for a few days so that the leaf mass of weeds is as large as possible, because the active ingredients of the herbicides are mainly absorbed by the plants through the leaves.
Give lawn weeds their own corner
It makes ecological sense not to completely ban wild plants from the garden. Speedwell is a valuable pasture for bees and provides food for many insects.
Tip
Veronika is an old medicinal plant. In natural medicine it is used successfully for skin diseases, cold symptoms and bladder infections.
