If you didn't have a calendar available,  you could still tell that it's Spring by the purple weeds covering acres of land.  This pretty, purple weed is Henbit.

    Every other patron who visited Roxbury this week was carrying Henbit in their hand.  The question from these patrons was all the same -  "What is this?" and  "How do I get rid of it?"

    Henbit (Lamium amplexicaule) appears in lawns in the springtime.  It is a cool season annual,  which dies in the heat of the summer. Extremely common in the eastern states, but can be found further west.  Believe it or not, some homeowners can't get enough of it.  I have heard Henbit being called,  "the carpet of lavender."  My answer to this is, "to each their own."

    Henbit appears more in closely mowed lawns, thinning lawns, and it takes on a strong hold in bare spots.
People will readily get Henbit confused with Ivy and are very surprised when the purple flower blooms.

    Henbit's characteristics are:

• weed is 10-15 inches long
• leaves are round, blunt teeth
• reddish - purple flowers
• upper leaves clasp the stem
• lower leaves have stalks
• leaves are fuzzy

    Since Henbit begins to germinate in late October, thus its population can be drastically reduced through the application of a "Weed N Feed" at Thanksgiving instead of your regular Thanksgiving feeding.  This will also control other cool season weeds such as Chickweed.  Unlike summer weeds, these weeds respond well to the weed killer even in cold weather because this is their growth season.  Also fertilizing, maintaining appropriate soil pH, mowing at the recommended height, and watering properly will deter this and other weeds. In other words, maintain a healthy lawn.   Until Next Week.

                                                                                                    Andy Lynn