Fall Doesn’t Mean the End of Weeds
Did you know that some weeds prefer to sprout in the cooler months? Others sprout after the ground has been disturbed by fall-planting projects.
How to Control Catchweed Bedstraw
If you’ve ever tried to pull a tangle of wiry weeds and had the stems stick to your clothes like Velcro, you’ve probably encountered catchweed bedstraw.
This widespread weed (found in all states of the continental U.S.) is distinct for its many little hook-like hairs that help the plant climb up neighboring plants and structures as well as latch onto clothing.
Bedstraw’s seedheads have the same Velcro-like appendages that allow seeds to latch onto animal fur and hitch free rides into new areas to sprout.
Although catchweed bedstraw may have originated in Europe, similar species are North American natives and have a redeeming trait of being pollinator sources for beneficial insects.
In earlier times, armfuls of catchweed bedstraw were harvested and used as mattress stuffing, which explains its name.
However, this plant has seeded so well into unwanted areas and grows so fast that it’s regarded more as a weed than a valued wildflower. It’s especially troublesome in hayfields and other farm crops and also shows up commonly in home gardens, meadows, and even the edges of woodlands.
Catchweed bedstraw prefers moist, partly shaded settings, but it’ll also grow in sunnier areas. It’s not a fan of dry conditions, though.
Catchweed bed straw's fragile, square stems have whorls of six to eight narrow leaves. iNaturalist
Catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine) is an annual weed that most often germinates in early spring. Cool, wet weather with daytime temperatures around 50 degrees are perfect for bedstraw germination.
However, this weed is versatile enough to germinate in the fall in warmer climates, then overwinter as a small plant before flowering and seeding the following season.
In both cases, plants produce small, white, four-petaled flowers at the top of the stem tips from mid-spring into summer. A month after opening, the flowers mature into tiny two-part fruits with each half producing a seed.
Fall-sprouted plants typically flower six weeks earlier than spring-sprouted ones.
Each catchweed bedstraw plant averages a total of 300 to 400 seeds, although under ideal conditions the per-plant count can go as high as 1,500.
As for the plants, the skinny shoots have whorls of six to eight narrow, light-green leaves that swirl around the fragile, square stems.
The plants are weak enough that if they don’t find neighboring support to climb up, they’ll flop into a rambling, foot-tall mass. With support, however, stems can grow five to six feet in a single season.
Pull young catchweed bedstraw plants at the base to uproot the entire plant. Olga Seyfutdinova / iStock/ Getty Images Plus
Solving a catchweed bedstraw problem
Since catchweed bedstraw is an annual weed, both its fall-sprouted and spring-sprouted forms are shallow-rooted and therefore easy to remove by pulling or hoeing.
Be sure to remove the roots along with the top growth since roots left behind are capable of resprouting. Because bedstraw’s foliage is so fragile and weakly attached, it’s easy to tear off the top growth while letting the roots undisturbed.
Catchweed bedstraw plants also can be killed with spot-sprays of many liquid herbicides. Cornell University says triclopyr is especially effective.
Before using any spray, check the label to be sure catchweed bedstraw is listed under “weeds controlled,” and be careful not to allow spray to drift onto desirable plants. Follow all other label instructions as well.
White flowers and "sticky" seed pods that attach themselves to animal and human passersby. Collinswood Images / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Preventing future trouble
Step one in controlling seed-dispersed weeds such as catchweed bedstraw is killing or removing the weeds before they’ve had a chance to flower and set new seed. In this case, even one bedstraw plant that goes to seed can lead to 300-400 new plants the following year.
A second line of defense is covering bare ground either with mulch or with groundcover plants so bedstraw (and other weeds, for that matter) have no space to elbow in.
However, catchweed bedstraw seeds don’t need light or cold dormancy to sprout, and they can emerge from two inches deep in the soil – farther down than most annual weeds. That makes this weed a bit less vulnerable to mulch than most plants.
A third defender is applying a granular weed-preventer. Preen Natural Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer is labeled for bedstraw control.
Preen Natural Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer is a 100-percent natural product made out of corn gluten meal and can be used in landscape settings as well as vegetable gardens.
Granules can be spread over top of 600 kinds of existing plants without harming them and is effective at preventing 21 common weeds. Catchweed bedstraw is one of them.
Preen Natural Vegetable Garden Weed Preventer can be applied as often as monthly.
Finally, be aware that catchweed bedstraw seeds can pass through the digestive tracts of animals, meaning that viable seeds can be introduced into gardens via manure.
