Yellow Trefoil - such a long, lovely weed. Whack!

[“One of several low-growing or prostrate species looking like a small yellow clover. Only an annual.” Weed Identification Chart]

‘Whack the Mystery Weed’ is one of my least favourite games. I seldom want to play it, especially under a blazing sun, the kind we have today in London.

But, this morning, while tending a yard sale table covered with birdhouses, I noticed my front lawn was in need of weed removal. I found my dandelion stabber and a plastic pail during a quiet moment and went to town.

Dandelions were difficult to remove because the soil was as hard as cement. And each time I removed one, a tendril of creeping Charlie also caught my eye, and I felt I had to try my very best to ends its short little life as well.

I later read this about Charlie.

“Success in controlling creeping Charlie is in managing the original plant before it sets seed, through hoeing, hand removal, smothering with mulches and/or herbicides."


"With hand pulling, try to remove as much of the root as possible and be vigilant. Or if all else fails, think of Charlie as a nice green ground cover.” (Chicago Tribune, Breaking News since 1847)

Funny. Smothering Charlie definitely crossed my mind. I hand pulled as many plants as possible. Promised to be more vigilant. Whacked more than a dozen too.

However, another weed (Long and lovely? Whack!), yellow trefoil, beat Charlie for persistence and tenacity by a country mile. Its runners ran off in all directions at once and its root - on more than one occasion - went so deep and held ground so stubbornly it must have been wrapped around my Union Gas line.


[Trefoil leaves, small heads of clusters of yellow pea-flowers.]

I’ll never get it all out. But it does provide one small source of amusement, stupid weed that it is.

When I pull on one runner others will reveal themselves as they shudder amongst my few blades of actual grass. I can see other runners move 8, 10, 12, or more inches away from where I’m tugging and I then try finding the Mother Root, knowing that if I find the weed’s center and can get a good enough grip with pliers or a plumber’s wrench, I can remove a giant from the earth.


[“Trefoil is trying to take over my yard. Whack!”: photo GH]

I swear, one set of runners was so long that each time I tugged at the Mother Root my door bell rang. Now that’s one tenacious plant.

Sure, I could try chemicals, but I think I’ll stick with ‘Whack the Mystery Weed’ for as long as I own a house. It helps pass the time during slow yard sales.

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