Oxalis and Woodsorrel Control for Turf

Oxalis, also called woodsorrel, includes annual and perennial species with clover-like leaves and yellow or pink flowers. Creeping species can form persistent patches.

How to Identify Oxalis

Each leaf has three heart-shaped leaflets rather than the rounded leaflets of clover. Slender seed pods can eject seed, and some species spread by stolons or bulbs.

Why It Appears in Turf

Thin turf, warm open sites, and repeated seed production favor annual species; stolons, rhizomes, or bulbs sustain perennial infestations.

Make the Site Less Favorable

• Maintain the recommended mowing height and avoid scalping.
• Correct irrigation, drainage, compaction, fertility, or shade problems that thin desirable turf.
• Repair bare areas and use adapted turf cultivars to close openings where seedlings establish.

Choosing a Turf Herbicide

Use the products below as a starting point, then match the herbicide to the desirable turf species and the weed's growth stage. Preemergence products must be applied and activated before germination; postemergence products work best on small, actively growing weeds. Repeat applications may be needed where the label allows.

Label note: Confirm the desirable turf species, use site, target weed, application timing, rate, adjuvant directions, and reseeding restrictions on the current label before use.