That is tumbleweed (Russian Thistle). It is a plague once you get it! Hate the stuff.
We finished our house build last year,as-well-as our three neighbors. We all built on 8 acres in our little valley. We are inundated with this crap. One tumbleweed will drop 200K-250K seeds as it rolls acroos the landscape, seeding any open or disturbed soil. You will fight to control it by pulling it as the seeds germinate and sprout at different intervals.
Glyphosate will kill it, but it will kill your grass.
I went to a local farm store and talked to a rancher. He recommended a product called "Weedmaster". It is a mix of 2-4-D and Discamba and will not kill your grass.
The four of us had over a mile of roads put in also, so that demon weed is everywhere.
I used a 25 gallon sprayer on my UTV and sprayed it all... my septic field, my yard, the neighbor's yard and the roads. By the next afternoon the tops were curled and laying down. Day four and it is losing color and the younger plants are yellowing. It is dying a slow, painful death like it deserves!
The 2-4-D/Discamba combo kills most broadleaf plants but won't harm grasses if applied correctly.
Apply late morning to mid afternoon with no rain forecasted for at least 12 hours. Do not mow for at least three days, and do not apply within three days if mowing as the plants have to be going through the process of photosynthesis to absorb the herbicide and transfer it to the root system.
Also, evening application is less effective. You want that herbicide to prcess into the plant as soon and as efficiently as possible for best results.
That being said, if you have no grass to protect any Glyphosate (Gly-star, Roundup, etc) will kill it quickly.
Better hurry as you don't want it to seed or you will have forty billion more seeds in your soil for next spring! Kill it before it develops the seeds.
You will probably need another application in the spring and then touch up here and there throughout next summer.
Do not buy your herbicides from a box store as they are diluted and EXPENSIVE for what you get. Go to your CO-OP or farmvsupply store. Tell them what you are doing and they will sellvyou the concentrate.
Glyphosate products are usually 6oz per gallon of water. 2-4-D is 1oz or 2.5 oz per gal of water, depending on brand. The Weed master suggested 1oz per gal... but I gave it 1.5 for a little extra "love".
, only thing useful about it.
