How to get rid of spurge? PT

Hi & welcome!

Assuming you mean Euphorbia maculata &/or prostrata, they're annuals. Pulling them before they can drop seeds will get rid of it over time. The flowers are barely big enough to see, so as soon as you see a sprout, evict it. They can be hard to see, inspect often.

Maintaining a cover of mulch, leaves, pine straw, or any mix of organic matter over the ground would help also because that would alter the conditions to be less favorable to spurge.

I agree. I usually pull weeds like spurge after a good rain when they are easier to remove. Mulching works in flower beds but if the spurge is in the lawn area you could apply a pre-emergent before the seeds have time to germinate. For this purpose I buy Preen Organic Weed Preventer when it is on sale but there is a less expensive option. Look on the right side of the home page for the article written by crawgarden who recommends using corn gluten meal.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/c...

I've had problems with some euphorbias being overly aggressive, and others that behave better. 'Fens Ruby' is problematic for me, but not so much for my sister (a couple zones cooler than me). 'Excalibur' will reseed itself but so far not too aggressively. E. polychroma doesn't seem to self-seed, but is easy to divide. I don't know what the annual form of spurge is (mine are all perennial), and noted that we have no photos in the database - perhaps one of you who battle this as a weed could take a minute to snap some photos before yanking? Always helpful to visualize the enemy.

Spotted Spurge (Euphorbia maculata)
E. prostrata looks just like it but w/o the red spots on the leaves.

Ah, I was looking at other empty spurge entries - so many euphorbias... I've never seen this particular one, must not be a problem in my region.

@Flowersue, since there are so many types of spurge (some are considered weeds and some are desirable plants) can you try to post some photos of your spurge here on this thread?

@Bonehead, even though it was raining I walked out back looking for a good spurge subject to photograph. I'll try to add images if I am successful.

I saw the iamge posted on the duplicate thread and it looks like it may be Spotted Spurge. There are several images in our database:
Spotted Spurge (Euphorbia maculata)

My suggestion would be to wait for a good rain or water the area thoroughly, then yank out the Spurge. If there are seeds present try not the shake the plants too much while pulling them out. I would finish by sprinkling some organic Preen or plain old corn gluten meal to prevent new plants in the area then mulch.

Spurge is easy to pull, but you have to keep at it, and get it before it can set seed, as said. I use round up for the crack weeds between pavers or cracks in the asphalt, but you have to follow directions carefully, and never spray it in breezy conditions. I suppose you could kill it with one of those weed torches, but I don't think those are popular in Ca. these days.

I copied the image from the other thread:

That's what I had in mind in my 1st post.