Do you know what this is, it is overtaking my grass and flowerbeds? How do I kill it?



It does not flower, see 2nd photo, if left alone, it will get tall. New up close photo attached. I will check to see if it has a smell when crushed and left you know.


I live in St. John's, NL Canada and my zone is 7a.

Hello and welcome!
Can you give some zone/location information? When you crush the leaves, do they smell like anything?

In a way, it reminds me of Campanula poscharskyana but it would have bloomed with lavender flowers by now. Can't get a close enough view of the leaf edges.

Shadegardener said:In a way, it reminds me of Campanula poscharskyana but it would have bloomed with lavender flowers by now. Can't get a close enough view of the leaf edges.

, that's what I thought too. If the spot has been mowed recently, and looks like that to me, then of course there cannot be flowers..
More detailed photos of the leaves would be very helpful and of course also the location.

bonitin - I thought maybe I was going out on a limb about the C.p. Mine have just finished blooming and I cleaned up all the spent flowers. Mine aren't in a spot to get mowed but I think the pic illustrates what C.p. would look like if mowed.

These plants/weeds pull up very easy as well, the roots aren't deep yet they multiply like crazy. I will also take a close up photo of a single leaf and the root. Appreciate all the feedback.

My Campanula poscharskyana is still at its blooming peak Cindy, mostly when I get around it I also pull out the finished bloom stems, it has been spreading here and their over my garden, also in pots, but i find them so charming in bloom so mostly I leave them in peace, also because the bees love them.

Sfollet, I see now that with the 2nd photo you have added of the not-yet-pulled plant foliage, that Campanula rapunculoides (Creeping Bellflower) is a good candidate. I think they might not bloom because they look so crowded..or you pull them before they can bloom?
http://urbaneatin.com/archives...

It isn't native in Canada, but has been introduced from Europe and became an invasive plant..
http://www.salisburygreenhouse...

Gosh - I didn't think of C. rapunculoides - have that too but, since I don't mow mine, it doesn't look quite the same. That should be blooming now as well. Mine was introduced by a well-meaning family member and is almost impossible to eradicate. It scoffs at any chemical intervention and has a large tuber-like system that has to be dug out and all fine roots sifted out of the soil.

I've attached another picture, this time it's up an close. The leaf has like little hairs on it for a lack of a better term and it's a little rough to touch, not smooth. The roots aren't real deep and when I crushed the leaf, it didn't have a distinctive smell, just smelled like a leaf to me. Sorry, I'm not a gardener so I'm not familiar with all the terms. I do know that there are no hints of a floral smell or lemon, etc. Just smells like a leaf.

Here are some pictures of Capanula rapunculoides leaves you could compare yours with, they look to be variable..I think the roots aren't really deep because the plant don't get a chance to develop a strong rootsystem.. to grow into adulthood..
https://www.google.be/search?q...
http://www.123rf.com/photo_449...

That leaf photo doesn't resemble C. p. so much now and might be closer to C. r. Here, the C.r. has thin, wiry roots and some are easy to pull but those wiry roots could be connected to an underground tuber-like root. Hard to say.

Hi folks...problem solved! I think it's the second one you mentioned, C.R. I looked at the 2nd attachment and I'm pretty sure I have seen the purple flowers where it has grown in between the base of my hedge. I didn't realize it originated from this leaf/weed. So is it indeed a weed because you both said that you allow yours to flower whereas it's a nuisance to me?

Oh - I wish I could get rid of mine. By the time I realized that it's invasive, it had spread to several areas by fine roots. Major digging to eradicate it for me. I try to tolerate it but do pull it up when/where I can. I also pull the flower stems as well just in case it might also be spreading by seed. Generally, new plants pop up where I've pulled them out before.