Sweetclover

[Erie Air Park HOA]

The following is from Tina Booton of the Weed Division of Weld County Public Works.

Please read!

Pat Kilpatrick

Sweetclover is a biennial from Eurasia. It is not a noxious weed but can be invasive and problematic. It can be toxic to livestock, especially in moldy hay that creates dicoumarol during the heating and spoilage process. Other than that, it has fair forage quality and is consumed by livestock and wildlife. It attracts insects including grasshoppers which are eaten by songbirds and other birds. It is also used for honey production. Sweetclover may be abundant in some years and not in others. This is a year that it is doing really well.

 

As a biennial its spread is through seed production.

 

Control/suppression options include:

1. Mowing. However, plants will still try to flower at a shorter height to be able to produce seed.
2. Post-emergent control – herbicides. Depending on surrounding desirable plants products with a 2,4-D base should work to control it.
3. Pre-emergent control – herbicide. These products would be applied late in the fall or early in the spring to control seeds that germinate. A good option here is Pendulum Aquacap or Prowl H2O.
4. A combination of the above three options.

 

I really like the book: Weeds of the Great Plains. It’s published by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture. https://onestop.nebraska.gov/weeds-great-plains-book

 

Other book suggestions and handouts can be found at : https://www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Weed-Management/Identifying-Plants/Plant-ID-Guides

 

Noxious weeds of concern in your corner of Erie include the thistles (Canada, musk and Scotch), the knapweeds (Russian and diffuse), teasel, and field bindweed. Fact sheets on these species can be found at: https://www.weld.gov/Government/Departments/Public-Works/Weed-Management/Identifying-Plants. All of them are on the B list, except for field bindweed which is on the C list.

 

Kochia and Russian thistle (the tumbleweeds) are always a concern. A fact sheet on them can be found on the link under “other plants”