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GREATjM RIVERlRIPW GREENING the stem. The small, tubular, lavender flowers are generally hairy or fuzzy and bloom from June through August. The seeds have spiny burs that catch in clothing or animal fur. Mechanical Digging or hand -pulling motherwort can effectively control the plant if all of the root is removed. Continuous mowing or whipping can reduce the vigor of the plant over time and reduce seed production. Chemical Applying glyphosate or triclopyr prior to seed production can effectively control motherwort. Follow-up applications are required for plants that germinate from the seed bank. Long-term Management Planting and seeding native species to provide competition will help suppress and eliminate motherwort. Motherwort April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec - Mar Burn Foliar Herbicide Mow Flowering Birds -foot Trefoil (Lotus comiculatus) Description Birds -foot trefoil is a low -growing perennial, native to Eurasia and North Africa. It was introduced into the United States for erosion control and livestock forage and is still sold commercially. Birds -foot trefoil is a member of the Legume Family. Its compound clover -like leaves are alternate with three oval leaflets and a pair of stipules. Bundles of yellow, pea -like flowers develop from May to August. Brown cylindrical seed pods develop after flowering in clusters that resemble a bird's foot. Birds -foot trefoil produces a long taproot that may extend over three feet. It also has rhizomes that form secondary roots. Stolons, or modified above -ground stems, allow it to form dense mats. The plant reproduces by seeds and spreads laterally by stolons and rhizomes. Birds -foot trefoil tolerates a wide range of soil conditions and is found along roadsides, in fields, prairies, wildlife openings, and other open disturbed areas. Burning increases seed germination allowing the plant to spread rapidly in areas where it is established. Mechanical Mowing is not an optimal treatment for birds -foot trefoil, which responds quickly to being mowed and will regrow within a couple of weeks. Continuous monitoring and mowing would be required to prevent it from going to seed. Continuously mowing birds -foot trefoil at a 2" height periodically throughout the year for several years may eventually kill the plant. However, doing so will obviously also harm native plants in the mowed area. Birds -foot trefoil is plastic in its growth form and in some settings adapts to frequent mowing by growing as a low -profile ground -hugging plant, thereby avoiding the mower blades.