Arctotheca calendula
Capeweed is a low-growing, rosette shaped weed. Once established, Capeweed can form large dense patches that crowd out lawn grasses.
Leaves are deeply lobed, grey-green on top and white and hairy underneath.
Flowers are daisy-like with petals that are yellow on top and purpley grey-green underneath. The centre of the flower is purpley black.
Seeds are pink-to-brown and fluffy. In ideal conditions, one plant can produce thousands of seeds.
Root is a long tap-root (like a carrot) that gets deeper and thicker with age.
Capeweed typically flowers in spring and summer.
Capeweed is spread by seed. Seed can be brought in on the wind, in water, or on animals, people, machinery or landscape materials. The seed can last for years before germinating, so if you already have this weed in the lawn or garden, you're probably going to see it come up again.
Capeweed is an introduced species and is considered an environmental weed for various reasons. In farmland, Capeweed can be poisonous and indigestible if eaten in large quantities by livestock and can also cause respiratory issues. In home gardens and lawns, Capeweed steals water and nutrients from wanted plants, can harbour pests and diseases and smother lawn grasses.
For the control of capeweed and various other broadleaf weeds in common lawns like kikuyu and couch, spray the entire lawn with hose-on Yates Weed'n'Feed or Click & Grow Yates Weed'n'Feed.
For buffalo lawns, use Yates Weed'n'Feed Buffalo Lawn, or Click & Grow Yates Lawn Weed Killer Bindii & Clover Buffalo Lawn, which have been specially designed to be safe for buffalo lawns. Yates Weed'n'Feed products have the added benefit of providing nutrients to green the lawn. Please ensure you have read and understood all label instructions prior to every use.
For weedkillers that kill weeds roots and all, spray Capeweed with Yates Zero Weedkiller Super Concentrate or Yates Zero Triple Strike Garden Weedkiller. Be careful not to spray nearby lawns or plants as it may injure or kill them. To avoid overspray, when spraying keep the nozzle as close to the weed as possible.
Alternatively, you can apply diluted Yates Zero Weedkiller Super Concentrate onto individual Capeweed plants using the Yates Zero Weed Brush.
If you only have a few capeweed plants in garden beds, remove them by hand or with a weeding tool. Capeweed develops a long taproot, so aim to remove the entire root to reduce the chance of regrowth.
Be vigilant and kill any Capeweed plants as soon as you notice them, especially before plants flower and set seed.
As the seeds can be brought in by humans and animals accidentally carrying it on themselves, if you notice you or your pet has walked through some Capeweed when out and about, brush or wash off any seeds before getting back into the car and/or heading home.
Apply a bark chip mulch over the soil in garden beds to help smother small weeds and prevent new weeds from establishing.
Keep the lawn slightly longer, especially in summer. And grow a thick and healthy lawn, which helps the lawn to out-compete weeds by starving weeds of light, water and nutrients. Regular watering and applying lawn fertilisers like Yates Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food or Click & Grow Yates Dynamic Lifter Lawn Food will promote good growth, and lawn and soil health.
Yes, however Capeweed has a long taproot, which can make it difficult to remove and lead to regrowth. Systemic herbicides like Yates Weed'n'Feed and Yates Zero are ideal, as they control weeds roots and all.
Capeweed is usually an annual weed and can reappear each year from seed. This is why it's important to control Capeweed before it has the chance to flower and set seed.
It's important to use weed killers that are suitable for your lawn type. Yates Lawn Weed Killer Bindii & Clover is safe for Buffalo, as well as other common lawn types. Yates Weed'n'Feed Weed Killer & Lawn Fertiliser can be used on lawns like Kikuyu and Couch, but not on Buffalo Lawns.
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