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FIMBY: Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

They're easiest to remove now while they're small

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED JAN 20, 2026

Bedstraw will cling to clothing and pets now, but that ability becomes more bothersome the bigger it gets. Kathy Morrison

This is another installment in our Food in My Back Yard series, dedicated to edible gardening.

It's cold and foggy, and you haven't been outside much. The garden looks dormant -- until you look down.

Bittercress — Fortunately no flowers yet on these
little bittercress plants.

Those little bits of green near the patio, those tiny blades along the fence, the minute leaves emerging in the vegetable bed? It's a very good bet that those are all weeds. And now is the time to get rid of them.

Why? Because if they get any bigger:

-- They hog water and nutrients that could be going to wanted plants.

-- They harbor pests (insects and rodents) and pathogens that can sneak up on seedlings and transplants.

-- The roots only grow stronger and tougher to eradicate.

-- Allowed to grow and flower, some weeds then spread by underground runners, tubers or rhizomes, or burrs that attach to pets' fur. Others produce allergens.

Right now, I'm seeing small sprouts of the following weeds, in my garden and around the neighborhood. Others will pop up later as the weather warms up.

1) Catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine), also called cleavers and stickyweed, among others. Its sticky hairs catch on everything: T-shirts, socks, cat fur, dogs' tails, you name it. And it spreads that way. If allowed to grow large, it forms little burrs that are even harder to pull out of fur or socks.

2) Little bittercress (Cardamine oligoosperma), also known as shotweed or snapweed. I call this weed "pop-bead plant" because of the way the seeds explode out of their seed pod when you so much as brush past it. Dig it up before or while it's flowering to prevent it spreading far and wide.

Common groundsel has distinctive flowers. That's
some type of grassy weed growing in front of it.

3) Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris). With their deeply lobed leaves, these look like small, unspiky thistles as they grow, but once they develop stalks and flower buds it's easy to tell what they are. The yellow flowers turn into white puffballs not unlike dandelions.

4) Dandelion. (Taraxacum officinale) Speaking of this scourge of turf fans ... I think of dandelion as a spring weed, but am already noticing seedlings around. They of course have long taproots and will only become more difficult to dig up whole as the soil dries out.

5) Grassy weeds such as annual bluegrass and ryegrasses. As these weeds grow, gardeners tend to attack them with weed-wackers, which leaves the roots behind. Now is when they can be dug out out individually.

This is just a few varieties, of course, but if you make it a habit to get them out now, your spring gardening will be much easier, especially in the vegetable beds. And weeding is a great activity to expend frustrations on. Just saying.

To identify a weed, check out the excellent UC IPM (Integrated Pest Management)'s online Weed Gallery

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Keywords:

FIMBY Food in My Back Yard weeds pests invasive plants winter seedlings rain rainfall soil saturation UC IPM integrated pest management January Sacramento gardening

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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