Facts about Black Medic
- This weed is a legume found often in pastures since it does well in dry or nutrient deficient soils.
- Black Medic is found on every continent except Antarctica.
- While considered a weed in your lawn. This flower is used for honey.
Ideal Conditions for Weed Growth
This hardy weed and can tolerate many different conditions, but is most commonly found in compacted and nutrient deficient soils. It can be very hard to get control of because it can tolerate unhealthy soils. Black medic is known to be a soil fixer by releasing nitrogen into the soil. However, this just means that the soil is nutrient deficient, and won’t support grass growth very well.
How to Control Black Medic
Black medic is most often found in soils with low fertility, it can be controlled by correcting cultural practices. This includes watering properly, mowing tall, and feeding the lawn organic matter. This will take time, but will be the most effective method at getting control of black medic. We have seen good results with our organic One Earth weed control, using back to back applications, about one week apart. This weed control is used in lawns, and is also an organic fertilizer. After the second application you should see the weeds turn brown or black and break down.
Is this Black Medic?
Yellow wood sorrel is also a weed with small yellow flowers and three-leaflets. But upon closer inspection you can see that yellow wood sorrel has a a heart shaped leaflets while black medics are oval-shaped with a slight serration on the ends. Below is a photo of yellow wood sorrel also known as oxalis.
Black medic is often confused with clover. Clover is also found in lawns that have low fertility. The below photo is of a weed called white clover. As you can see the flowers are quite different from black medic. You can also tell by looking at the leaves up close. Black medic will have oval slightly serrated leaves and the clover has smooth rounded leaves.
