Ranunculus repens
Creeping buttercup is a common perennial weed with low-lying foliage that forms mats. Its instantly recognisable glossy yellow flowers appear from May to September. Creeping buttercup prefers damp conditions but will grow nearly anywhere in the garden, from beds and borders to lawns without much of a care. Although you might not see it flower in regularly mown lawns, you can identify creeping buttercup easily enough by its three-lobed serrated leaves. Creeping buttercup can be distinguished from the other buttercups by the spreading way it grows with runners.
Leaves
Leaves are dark green with light patches and are divided into three toothed leaflets, the central leaflet on a stalk
Pale patches on the leaves distinguish creeping buttercup from similar looking plants such as hardy geraniums. The leaves and stems are somewhat hairy.
Flowers
- Creeping buttercup is an invasive weed that can in time take over your lawn. This is a page about getting rid of creeping buttercup in a lawn.
- John discuses what to be wary of at the beginning of the season, how John removes weeds, why to not use membrane and more.Please Like and Follow Us on Facebo.
The classic glossy-yellow flowers of creeping buttercup are not unattractive from May to September.
Preferred Habitat
Creeping Buttercup. Creeping buttercup is a common perennial weed with low-lying foliage that forms mats. Its instantly recognisable glossy yellow flowers appear from May to September. Creeping buttercup prefers damp conditions but will grow nearly anywhere in the garden, from beds and borders to lawns without much of a care.
Creeping Buttercup is the common buttercup found in grassland, damp places, along woodland and field edges, and in parks and gardens. It flowers mainly between May and August and long, rooting runners help it to spread across lawns.
Weed Control
For both exposed soil and lawns, the first approach to controlling creeping buttercup should be removing it by hand. Use a hand fork to lift up the roots and pull it carefully from the ground, making sure you remove every scrap of the stems and roots. Leave any behind and you run the risk of them growing back.
You may eventually need to resort to chemical controls. For grassy areas try a lawn weedkiller. They are selective herbicides and will target broad-leaved weeds like creeping buttercup without harming the grass itself. In borders you can use a non-selective herbicide but make sure you don’t get any on your other plants.
Not Just a Weed
This golden-cupped flower is a childhood favourite: if a yellow reflection appears when held up to the chin, it is considered as a sign that the person likes butter.
All parts of a buttercup are poisonous for cattle and humans.
Gallery
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
I just thought I'd see if anyone had any suggestions for dealing with invasive weeds. I'm in the Pacific Northwest (acid soil here), and the back half of my lot (1/3rd acre) was bulldozed before I moved in to get rid of some kind of mini race car track. It stirred up ragwort tansy, which is toxic to horses, goats, and just about everything. And then the septic leech field (far back end of the lot--it'd be hard to access with anything short of a bobcat) was covered with creeping buttercup (which is creeping all the way up to the front of the house, and appearing in the regular lawn too). And, yes, this one is poisonous to animals too.
I got the monster string trimmer that you walk behind, and it's mowing down the ragwort, but the buttercup just grows back with a vengeance. My lot is big enough that trying to hand-pull this stuff would be tedious as heck, and the buttercup is hard to pull anyway. Did I mention that the seeds for these buggers stay in the soil for 15 or 20 years?
There are some thistle and blackberry bushes out there too (have mostly cut down the blackberries at this point, since they were on the drain field too), just for kicks.
Does anyone have suggestions for dealing with this stuff? My plan for the lawn is to try lime and maybe some earth worm castings for kicks. But out back there was never a lawn established. I planted some raspberries and about 15 fruit and nut trees before I had any idea what I was dealing with (and what all was going to come up), and would love to plant more edible stuff back there, but I'm afraid the buttercups will just suffocate things. (Today I actually found some growing under the landscape-fabric-ring/mulch I put around the trees when I planted them.)
Ironically the buttercups probably aren't all that bad of a choice for a groundcover for a septic drain field (no mowing, lol), but oh how they spread...
“How can such a great and wise civilization have destroyed itself so completely?”
“Perhaps,” said Apollo, “by being materially great and materially wise, and nothing else.”
~ Walter M. Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
But - since you are posting here, I suppose your mission has more to do with a lawn that no animal will be grazing? You'll be mowing?
Did you see the lawn care article?
Please check out my SKIP book Kickstarter!
My book, my movies, my videos, my podcasts, my events ... the big collection of paul wheaton stuff!
- Optional 'thank-you' note:
Weed Killer For Creeping Buttercup
Thank you for responding. Yes, I read your article on organic lawn care. I will try to apply the suggestions to the lawn.
For the back, where the major problems are, the original goal wasn't lawn but I am wondering if I need to go that way as an intermediary. I'd actually prefer something I don't have to mow and wanted to do a mini orchard/food forest type area with different layers of edible vegetation. But the weeds grow so much faster (and the creeping buttercup moves quickly into any disturbed soil) that I'm already struggling to keep some space around the stuff I planted last winter/early spring (fruit trees, raspberries, asparagus) to have a shot at growing.
I don't currently have any animals aside from the dogs. I mentioned the toxicity because my original thought had been to rent goats to browse down the weeds out back, but if they can't eat the invasive ones (which dominate), I'm not sure how helpful it'd be. I've also had the thought of getting some chickens and letting them range free back there to weed and, er, feed, but I've seen contradicting things on the web as to whether they can handle buttercup.
“How can such a great and wise civilization have destroyed itself so completely?”
“Perhaps,” said Apollo, “by being materially great and materially wise, and nothing else.”
~ Walter M. Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Leibowitz
How To Get Rid Of Creeping Buttercup In Lawn
posted 11 years ago- Optional 'thank-you' note:
And as for chickens - let's go to the critter care forum for that ....
So .... focusing on the weeds in the lawn ... I want to wave my hand dismissively .... try the techniques in the article and by next year it should be massivly improved - and you will probably have spent less money and less time on your yard, but it looks far, far better.
But if you say 'I've been doing that for over a year!' then I want to leap in and focus on what is going on.
Creeping Buttercup Usda
Please check out my SKIP book Kickstarter!
My book, my movies, my videos, my podcasts, my events ... the big collection of paul wheaton stuff!