Chicory Control: How to Get Rid of Chicory

Chicory is a deep-rooted perennial weed that is native to Europe and was brought over to the states from Holland in 1785 for use as a green vegetable. Since then, chicory has a reputation of being a troublesome weed in agricultural and residential areas. While some may enjoy the pretty blue flower that blooms from this weed, if you're trying to keep a uniform lawn, Chicory won't allow it to happen.

Chicory grows on roadsides, fields, waste places, meadows, lawns, and flower beds. Chicory can be a particularly large problem in yards around the summertime where it will shoot up out of the ground up to 30 inches in height.

If you want to get rid of chicory, the diy chicory control guide below can help. Read on to learn exactly what you need to kill chicory and remove it from your yard effectively.

Identification

Before proceeding with a treatment program, you will need to determine if your property has a chicory infestation. Misidentification can lead you to using the wrong treatment method, which can be a waste of time and money. Refer to these following characteristics to help you know what chicory looks like:

• Chicory is a biennial weed. It grows for two years before it produces seed and dies. In its first season of growth, the plant grows as a rosette, meaning the leaves grow outward in a circular arrangement. The seedling emerges with a few rounded leaves.
• Chicory is often mistaken for dandelion due to the appearance and rosette-arrangement of their leaves. The leaves of chicory often grow in irregular toothed or deeply lobed and pointed away from the rosette whereas dandelion leaves are symetrical and pointed toward the base of the rosette.
• They have a long fleshy taproot that secretes a milky sap when crushed or cut. These weeds will also have a rigid, branching stems with rough hairs on the stems and leaves.
• As the plant grows, the leaves become lance-shaped, alternative, rough haired, and larger at the bottom. Upper leaves are stalkless and clasp at the stem towards their base.
• In its second growing season, the plant produces a stem that can grow as tall as 5 feet in height. The lower portion of the stem is hairy. Leaves also grow from the stem itself, as well as several flowers. The flowers are usually a light blue or purple color, but sometimes may be white or pink.

Use the above description and image to help you in properly identifying chicory. If you are having trouble, you can always contact us and our lawn care experts will help to correctly identify your weed growth and suggest treatment options.

Inspection

Once confirmed that you are dealing with chicory, you can then move on to inspection. During this phase, you will locate areas where chicory is thriving and observe the conditions that are allowing it to thrive. This information will help you in knowing where to focus your herbicide application.

Where to Inspect

Chicory is often found in pastures, fields, and along fence rows, roadsides, roadside ditches, edges of construction sites, lawns, and other areas where the soil has been distrubed or the grass is thin. 

What to Look For

From June until the first frost of the year, chicory will be actively growing. They wil appear as tall plants with bluish to purplish flowers, rough hairs on the stems and leaves, and have milky white sap around the hollow stems and in the leaves when cut. 

Be on the lookout for rosettes or mature plants. Flowers make the plant easier to identify but also look for the leaves to find younger plants. It’s important to control chicory before the plants produce seeds, as each plant is known to produce around 3000 seeds each.

Treatment

Before using any herbicide product, make sure you first have on the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) before application. 

Chicory can easily be controlled with spot treatments with a post-emergent herbicide containing either 2,4-D, Dicamba, aminopyralid, or clopyralid. We recommend using 2,4-D Amine Selective Post-Emergent Herbicide to kill chicory in cool-seasoned turf and Fahrenheit Herbicide to control chicory in warm-seasoned turf. 

For maximum effect, apply these products when chicory is actively growing or in the rosette flower of growth.

Step 1: Mix and Apply Herbicide

2,4-D Amine Selective Post-Emergent Herbicide is a emulsifiable concentrate product that travels throughout the weed and roots for complete elimination. Fahrenheit Herbicide is a effective water-dispersable granule product that delivers complete broad-spectrum control over broadleaf and grassy weeds like chicory. 

Determine how much product material to use by measuring the square footage of the treatment area. To do this, measure the length and width of the treatment area in feet then multiply them together (length X width = square footage). For acreage, take the square footage and divide by one acre (square footage / 43,560 sq. ft. = acres). 

To make spot treatments of chicory weed in cool-seasoned grasses, mix 1/4 pint of 2,4-D Amine Selective Post-Emergent Herbicide in 3 gallons of water or 1 1/3 fl. oz. of product into 1 gallon of water. 

For spot treatments with Fahrenheit Herbicide in warm-seasoned grasses, use 0.2 oz. of product in 1 gallon of water per 1,000 sq. ft. of treatment area. To kill chicory as a broadcast application with Fahrenheit Herbicide, apply 3 to 4 oz. of product in 20 to 80 gallons of water per acre. 

Keep in mind that when making applications with Fahrenheit Herbicide over St. Augustinegrass, Bermudagrass, or Zoysiagrass, temporary stunting or chlorosis may occur.

For either of these products, we recommend you mix and apply your herbicide with a handheld pump sprayer, and that you use a surfactant like Nanotek to enhance the effectiveness of your treatment. When using Nanotek, just add 1 fluid ounce per 1 gallon of solution. 

Spot-treat any chicory plant you’ve found during your inspection. Use a fan or cone spray pattern to ensure the leaves are fully coated, and spray the weed to the point of wet but not runoff. Be sure to spray on calm days when temperatures are not too hot and when wind speeds are low to minimize drift.

Step 2 - Follow Up Application

A follow-up application may be necessary if signs of recovery are observed, especially if the plant’s taproot is still alive.

Reapply 2,4-D Amine Selective Post-Emergent Herbicide when chicory is present as long as it does not exceed 2 applications per year. Reapplication intervals with this product range from 21 to 30 days.

A repeat application may be made with Fahrenheit Herbicide when 4 to 6 weeks have passed after application. 

Prevention

Once chicory has been eliminated from your property, you will need to take on some preventative measures so chicory does not return. To prevent chicory follow these preventative measures suggested below:

• One of the best ways to control chicory after it’s been eliminated from your property is to mow your grass at proper intervals to maintain a thick growing density. A lawn dense with taller trimmed grass is better able to choke out weeds and prevent them from establishment.
• Maintaining a thick, healthy lawn will prevent chicory from establishing itself so proper fertilization with a slow-release fertilizer would work best. The thicker the lawn the better chicory will be choked out and unable to grow. We recommend using Solutions 15-5-10 Weed & Feed Fertilizer that slowly releases essential nutrients to turf and controls germinating weeds like chicory. For most applications you will need to apply 3.2 to 4.0 pounds of product per 1,000 square feet of treatment area. Evenly distribute all of your Solutions 15-5-10 Weed & Feed Fertilizer with Trimec throughout your treatment area with a push or broadcast spreader. After 1 to 2 days have passed application, water the granules in. 
• Reduce the shade cast on your lawn by trimming overgrown shrubbery and tree branches, rake away leaf litter and pick up any debris, and employ a proper watering schedule to provide the local grass with enough water to strengthen its roots, but not so much that will encourage weeds. Many grasses require 1 inch of water every week. Apply the water all at once in the morning so it has time to seep into the ground without evaporating in the sun. 

Key Takeaways

What is Chicory?

• Chicory is a troublesome weed in agricultural and residential areas. Chicory thrives particularly over the summer months and is very versatile, capable of growing in all types of pastures and rough turfs.

How to Get Rid of Chicory

• Our top recommendation for controlling outbreaks of chicory is a herbicide called 2,4-D Amine Selective Post-Emergent Herbicide or Fahrenheit Herbicide.

Preventing Chicory Restablishment

• To keep chicory away, keep your turfgrass thick with the proper fertilization and nutrition and by mulching beds as well as regularly patrolling for weeds when they're little.