BEATRICE, Neb. - One of the best parts of spring for many people is the the return to color in their lawns and their gardens.

However, while one particular spring bloom might have nice color, they can cause headaches as a weed. Nicole Stoner of the Gage County Extension Office explained more about Henbit, and how to deal with it.

“Henbit is a winter annual weed that germnenates in the all, goes dormant in the winter months, but it comes out this time of year, it flowers and it seeds.”

While the dotted purple may look nice on the green grass it may look nice from a distance, Stoner explained that Henbit has all the same negative effects as any other weed.

“They outcompete our desirables, it takes the space where we should have other plants growing and it competes with our desired plants for water, nutrients and sunlight.”

Stoner says on factor that can slow down the growth and speed up the process of henbit is warmer weather.  As far as how to treat it, most of that comes in the fall, but lawn care and hand-pulling is the main method to deal with it this time of year. But Stoner also notes the fall is when you can spray to eliminate it.

“Treat it in the fall with a pre-emergent and later in the fall you can use a post-emergent herbicide,” Stoner said. “As for right now hand-pulling does help… Another thing, if you can get something else to grow in that area it will out compete Henbit fairly easily.”

A tip from Stoner for fall spraying is to mark the area of Henbit growth with flags ahead of time, to make it easier to spot where it is when it comes time for treatment in the fall.