Home Garden

What Kind of Lawn Weed Has Little Cattails?

Grassy weeds with spike-type flower heads that may look like cattails include green and yellow fox tail, littleseed canarygrass and rabbitfoot polypogon. Weeds compete with lawn grass for sunlight, water resources and soil nutrients. They easily become invasive when a lawn is not managed well. Winter weeds germinate in fall and grow until spring, when other annual grassy weeds germinate for summer growth. Many weed species spread through an underground rhizome or web-like root system. Identification of weed types is the first step to keeping a lawn as weed-free as possible.
  1. Foxtails

    • Green and yellow fox tails have spiked flower heads with the cylindrical shape of cattail flowers. Fox tails of the genus Setaria are annual summer weeds that grow, release seed and die within one season. They grow in loose clumps together or as single plants. Fox tails grow from 1 to 3 feet in height. Its cattail-like flower spike is bristly, with densely growing florets ranging 1 to 3 inches long.

    Littleseed Canarygrass

    • Littleseed canarygrass weeds also have a densely packed flower head that resembles a cattail flower. It is a winter annual grassy weed with round, erect stems and leaf blade. The base of the leaf sheath has a reddish hue. Littleseed canarygrass has blue seeds that are hairy, flattened, oblong and translucent. The cattail-like flower spike blooms March to September.

    Rabbitfoot Polypogon

    • Rabbitfoot polypogon, also known as rabbitfoot grass, is a clumping winter annual or a summer annual in cold weather regions. Its flower heads are shaped like cattail flowers but made of tiny, densely packed pale green to tan flowers. The flower heads appear soft and fluffy when fully bloomed in April through October. The rabbitfoot polypogon grassy weed grows in the same moist conditions in which cattails thrive.

    Lawn Weed Prevention

    • Healthy lawn grass resists weed growth. Weeds germinate more easily in soil with low nutrient content. Maintaining lawn grass species with nutrient-rich compost fertilizer ensures healthy grass that resists weed growth. The least-toxic control strategies for weeds include hand-pulling, high mowing and the acceptance of a "certain level of weeds."