Heal All (Prunella vulgaris).
Heal All aka Self Heal is an aggressive low-growing perennial weed normally found in turf. Although not a major weed in Australia, it can be difficult to control once it gains a foothold.
Due to its low growth habit, you often don’t notice this weed until it is well established. The first signs are hundreds of purple ‘pineapple-shaped’ flowers that appear to float above the turf.
If left unmown Heal All can reach up to to 30 cm tall, and is often present in moist areas, although it also tolerates dry soils.
Heal All has a creeping (stoloniferous) stem, and a shallow fibrous root system that forms dense mats within lawns.
You can identify Self Heal in turf as it forms forms large patches of dark green leaves. These patches comprise creeping stems that have roots holding them to the soil, and leaves in opposite pairs along these stems.
The distribution map for Self Heal or Heal All is courtesy of The Atlas of Living Australia.
After you finish reading this, you will be able to:
- Identify Heal All or Self Heal.
- Know the habitat of Heal All or Self Heal.
- Know the best cultural and chemical ways to control Heal All.
Key Takeaways.
- Although Heal All is a minor weed it is difficult to control once it gains a foothold.
- It spreads by seed but also grows back from root fragments.
- High wear encourages Heal All, because the stems will root at the nodes at ground level.
- Cultural control alone does not deal with this weed.
- Stand alone herbicides aren’t effective against this weed. You get better control with 2 or 3-way mixes that contain 2,4-D, MCPA, and Dicamba.
How to Identify Heal All.
The immature stems of Heal All are square and slightly hairy, and as the plant ages these become smooth. These creeping stems, root easily at the nodes, and result in an aggressive fibrous, matted root system.
Category: Broadleaf (Dicot).
Photosynthetic Pathway: C3 Weed.
Flower: The flowers of Heal All are dark violet to purple and about 1 cm high. In the Spring, the weed begins to flower, and has tube-like flower clusters at the end of stems. Once it finishes flowering, the seed head goes brown.
Height: Heal All is a low growing weed, but can be up to 30 cm tall.
Leaf length: The leaves of Self Heal are wider at the base, taper toward the end (ovate), and have a cover of short, coarse hairs.
Reproduction: This weed spreads by seed in the late Summer and Autumn. This restricts the growth of other plants, particularly grass in lawns.
Comments: In closely mown turf, Heal All leaves have a stunted dark purple appearance. When you look down at this weed from directly above, each set of leaves is rotated 90° from the previous set.
It can be mistaken for:
- Deadnettle which tends to have purple leaves and
- Creeping Charlie.
The easy ways to identify Heal All are:
- When you look a the leaves they look like your skin after you have been swimming for a few hours. They have a “crinkled” appearance and
- Heal All has a minty smell when you crush it.
Habitat: Heal All thrives in moist, shaded, and well fertilized environments found in many lawns.
Heal All is a good indicator weed for shade. For more information on weeds check out our weed ID Chart.
How to control Heal All.
You can control Self Heal by cultural and chemical means, but successful management of this weed is best if you adopt an integrated approach.
Cultural control:
Only relying on cultural means of Heal All makes it difficult to control this weed. You can remove it by hand, but you will need to make several attempts at hand removal to keep this weed in check.
A more reliable means of control is to maintain your turf in the best possible condition. Improving turf growing conditions encourages competitiveness and retards Self Heal. Key to this, is to reduce shade especially if you are growing a C4 grass like couch, so thin out trees etc.
Another key focus is making sure that you have the right grass type for the climate, and time of year. For example a couch turf area may benefit from overseeding with perennial ryegrass in cooler months. We can help with turf seed selection.
Heal All grows below normal heights of cut and so will just pop back up after you mow. Also, heavy traffic areas can actually encourage growth of Self Heal because the stems will root at the nodes at ground level.
Chemical control of Heal All:
Its tolerance of many selective turf herbicides make this a problem weed, and the best results are with a mix of systemic herbicides. Repeat “hits” will be necessary. The best times to treat are in the Autumn, and again in the Spring during peak bloom. Ideally this is when the soil is still moist.
Heal All is not an easy weed to control selectively in turf. It will regrow after applications of MCPA, 2,4-D, clopyralid or triclopyr if you use these as stand-alone treatments.
Post emergent options for Heal All should contain combinations of 2,4-D, MCPA, and Dicamba. Suitable options are ProForce Warhead, ProForce Weed Blast, or Contra M.
You can use Glyphosate as a non selective option to control Heal All. If you use Glyphosate and water quality is an issue then use ProForce Manta Ray.
