Lambs Tongue (Plantago lanceolata)

Lambs Tongue, also known as Ribwort or Buckhorn Plantain, is a common perennial weed of turf and lawns found in all areas of Australia.

Buckhorn Plantain, is a weed that you should really try and keep out of your turf. It has a large root, and is hard to kill.

Individual weeds may form dense populations that compete with desirable turf species. Once it establishes, Lambs Tongue produces seed and vegetative structures that can contaminate equipment and spread to new areas.

In turf, plantains may form dense clumps that damage and reduce usability of turgrass areas.

Buckthorn plantain is an Indicator Weed of dry, low fertility soils but it also tolerates drought and wide range of environmental conditions.

Our Weed ID Chart has more information on common turf and grass weeds. The distribution map of Lambs Tongue is courtesy of The Living Atlas of Australia.

How to Identify Lambs Tongue.

Buckhorn Plantain is easy to identify as it has distinct slender parallel veins on hairy leaves that form 1 or more rosettes.

Slender, long flowering stems emerge from these rosettes, which carry dense, brown, cylindrical seed heads. These often have white anthers sticking out of them.

Because of its height this enables weeds to quickly spread via the wind. In the cooler months in late Autumn and early Winter, this weed often germinates

Leaf length: Leaves are long, narrow, and 30-300 mm long.

Leaf Width: The leaves are 8-30 mm wide.

Comments: Lambs Tongue is usually compact in turf but much more open and spreading in non-competitive situations.

Habitat: Buckhorn or Ribwort Plantain is often in poor lawns, turfs, gardens, roadsides, and other high-traffic areas.

Cultural and chemical options will control Ribwort, Buckhorn Plantain or Lambs Tongue. Do realse however, that there is no 100% guaranteed stand alone treatment that has been successful in controlling Lambs Tongue in turf grass.

Whatever cultural approach that you take you must continue with it for several years. If you don’t you are wasting your time.

The first step is to outcompete it. Lambs Tongue is not a great competitor so if you maintain a thick, healthy turf cover it will be a major step in managing this weed.

Make sure that you feed the turf properly and use the right turf fertilizer. This helps create a dense turf canopy that discourages lambs tongue. 

Crucial to creating a dense turf canopy is to make sure you mow at the right height for your turf type, as this also helps favour turf over this weed.

The second step to control this weed is to hand remove plants. If the weed isn’t too widespread, it is actually easy to remove it by hand pulling, and early removal of seedlings works when you keep at it.

However, you must make sure that you pull out the whole plant, and this includes its deep tap root. If you don’t, it will regrow a short-time after you remove it.

Once these weeds are eradicated, areas should be renovated and managed to establish a healthy turfgrass sward.

Chemical Control of Lambs Tongue.

Select an turf herbicide based on several criteria. The turf type that you have present, cost, and ease of application. It is very important to apply herbicides at the correct time and rate and don’t be shy to spot spray weeds if that is practical.

The best time to control weeds once they have emerged from the soil, is when they are young and are actively growing. That time varies according to whether the weeds in question are cool-season weeds or warm-season weeds. Lambs Tongue is a cool-season weed.

Pre-emergent herbicides.

Pre-emergent herbicides limit germination of Lambs Tongue in turf, and include those with the active ingredients such as Indaziflam, Isoxaben, and Mesotrione. These are not necessarily registered for this weed in Australia so always make sure that you read the label.

Overseas work has shown that Specticle herbicide does provide excellent control of Ribwort Plantain that germinates from seed. but does not control older Lambs Tongue plants.

However, weeds such as Buckhorn Plantain that still have a living root system, will continue to grow through any ground where ypu apply Specticle.

Selective herbicides for Lambs Tongue.

There are three important points to bare in mind when it comes to the chemical control of Ribwort Plantain.

• The best time to spray this weed is when it’s young and not well established.
• Combinations of 2 or 3 active ingredients will give better control, than just using one active ingredient and
• The best post emergent control occurs with an Autumn herbicide application and you may need to make repeat hits to kill weakened perennial weeds and new germinating seedlings.

Repeat applications of post emergent broadleaf herbicides will control Lambs Tongue seedlings. However, once this weed matures control is more difficult although products with 2,4-D will work best.

Other options options include Bromoxynil, Carfentrazone, Dicamba, Mesotrione, and Penoxsulam. Quinclorac gives reasonable control of Buckthorn Plantain but doesnt work very well on Broadleaf Plantain.

Products based only on MCPA will only suppress, and not kill, Ribwort Plantain.