Hoeing Puncturevine Seedlings Off a Gravel Driveway Edge With a Stirrup Hoe: Cut at the Taproot Before Flowers, Sweep the Burrs, and Repeat for Years

Stirrup hoe slicing small goathead weed mats at a gravel driveway edge

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Goatheads love the hot, bare edge of a gravel driveway in the high desert. One plant left alone through July means flat bike tires, sore dog paws, and a fresh crop of burrs next year.

Hoe puncturevine while it is still a seedling or small mat, slicing it off at the taproot no more than an inch below the surface. Do it before the first yellow flowers, sweep or rake up any burrs on the ground, and walk the same strip every week or two from late spring through summer, for several years.

Why timing is everything

The UC Statewide IPM Program's puncturevine page says the plant may start flowering within 3 weeks of germination. It says a typical plant produces 200 to 5,000 seeds in a season and seeds can stay viable in the soil for up to five years.

The same page says the main control in home landscapes is removing seedlings and older plants by hand or hoeing, cutting the plant off at its taproot. It recommends shallow tillage of about 1 inch at most, because deeper work buries seeds that can keep sprouting for years.

The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's puncturevine page says hoeing works best before seed formation in spring. It adds that every method needs repeating for at least four years and that you should wear gloves around the spines.

Hoeing a driveway edge

  1. Hoe after an irrigation or a summer storm, when seedlings pop up in a flush and the top inch of soil is soft.
  2. Set the blade flat on the ground at the near edge of the plant.
  3. Push the hoe forward just under the surface, then pull it back. The loop blade cuts on both strokes, so you sever the taproot without digging.
  4. For a mat that has already spread, slide the blade under the center, where the stems meet the root.
  5. Keep the blade at about an inch deep. Going deeper churns up old seeds.

A stirrup hoe with a loop blade that cuts on push and pull is built for exactly this. It skims gravel and hard dirt without the chopping that buries seed.

Dealing with the burrs

  1. If a plant has already made burrs, cut it and drop it straight into a bucket rather than dragging it.
  2. Rake or sweep the loose burrs off the gravel and bag them. The California page suggests patting the ground with a piece of old carpet to pick up the stragglers.
  3. Bag the plants and burrs for the trash. Do not throw them on a compost pile.

The mistake that costs most people is waiting until the yellow flowers show up because the mats look small and harmless. By then the first burrs are already forming under the leaves.

Staying ahead of it

  1. Walk the strip every week or two from late spring through summer. New seedlings come up in flushes after rain or watering.
  2. Check your shoes and tires before you leave the strip. The California page warns against carrying burrs into clean ground on shoes and wheels.
  3. Puncturevine cannot take frost, so the job ends with the first hard freeze.
  4. Repeat next year, and the year after. The seed bank shrinks only if no plant makes seed.

Gear for the job

Harbor Freight and Home Depot both carry loop-style hoes, and any feed store has heavy gloves. A cheap push broom and a contractor bag finish the cleanup.

Goatheads also creep along fence lines; this walkthrough on fencing a 20 by 26 foot vegetable garden shows a layout that leaves a hoeable strip along the wire.

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