Move.

round up

then reseed the lawn ...

and a lot of patience ...

ken

Violets suck. Am I allowed to say that on GW? I'd like to say much, much worse. I was cursing them all morning!

LOL I LOVE violets! :-) Well, I amend that. I have two violets that I love and one that I don't. The one that was here when I moved in and is all over back and front lawn is a white unimpressive, no fragrance plant and that is the one I don't like. I have a native violet, Viola labradorica which has dark small leaves and small almost iridescent purple flowers and is easy to pull out if it is where you don't want it and I love that one. And my favorite is Queen Charlotte Viola which has a pretty leaf and more compact habit and has a pretty purple flower that is very fragrant. I love the smell of those and wish they were all over my lawn. I'm working on it. [g]

I much prefer to yank out excess Violet plants than mow the lawn. :p Especially under my Black Walnut tree. (Don't sneer. It came with the house.)

I've actually been on a marathon giveaway of my Euro and American Violets in the last couple of months. I've gotten some great trades for them.

Around here they sometimes bloom in December if the Winter is mild enough. The Euros were blooming under the snow in February, even sooner than crocuses.

Love love love my violets. :D

Purple violets are my most invasive plant. The yellow and white ones not so much. All are native to my woods.

Thanks. I figured I would get this response. LOL I guess actually impossible to completely get rid of them I don't mind the lawn so much>>>just mow, but the perennial beds they take over. I viola dissecta ''chaerophylloides, and v. pedata 'eco artist' however, which I love. It's just the common blue and yellow, which gets real tall and reseeds everywhere!

Well, I did get rid of mine, but it took a few years. Never had them in the lawn, but in the beds they were everywhere. There's no easy way. You just have to dig them out as you see them, pinch off every flower you see to prevent seed and repeat, repeat, repeat on a weekly basis. The only few I found this year were right smack in the middle of a Maidenhair Fern. I'll have to dig up the fern to get them out.

Kevin

Ahh the internal violets question. There's always the option of searching past threads...

Roundup, correctly applied, might need 2 seasonally offset applications. (i.e. spring fall) Obviously in perennial beds you cannot use selectives but you can in a lawn, they might need 2 applications too. I like to use Trimec spring, Triclopyr fall. Ummmm...just follow the label directions for most severe weeds. One trick I use in beds to avoid overspray, mix 40% generic roundup concentrate 50/50 with something thick and humectant...cheapo breakfast syrup diluted w/water will do probably. (so, 50% RUC, 25% syrup, 25% water) Paint this with a cotton ball onto the violet leaves, wearing gloves of course so that nasty roundup doesn't cause you to die the next morning. They will die.

what a great idea..never thought of syrup! I think I will have to do this along with digging the large ones out. the tiny seedling are impossible to dig out and as said above, many are "involved" with another perennial.

There is a house near me which has an absolutely glorious lawn every spring, as it must be 90% violets, both white and purple. I think it is spectacular- and I bet it doesn't need mowing nearly as often as grass!

;)
Dee

I have learned to love them, beats stressing over them. Our lawn out front if you can call it that is now a mix of moss, white violets, we used to have some yellow as well but they seem to have died out. Veronica repens (blue), the odd crocus and I think some 'Chocolate Chip' Ajuga have also crept in, and let's not forget the wee bit of grass struggling to survive LOL.
In the back where my garden is I just pull where I don't want them. I love the fragrance of the purple ones in late february/march. I actually planted 'White Czar' under our Robinia tree some years ago. This one hasn't spread much at all, isn't that always the way.

Annette

I've decided to embrace them. Both of my neighbors have them in gardens, so I know they will always find a way to MY gardens even if I remove them, so, now I just dig excess volunteers out and enjoy the early season color. I have both purple and white ones. I like them more than the lily of the valley that came with the house, they are much easier to remove!