If you have a garden at home, you might discover some plants that look like strawberry plants, but strawberries are nowhere. The weeds that look like strawberry plants do not grow strawberries, but they might be invasive. Weeds that look like strawberry plants are common weeds that most gardeners mistakenly grow if they are beginners in gardening.
These weeds can easily fool you due to their beautiful looks, and you will be so excited to think you are growing a strawberry plant. If you want to know how to recognize weeds that look like strawberries, then read the complete article. In this guide, we have discussed 8 weeds that look like strawberries and ways to get rid of them. So, let’s get started!
Types of Weeds That Look Like Strawberries
You must be wondering how to recognize weeds that look like strawberries; let me show you all those weeds that can make you a fool because of their appearance. It is tough to find differences between natural strawberry plants and weeds that copy the looks of strawberry plants. Some of those weeds are:
1. Cinquefoils
Common name: Five fingers
Botanic name: Potentilla
Hardiness zone: 2-7
Soil: Well-drained soil
Most gardeners grow cinquefoils and think they are growing strawberry plants because they are precisely similar to the strawberry plant. It is native to the Mediterranean region. Cinoquefoil weed, or barren strawberries, fools many people with its appearance. It belongs to the genus of the flowering plant or rose family.
It has the same belonging as the strawberry plant, which is surprising. The weed is mainly found in the wild but can grow as an ornamental plant. There are different varieties of cinquefoils, but they all have some standard features. With yellow flowers that have five petals, this weed has lobed leaves. It is 5 feet tall, but the strawberry plant can grow only 6 inches.
2. Mock Strawberries
Common name: Indian strawberry
Botanic name: Duchenea Indica
Hardiness zone: 5-9
Soil: Humus rich
Mock strawberries are also a weed that resembles garden strawberry plants. It is native to South Asia. The only difference is that the fake strawberry weed flowers are white. These weeds grow with the runners and have round-toothed, three-part leaves. The surprising thing is that this weed also bears red and seeded fruits.
The gardeners who grow them intentionally in gardens eat their fruit, but the fruit is bitter and has no taste. Another significant difference that helps to recognize this weed is that it has bumpy skin. Mock strawberry weed is safe to grow around. It grows almost between three to eight inches taller.
3. Wild Strawberry
Common name: Woodland strawberry
Botanic name: Fragaria Vesca
Hardiness zone: 3-10
Soil: Loamy and well-drained soil
This weed is native to the US and Canada. Wild strawberries are weeds that look like strawberry plants and have berries with no taste. The weed is similar to the strawberry plant except for the exterior, which is striking bumpier. We know that real strawberries have uneven skin but are more uniform.
Wild strawberry weeds like to grow in wild forests, gardens, and anywhere with cooler temperatures. The wild strawberry weed spreads over the whole garden or lawn because it is highly invasive. These wild strawberry weed also blooms white flowers with yellow centers and have round three-part leaves. It is a low-growing weed that only grows less than 1 foot tall.
4. Wood Strawberry
Common name: Alpine strawberry
Botanic name: Fragaria vesca L.
Hardiness zone: 3-10
Soil: Deep and sandy loam
Wood strawberry weed is very close to the garden strawberry plants. It is native to Asia and India. The white flowers of the wild strawberry weed have yellow centers. Many gardeners and homeowners love to grow wild strawberry weeds in lawns to cover the ground because it is a low-growing weed. It only takes a few days to spread in your whole garden or yard and cover the entire ground, making it impossible for the other plants to grow.
You can easily recognize this weed because it is harmless and has no taste near real strawberries. They are safe to grow in a garden, but their fast and high invasive ability makes it impossible for gardeners to grow them on the lawn. They can grow up to 3 to 6 inches tall.
5. Snake Berry
Common name: Mock strawberry
Botanic name: Potentilla indica
Hardiness zone: 3-9
Soil: Well-drained and high-quality soil
The snake berry weed is known for growing faster, like creeping rootstocks, and slowly colonizing the whole garden area. If you grow some plants in your garden, removing the snake berry weed roots will be better. They are harmless and safe to eat, but growing them and letting them grow in the garden is pointless. Its fruit has a watery and bland taste, even with little to no sugar.
Their taste differs from real strawberries, so you can easily recognize them by tasting their fruit. Its berries are red and seeded. People are also confused by the fact that it resembles wild strawberries because they have identical rounded three-part leaves. Snake berry weed can grow almost 2 to 2.5 meters tall and is native to California.
6. Duchesnea Indica
Common name: Mock strawberry
Botanic name: Potentilla indica
Hardiness zone: 6-8
Soil: Moist but well-drained
The Dochesnea Indica weed is another type of mock berrie and belongs to the rose family. The weed is native to eastern and southern Asia. It looks like a strawberry plant, but people love to grow it for chipmunks and other wildlife. They are similar to the strawberry plant in some ways, but not at all. If you mistakenly grow this false strawberry plant, you can easily recognize it when it grows.
They are much smaller than the natural strawberry plants and have no seedy exterior. Its fruit is not even bitter, it has no taste at all. Duchesnea indica is highly invasive; it takes up the whole garden within a few days. So, removing them immediately after seeing them in the garden would be better. This weed can grow almost 1 meter taller.
7. False Lily of the Valley
Common name: Two-leaved Solomon’s seal
Botanic name: Maianthemum dilatatum
Hardiness zone: 3-7
Soil: Clay, loam, or sandy
One of the most common weed types that resemble the strawberry plants is the false lily of the valley. This weed loves to grow in shady areas and with riverbanks, coastal environments, and streams. They are straightforward to identify because they grow in the springtime because of their waxy heart-shaped leaves. Its leaves have a shiny underside, waxy on the top, and a super smooth surface.
They form tiny white flowers with small clusters and ripen to a rich red. This weed is not exactly similar to the strawberry plant, but have some similar characteristics and specifications that make it look like a strawberry plant. It can grow up to 1 ft taller and 2-3 wider. It is native to the Pacific Northwest region.
8. Climbing Nightshade
Common name: Bittersweet
Botanic name: Solanum dulcamara var
Hardiness zone: 9-11
Soil: Well-drained soil
It is another toxic variety that has a similar appearance to the strawberry plants. The climbing nightshade weed is close to the potatoes, but it looks like a strawberry plant due to its appearance and leaves. Its deep, colored, heart-shaped leaves are the most significant difference that helps the gardeners to recognize the weeds in a garden. The climbing nightshade weed has purple flowers, greenish spots, and a yellow center. This weed begins to produce bean-shaped berries after being pollinated.
Its berries look like giant red tomatoes when they are fully ripened. The berries have characteristics and appearance similar to those of tomatoes, but their leaves make the weed look like a strawberry plant. The berries are poisonous, so avoid touching them. Climbing nightshade weed can grow 2-8 ft taller and is native to Europe from Central Norway.
How to Get Rid of These Weeds
Many ways can help you eliminate harmful and harmless weeds from your garden. We have rounded up some of the most common and easy tips to help you, let’s get to know what those are:
1. Dig Them Up by the Roots
It is the oldest method, but most people or gardeners remove weeds by digging them with roots. You can use a garden fork or hand trowel to remove them from the soil carefully. Make sure to remove them from their roots to stop their rapid growth again.
2. Keep on Top of Mulching
Mulching is the most beneficial way of stopping the growth of the weed. You must place the mulching on top of the weeds and prevent it from spreading. You can use garden compost, seaweed, straw, processed bark, wood clippings, rotted manure, and leaf mold. These all can help you provide essential nutrients to the soil.
3. Mow Them Down
Frequent lawn mowing will help you get rid of all the harmful weeds. You must mow your lawn daily or every two days to prevent the plants from setting seed, which will help eliminate them. Rather than leaving the clipping on the grass, make sure to attach the basket to the mower.
4. Use Homemade Weed Killer With Baking Soda
Since baking soda is a powder, you can use it to wet the plants to make the powder stick, then sprinkle the one teaspoon of powder on the weed leaves, which will work like magic. This excellent method will help you to get rid of the leaves, and the growth of the weeds will stop immediately.
Conclusion
If you ever witness plants growing in your garden with a strawberry plant appearance and no strawberries on them, then these are weeds. Many weeds exist that have strawberry plant appearances, you might see one of them on your lawn. Recognizing them is better than easily getting rid of them. I hope the article was helpful for you because we have discussed various weeds that resemble strawberries. Ensure you get rid of these weeds by following the steps mentioned in the article.
FAQs
1. How Can I Permanently Get Rid of the Weeds?
You can permanently remove weeds by applying undiluted bleach to the area where they grow. Now, wait for some time to let the weeds turn their color and pull them out from the soil. Run water around the area to flush the bleach from the soil and get magical results. But its not a safe practice as it harms soil and other plants. So, consider slow but environment-friendly ways to get rid of them.
2. What Weeds Have Tiny Strawberries?
Wild strawberries and Potentilla indica are weeds with berries like natural strawberry plants. Wild strawberries are native to the US, and others are native to Asia. The fruit that grows on wild strawberries is tasty, small, and red, and the fruit of the Potentilla indica is tasteless, complex, and red.
3. Are Mock Strawberries Poisonous?
No, they are not poisonous. However, their taste is somewhat bitter and not pleasant or fascinating like normal strawberries. But they are completely safe to eat.