Bittercress: The Weed of the Week

Our Customers are Asking About Bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta)

Bittercress, sometimes called hairy bittercress, is a member of the mustard family and is a common winter weed on Cape Cod. The seeds germinate in the fall and the plants grow and flower all winter and into the spring. The best way to get rid of it in the winter or early spring is to hand pull or chop them off with a hoe. (Because this is an annual, they don’t come back from roots left in the soil.)

Note that this weed is edible but requires careful washing to get rid of the dirt and grit that’s usually in the crown/base of the plant.

If you leave bittercress plants in your yard until the seeds set, you’ll have many more plants next year. Once seeds are formed, they will spring out from the stems if you touch the plant or spray with herbicide!

Remove as many as possible before seeds set. Mulch gardens to prevent return. Maintain a thick, healthy lawn to keep it from invading turf grass.

Download a flyer to print that contains the information above.