Daisy (Bellis perennis)
The common daisy is one of the most recognisable lawn weeds in New Zealand. With its bright white petals and yellow centre, it’s either a nostalgic favourite or an unwelcome sight, depending on how you feel about flowers in your lawn.
Daisies thrive in moist, compacted, or shaded areas, often forming dense patches that stand out clearly against dark green grass. Their low-growing rosette shape helps them survive close mowing, and they spread slowly through short, thick rhizomes just below the soil surface. Once established, they can be hard to remove without treatment.
Although daisy can also grow in pastures and roadside areas, it’s most common in domestic lawns, where it’s easily identified by its distinct flowers that appear throughout most of the year.
Identification
Daisy plants form small, flat rosettes of spoon-shaped leaves, usually connected underground by short, fleshy rhizomes. The leaves are smooth and rounded at the tip, narrowing towards the base.
Each plant sends up thin, leafless stalks topped with a single flower head about 2 cm wide. The flowers have bright white petals (ray florets) radiating from a yellow centre, and they close at night or in dull weather.
Unlike oxeye daisy, which grows tall with branching stems, common lawn daisy stays flat to the ground, making it well adapted to frequent mowing. It also tolerates damp soil and shade better than most lawn grasses.
Why It’s a Problem in Lawns
While daisies don’t harm grass directly, they spoil the even texture of a manicured lawn and quickly dominate in moist, shady areas. Their rosettes spread outward, forming dense mats that crowd out desirable turf.
They are most aggressive in lawns that are poorly drained, low in nutrients, or mown too short. Because of their low growth habit, they survive most mowing heights and can flower almost continuously through spring, summer, and autumn.
In lawns where daisies take hold, it’s a clear sign that the grass needs more consistent fertilising, aeration, and better sunlight exposure.
Control in Home Lawns
Daisies can be controlled easily with the right selective herbicide, but good lawn management is just as important for keeping them from returning.
Best control methods:
- Physical removal: Hand-pull individual plants, ensuring you remove the crown and rhizomes to prevent regrowth. This works best when the soil is moist.
- Chemical control: Use selective broadleaf herbicides containing clopyralid (NZLA BWC), triclopyr/picloram (NZLA Gold), or 2,4-D/dicamba mixes. These provide excellent control in lawns and prevent new shoots from emerging.
- Cultural management: Improve soil drainage and aeration, reduce shade where possible, and maintain a balanced fertiliser programme. Daisies thrive in underfed lawns, so keeping grass vigorous and dense is the best long-term deterrent.
Prevention Tips
- Fertilise at least twice a year to maintain grass density and colour.
- Aerate compacted soil annually to improve drainage and oxygen flow.
- Avoid mowing too low — leave at least 25–30 mm of leaf on cool-season grasses.
- Reseed thin or bare areas in autumn to crowd out weed seedlings.
- Keep the lawn evenly watered through dry periods to reduce open soil space for daisy germination.