Curly dock

Rumex crispus

At a glance
Type	Broadleaf
Life cycle	Perennial
Family	Buckwheat family (Polygonaceae)
Origin	Introduced from elsewhere
Most common in	Northeast, Southeast, South Central, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, California

About

Curly dock is a tough, taprooted perennial with long wavy leaves and tall rusty-brown seed stalks. It is common in thin lawns, compacted or wet ground, and neglected garden corners across the country.

Also called curled dock, yellow dock

How to identify it

Look for

Leaves are long and narrow (about 6 to 12 inches) with strongly wavy, crinkled edges, starting as a ground-level rosette. A papery sheath wraps the stem at each leaf base, and stems grow 2 to 5 feet tall. Seed clusters turn rusty brown by midsummer, and a thick yellow taproot sits below.

Look-alikes

Broadleaf dock has much wider, flatter leaves with a heart-shaped base and toothed wings on its seeds. Red sorrel is much smaller, with arrowhead-shaped leaves.

Where it grows

Thin lawns, pastures, ditches, roadsides, orchards and damp or compacted spots; it tolerates wet and flooded soils.

When

Rosettes grow from fall through spring; it flowers mainly in spring and early summer and the seed stalks turn brown by mid to late summer.

How it spreads

By seed (a plant can make anywhere from about 100 to over 60,000 seeds, which may survive decades in soil) and by regrowth from the crown and upper root.

Most common in

Northeast	Very common here
Southeast	Very common here
South Central	Very common here
Midwest	Very common here
Great Plains	Common here
Mountain West	Common here
Southwest	Common here
Pacific Northwest	Very common here
California	Very common here
Alaska	Occasional here
Hawaii	Occasional here

What to do, gentlest first

Start at the top. Weed killers are a last step; always read and follow the label.

Grow thick turf Prevent
Pick lawn grasses suited to your area and fertilize, mow and water well; dock seldom sets seed in well-kept turf. Loosen compacted, soggy areas.
Dig out the taproot By hand
Dig when the soil is moist and remove the crown plus the top few inches of root; pieces of the crown can regrow. Cut seed stalks before they turn brown.
Digging can bring buried seeds up; mulch or reseed the bare spot.
Broadleaf lawn herbicide or spot spray Conventional spray
In lawns, products with 2,4-D, dicamba or clopyralid control dock; in beds, spot-treat with glyphosate only.
Read and follow the label; many lawn and brush herbicides also kill garden plants.

Uses, wildlife and pets

Pets

Toxic to dogs, cats and horses (ASPCA lists dock and sorrel, Rumex, as toxic); livestock can be poisoned if they eat a lot of it.

Sources

Photo: Photo: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0). Photo resized for the web.

Planting dates and advice are general guidance; check with your local Cooperative Extension office for your area.