The sticker weed behind flat bike tires and sore paws. How to catch it early, when it comes up in the Victor Valley, and how to break the seed cycle.
Get a Free Yard EstimateTo get rid of goatheads (puncturevine), pull or hoe every plant before it flowers, rake up the burs already on the ground, and put down a pre-emergent in late winter before the seeds sprout. The seed stays alive in the soil for up to five years, so it takes several summers of stopping every plant before the burs stop showing up.
Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) is the summer annual most people in Hesperia, Victorville and Apple Valley call goatheads or stickers. UC IPM says its success comes from its ability to thrive in hot, dry conditions where other plants cannot (UC IPM). That describes a Victor Valley side yard in July pretty well.
This page covers how to identify it at each stage, when it comes up here, and how to get the burs out of rock and artificial turf. For the full list of local weeds, start at our High Desert weeds guide.
The best time to kill puncturevine is before you ever step on a bur. That means knowing what the young plant looks like. Here is what UC IPM describes at each stage (UC IPM Pest Notes: Puncturevine):
| Stage | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Seedling | Seed leaves and the oblong leaflets of the first true leaves are covered with soft hairs. |
| Growing plant | Stems spread flat from a central taproot. Leaves are divided into four to eight pairs of leaflets. |
| Mature mat | Dense mats 2 to 5 feet across, lying flat on the ground. |
| Flowering | Yellow flowers up to 1/2 inch wide with five petals. |
| Burs | Each seedpod is a cluster of five flat, spiny burs holding up to five seeds. They turn gray or tan and hard as they mature. |
Once you see yellow flowers, you are already late. The burs follow soon after, and every one you miss is seed for next year.
UC IPM says puncturevine germinates in spring and summer and needs good soil moisture and warm temperatures to get started. After that, a deep taproot lets it handle dry soil (UC IPM). The plants cannot tolerate freezing (UC IPM).
UC does not publish High Desert dates, so the timeline below is our estimate built from NOAA freeze data for the Victorville station (NOAA 1991-2020 normals):
Your own yard may run ahead of or behind these dates. Hesperia’s NOAA station, for example, has a median last freeze of February 28, almost three weeks earlier than Victorville’s (NOAA). Watch the ground, not the calendar.
Three numbers from UC IPM explain why one bad summer turns into five (UC IPM):
Put those together and the plan writes itself. Walk the yard every two to three weeks from May through September and pull anything new. Miss a month in July and the plants you missed will have flowered and started dropping burs. That walk schedule is our estimate from UC’s three-week flowering window, not a UC rule, but it lines up with it.
UC IPM lists several methods. Most yards need more than one (UC IPM Pest Notes: Puncturevine).
If you searched for a “goathead killer,” those active ingredients are what UC IPM actually lists. UC also describes a biological option: two weevils, Microlarinus lareynii and M. lypriformis, were introduced in 1961 and are most effective when used together (UC IPM).
UC IPM’s window for puncturevine pre-emergent is late winter to midspring, before the seeds germinate (UC IPM). For the Victor Valley floor, our estimate from NOAA temperature data is late February to mid-March, a little later on colder or higher lots. We show the full math and how to check it with a soil thermometer on the rock and gravel weeds page.
Pre-emergents have to be watered in. UC IPM calls for about 1/2 inch of water soon after applying (UC IPM). Victorville averages only 0.33 inches of rain in all of April and less in the months after (NOAA), so plan to run the water yourself.
UC IPM’s advice is to sweep or rake the burs up (UC IPM). Past that, there is no official method, so what follows is general practice people use, not tested advice. Wear thick gloves and closed shoes for all of it.
Burs drop between the stones, and UC notes that hand weeding in rock mulch is very difficult in general (UC IPM). Pull the plants first so you are not reseeding the area while you clean. Then rake the rock lightly to bring burs to the top and pick them out. A common trick is to press a scrap of old carpet or a heavy towel face-down over the area and lift it, which picks up burs sitting on top. It will not reach the ones that have worked down into the rock.
Burs sit in the fibers and ride into the house on shoes. Pull any plants growing at the edges or seams first. Then brush the turf against the grain with a stiff broom so the burs rise, and pick them by hand. Before you use a power broom, a magnet sweeper or any cleaning product, check your turf manufacturer’s care guide. We have not reviewed those guides for this page, and what is safe varies by product.
The long-term fix in both cases is the same: stop the plants from seeding, and the burs run out in a few years.
UC IPM describes puncturevine seedlings as having seed leaves and oblong first leaflets covered with soft hairs. As the plant grows, stems spread flat from a central taproot and the leaves split into four to eight pairs of leaflets. Small yellow five-petal flowers come next, then the burs.
Puncturevine germinates in spring and summer once the soil is warm and moist. Based on NOAA freeze data for Victorville, where the median last freeze is March 18, our estimate is that seedlings show up from about April, with new flushes through summer after rain or irrigation. The plants die at the first hard freeze, which has a median date of November 11 at Victorville.
UC IPM says puncturevine seed can stay viable for up to five years. One plant can make 200 to 5,000 seeds, so stopping every plant before it seeds for several summers in a row is what finally clears a yard.
UC IPM says to apply before germination, in late winter to midspring, and lists oryzalin, benefin and trifluralin for partial control. Our estimate for the Victor Valley floor is late February to mid-March. Water it in with about half an inch of water and follow the product label.
UC IPM recommends sweeping or raking up the burs. In rock, pull the plants, rake lightly to bring burs to the surface and pick them out with gloves. In artificial turf, brush against the grain with a stiff broom and pick the burs by hand, and check your turf manufacturer care guide before using any power tool or cleaner.
We checked every number on this page against the public sources below. If a rule or date changes, the agency page is the final word.
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