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January 27, 2006
Weed Control
Author: Michael J. McGroarty
Keeping your landscape plantings, flower beds, and nursery crops free of weeds is a battle, but if you approach it with a strategic plan, you will prevail. In order to develop a plan, you first must understand how weeds work, and what kind of weeds you are dealing with.
Basically weeds grow either from seed, or they reproduce from their roots. As the roots grow outward from the parent plant, new plants sprout up from the lateral roots, creating more parent plants and the process continues and the weeds thrive. Weeds that tend to reproduce from the root are usually more difficult to control.
Weed control facts? Weeds are plants, and they function just like the desirable plants in your yard. They need water, sunlight, and nutrition to survive. Of these three key survival needs, the easiest one for a gardener to eliminate is sunlight. Through proper mulching you can eliminate the sunlight.
But first, let’s look at the steps you should go through before you mulch, then we’ll discuss the best mulching techniques to use. In order for your weed control efforts to be truly effective, you should do everything in your power to make your gardens as weed free as possible before you plant or mulch. There are a couple of ways you can go about this, either organically or with chemicals. I don’t like using chemicals, but I do use them for weed control, and I use them for pest control when necessary.
I’ll discuss organic control first. The first thing you should do is remove all unwanted vegetation from your planting area. Using a hoe, spade or other digging device, undercut the roots and remove the undesirable plants, roots and all. Then you should work the soil by rototilling or turning the soil by hand.
Once worked, let the soil sit for four days or so, and work it again. Keep doing this over and over as long as time permits. This process serves two purposes. It brings the roots that were left in the soil close to the surface so they can be dried by the sun, which will make them non-viable, and it disturbs the weed seeds that have started to germinate, which makes them non-viable as well. The longer you continue this process the more weeds you are eliminating from your garden.
Weed control facts? Depending on the time of the year, there are a few billion weed seeds drifting through the air at any given time, so to think that you can eventually rid a garden of weed seed is false thinking, but at least this process is effective for the remaining roots, which are the most difficult to control.
With that process complete, go ahead and plant your garden. When you’re done planting you can either mulch the bed, or keep turning the soil on a weekly basis to keep it free of weeds. Most people opt to mulch. Not only does mulch help to control the weeds, but if you select a natural mulch it also adds organic matter to the soil which makes for better gardening results down the road.
Before mulching you can spread newspaper (7-9 layers thick) over the soil and place the mulch over top of that. The newspaper will block the sunlight from reaching the surface of the soil and help to keep weed growth to a minimum. The newspaper will eventually decompose, and not permanently alter the make up of your garden. Paper grocery bags also work well, so the next time you hear, “Paper or Plastic?”, you’ll know how to answer.
What about black plastic, or the weed barrier fabric sold at garden centers? I don’t like either and I’ll tell you why. For one, neither one of them ever go away, and the make up of your garden is forever altered until you physically remove them, which is a real pain in the butt.
Weed control facts? Plastic is no good for the soil because soil needs to breath. Plastic blocks the transfer of water and oxygen, and eventually your soil will suffer, as will your garden. It’s all right to use plastic in a vegetable garden as long as you remove it at the end of the season and give the soil a chance to breath.
Weed barrier fabrics allow the soil to breath, but what happens is that when you mulch over top of the fabric, which you should because the fabric is ugly, the mulch decomposes and becomes topsoil. Weeds love topsoil, and they will grow like crazy in it. Only problem is, they are growing on top of the fabric, and you are stuck with a ton of problems, like a weedy garden, and a major job of trying to remove the fabric that is now firmly anchored in place because the weeds have rooted through it.
Weed fabric is also porous enough that if an area becomes exposed to the sunlight, enough light will peek through and weeds below the fabric will grow, pushing their way through the fabric. I don’t like the stuff. I’ve removed miles of it from landscapes for other people because it did not work as they had expected.
Weed control facts? Controlling weeds with chemicals is fairly easy, and very effective if done properly. I know that many people don’t approve of chemical weed controls, but millions of people use them, so I might as well tell you how to get the most effect using them.
There are two types of chemical weed controls, post-emergent, and pre-emergent. In a nutshell, a post-emergent herbicide kills weeds that are actively growing. A pre-emergent prevents weed seeds from germinating. Of the post- emergent herbicides there are both selective and non-selective herbicides. A selective herbicide is like the herbicides that are in weed-and-feed type lawn fertilizers. The herbicide will kill broad leaf weeds in your lawn, but it doesn’t harm the grass.
One of the most popular non-selective herbicides is Round-up®, it pretty much kills any plant it touches. Rule number one. Read the labels and follow the safety precautions!!! Round-up® is very effective if used properly, but first you must understand how it works.
Round-up® must be sprayed on the foliage of the plant, where it is absorbed, then translocated to the root system where it then kills the plant. It takes about 72 hours for the translocation process to completely take place, so you don’t want to disturb the plant at all for at least 72 hours after it has been sprayed.
After 72 hours you can dig, chop, rototill, and pretty much do as you please because the herbicide has been translocated throughout the plant. The manufacture claims that Round-up® does not have any residual effect, which means that you can safely plant in an area where Round-up® has been used. However, I would not use it in a vegetable garden without researching further.
No residual effect also means that Round-up® has no effect whatsoever on weed seeds, so there is absolutely no benefit to spraying the soil. Only spray the foliage of the weeds you want to kill. Be careful of over spray drifting to your desirable plants. To prevent spray drift I adjust the nozzle of my sprayer so that the spray droplets are larger and heavier, and less likely to be carried by the wind. I also keep the pressure in the tank lower by only pumping the tank a minimum number of strokes. Just enough to deliver the spray. Buy a sprayer that you can use as a dedicated sprayer for Round-up® only. Never use a sprayer that you have used for herbicides for any other purpose. Once you have sprayed the weeds, waited 72 hours and then removed them, you can go ahead and plant. Mulching is recommended as described above. To keep weed seeds from germinating you can apply a pre-emergent herbicide.
Depending on the brand, some of them are applied over top of the mulch, and some are applied to the soil before the mulch is applied. A pre-emergent herbicide creates a vapor barrier at the soil level that stops weed seed germination, and can be very effective at keeping your gardens weed free. They usually only last about 5 or 6 months and need to be re-applied.
Visit a full service garden center and seek the advice of a qualified professional to select the pre-emergent herbicide that will best meet your needs. Never use a pre-emergent herbicide in your vegetable garden, and be careful around areas where you intend to sow grass seed. If you spill a little in an area where you intend to plant grass, the grass will not grow. They really do work.
That’s what I know about weed control. Read this article several times. Your success depends on getting the sequence of events correct.
Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by, http://gardening-articles.com
Posted by Richard at 06:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2006
Controlling Weeds
Author: Ian White
Unfortunately, weed seeds are very quick to germinate. In fact, weed seeds only need to be within an inch of the soil surface to sprout. It doesn’t take long before they appear, and they will rudely elbow their way in beside plants and shrubs. Though some weeds can be fairly attractive, you should quickly rid your garden of them, as they will take over.
Many weed seeds are brought close to the soil’s surface when we dig in our gardens. It is recommended that after you do your early spring digging that you wait a good week to ten days before you sow any seeds or plant any flowers. This will allow adequate time for weeds to sprout—and for you to hoe them up so they dry out and die. You should hoe your soil during this waiting period at least every three days, and only hoe the top soil— no deeper than one inch. This leaves the lower soil undisturbed, which keeps new weed seeds from rising to the surface.
Many new gardeners fail to realize the importance of mulch, and how it can greatly impede the growth of weeds. Mulch serves many purposes. Not only is mulch attractive, but it also helps the soil retain moisture, it keeps garden soil temperatures fairly stabilized, and it also keeps sun seeking weed sprouts from getting the much needed light they need. Mulch can be found in a wide variety of materials. Mulches vary in price range, attraction, and practicality. Organic mulches can include pine needles, leaves, tree bark, peat moss, sawdust, wood chips, and straw.
If you have planted seeds in your flower beds, you should wait until they have sprouted and grown to at least three inches in height before mulching. Mulching too soon will smother out the seedlings you want to grow. Once your seedlings start maturing, you can mulch your garden. Just be certain to water down the mulch so that it settles into the bed. This keeps the mulch from blowing over, or being kicked onto, your new seedlings.
Many gardeners prefer to lay out their flower beds using weed resistant liners, or black plastic. These sheets can be staked to the ground with nails. Gardeners then proceed to cover the liners and fill the beds with mulch. When planting time arrives, they will dig through the mulch, cut holes in the liner, or plastic, and plant their flowers and shrubs where they like.
There are a few gardeners who do not like to use mulch at all. These gardeners work hard to keep weeds out of their gardens by cultivating the soil on a frequent basis. This hoeing of the top soil keeps weed seedlings from taking root, as they dry out once they are dislodged from the soil. Large weeds should be completely removed from the garden and discarded, as they can re-root if left in the garden area.
Chemicals—or herbicides—can also be used for weed control. Most chemicals that are used are for controlling lawn weeds. However, they can be used in flower beds. Pre-emergents are used in the spring to prevent weeds, such as crabgrass, from taking root. Post-emergents are used on weeds that have already germinated and taken root.
Pre-emergent chemicals work well on existing beds if you find that weeds are peeking through. It is important that you don’t use pre-emergent chemicals in your flower beds until the existing plants and flowers have matured to at least four to five inches in height. You would never apply a pre-emergent to a flower bed that has tiny seedlings growing in it. You will want to wait until your seedlings have matured to at least four inches before you apply the pre-emergent to weeds. When applying herbicides, be mindful of weather conditions. The slightest breeze can carry the chemicals onto your hearty plants and flowers and kill them. When spraying weeds, always keep the nozzle close to the ground and spray directly onto the weed.
When using any kind of chemical, you should always proceed with caution. Most poisons occur to gardeners during the mixing process. Splashes to the eyes and skin can be avoided by wearing protective eye goggles, rubber gloves and long sleeves. You should follow all directions on the herbicide label and never make your own concoction of chemicals. Doing so can harm you, and your plants. All herbicides have been scientifically calculated for its most effective use. As always, you should store all chemicals out of the reach of children and in their original containers.
The key to weed control is staying ahead of them. A garden that is neglected, even for a couple of weeks, can quickly be overrun with weeds. A little weeding here and there is better than a full weekend’s worth of work.
About the author: Author Ian White specializes in helping people who are interested in finding a house sitter in their town. To find out about these services, visit http://www.housecarers.com today. This is a free service for homeowners. Find like-minded gardeners to care for your home, pets, and gardeners for Free while you are away
Posted by Richard at 06:58 AM | Comments (0)