I KNOW MANY of you think it has been a really cold spring so far. Many plants around your yard are still just trying to get going.
Weeds, on the other hand, just love it now!
Everyone should be concerned, because now is the time for the invasion of the garden snatchers or the eminent attack of ferocious weeds.
As I have mentioned before, the weather here is perfect for plant production, and never is that as true is when it comes to weed growth. Because of our ideally mild weather, weeds grow year round.
Weeds are born pregnant, their numbers growing exponentially throughout the year as each generation broadcast its seeds ever wider, yard by yard.
And don’t ask me how, but weed seed germinates at 110 percent and all weed seedlings are extremely viable, surviving even the harshest of conditions.
For so many gardeners, the overwhelming wave of weeds cause them not only anxiety, but a sense of hopelessness. Weeding takes up so many hours of labor, and then one has to turn around and start all over again a few weeks later (grrr)!
Einstein said it best: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.”
Weeds can certainly drive you insane, so why not break the cycle of doing the same thing repeatedly while still having all those disgusting weeds all season long?
The key to the game is early eradication. Destroy weeds as soon as you find them early in the year.
A single weed, flowering now and going to seed can produce a prodigy of over 500 weeds come this October. Just like the other garden scourge, slugs, eliminating weeds now can make all the difference in the world.
Two factors help you in this quest.
First you have the time, but not for long, as planting, pruning, staking, deadheading, cultivating, watering and fertilizing soon will become overwhelming. So weed this week, as time allows.
Einstein was also known for his famous equations. Weeds have a simple one — stopping weed seeds equals weeds not growing. With this formula in mind, here are your basic methods to control weeds and their seeds.
Blockers and inhibitors
These products either kill weed seeds or, like birth control, prevent weeds from germinating, They have various rates of effectiveness and need to be applied at specific spaced intervals and before weed seeds germinate.
Common products are Snapshot, Preen, corn gluten meal and Roundup with germination blockers.
Sprayed-on herbicides
Herbicides kill existing weeds so they won’t reproduce. However, herbicides have disastrous effects on other living creatures or nearby valuable plants. Always carefully consider this option, spraying when it is a dry, non windy day above 50 degrees.
Roundup, (glyphosates, a cancerous agent, the far less costly generic brand) is highly prized in the industry because it does not trans-locate (move around in the soil) and within hours is almost entirely inert. But still it is a horrible choice!
Smothering
I really like this option at this time of the year, because we all need extra topsoil or mulch around our plants and gardens. First, cultivate up an area, hoeing any established weeds, then cover them with a layer of soil or a thick covering of mulch.
At this time of year, this wet covering of material kills by smothering the weeds while enhancing the soil (extra bonus). Then add a germination inhibitor atop the newly spread material for a one-two knockout punch!
Boiling water
Steaming hot water works well as a weed killer, but kills soil life as well. I use this around my garage and walkways as I boil water to clean my pots and pans.
Vinegar
Also a popular and recommended choice, but realize it has two major drawbacks. First, it only kills the foliage, not the root system, so you just pinch the weeds and made it bigger. Second, a solution of 20 percent or more would be required to kill the root and all microbes and fungi around it. So vinegar has no real effect, or is worse than Roundup.
Mechanical means
Hand pulling weeds is great, but a better way is to cultivate the soil by hoeing the area on a regular basis.
Not only does this kill weeds, but it breaks up soil crust, which is very beneficial to both plants and overall soil health.
Now, stem the rate of the invasion, try not to harm your surroundings and … stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
