What You Can Do About Weeds

Weeds can be such a problem. They grow fast and can take over your garden rapidly if not controlled. If there’s a bare spot in your garden, a weed seed will find it. Weeds always grow where you don’t want them to grow. Some weeds are easily removed by hand and others are persistent about growing back. The longer they are left to establish themselves and spread, the more difficult it becomes to get rid of them.

There are two types of weeds, annual and perennial. Prior to seed germination, annual weeds that grow from seed can be prevented with the application of a pre-emergent herbicide. There is also a pre-emergent herbicide to prevent many perennial type weeds. A post-emergent herbicide is available to use for after the weeds appear, or there’s always pulling them out by hand too.

The weeds that spread throughout your garden by seed are annual weeds. They are brought into the garden by birds, four-legged animals or by just sticking to your clothing as you walk by. Crab grass, bindweed, chickweed, knotweed, lambs-quarters, mallow, pigweed, purple deadnettle, groundsel, common nettle, speedwell, spurge and yellow oxalis are all annual weeds.

Some weeds will grow in the warm weather and others prefer the cooler season, just as with other plants. Weeds that like the warmer season tend to start growing in the spring and hang around all through the growing season. Cool-season weeds sprout up any time from the fall all the way through to the following spring. They will flower in late spring or early summer. The way to get control of annual weeds is to eradicate them before they go to seed again. And luckily annual weeds have a shallow root system making it easy to pull them out by hand. Unfortunately, weeding is an ongoing process. Get into the habit of weeding as you go along gardening and then the task will not become so overwhelming.

Perennial weeds are the most difficult to handle. Ground ivy, burdock, dandelion, dock, horsetail, Japanese knotweed, plantain, poison ivy, quack grass, thistle, ragweed are a few perennial weeds. The thing to remember about perennial weeds is that the whole plant and its entire root system must be removed to successfully eradicate them. These weeds can actually reproduce from just a tiny little piece of root left behind. Their root systems spread out wide or go very deep, so it can be tricky. Tilling or hoeing isn’t an option. If your are hand weeding make sure to get the whole root, and it is best to do this in the early spring when the ground has just thawed. Sometimes herbicides are the only solution for tough perennial weeds like poison ivy, ground ivy and brambles.

There are other common-sense ways to control the weeds from taking over your garden. Before planting the new plant you just purchased from the nursery, check to see if there are any unwanted hitchhiker weeds that you do not want to plant along with your new plant. Keep cultivation to a minimum. Many weeds will not germinate until they are exposed to sunlight. Frequent cultivating or tilling can bring up the weed seeds to the surface. Use mulches to keep weeds at bay. Mulches will smother weed seeds and are good for cooling the soil to retain the moisture in it.

Dayelle Swensson is an avid writer for the web on a number of topics. Having gardened herself for many years, she is able to advise others about a variety of things including gardening tips, lawn and tree care, watering, hose reel and keeping your home garden looking good and healthy.