On a recent Sunday morning, I spent a few hours watering the plants at our garden center. Normally I spend Sundays holed up in my office trying to get done all of the work that has piled up on my desk throughout the week. This Sunday was different. I needed to be outside. Frankly, it was quite depressing. The weeds that were growing all around me were overwhelming! We had weeds popping up in our parking lot, weeds in our display gardens, even weeds growing in our greenhouses. The record-setting amount of rain this spring had resulted in a proliferation of weeds. I needed help and knew it. I arranged to meet with the person who takes care of the weeds that pop up in our lawn. A meeting with him left me completely embarrassed at the sheer quantity of weeds.
“At least you are tackling them now when they are only 8” tall instead of when they are 2’ tall.” Those words offered me great solace as I struggled to figure out the best way to find a solution to our weed problem. Some problems we can tackle in our own time frame, others need to be addressed immediately. Weeds fall into the latter category.
Eradicating weeds from your planting beds can be a difficult process. Luckily there are a few ways to approach the situation.
Proliferation of good plants
Good plants tend to suppress weed growth. The most common example of this may be hostas. While weeds can certainly grow in a hosta bed, generally speaking hosta gardens don’t get a tremendous amount of weeds because the leaves from the hostas tend to shade out the weed seeds. The more good plants you have, the less likely you will have a tremendous amount of weeds. The one exception I see to this is in groundcover beds. When weeds get established in an area of groundcover it is really hard to separate the weeds from the groundcover plants. If you want to plant groundcovers, make sure you weed them regularly.
Installation of sod
As the community matures the planting beds are tending to be larger. This is primarily due to the spading of the edges of the beds. Each year beds are often edged which requires a small amount of sod to be removed. Over time, the planting beds are much larger than they were originally. It is much easier to mow lawn than weed landscape beds. You may find that it would be in your best interest to have some sod installed. Sod is also a great absorber of water. If you are having erosion issues the installation of sod can help.
Use of Mulch
Mulch certainly does not eliminate weeds but it can help to suppress weed growth a bit. It also helps beds retain moisture and adds organic matter into the soil. Mulch is generally applied every other year.
Hand Cultivation
I sincerely believe every teenager should experience a blister that occurs as a result of spending the day working in a garden with a hoe. They won’t like it but they will remember the lessons that it inspired. A younger member of your family wants to go shopping? Enlist them to help you with a bit of gardening first. Someone asks what you would like for your birthday? A few hours of help outside may be the perfect present. Need to do the work yourself? Do the work early in the day, drink plenty of fluids, and if possible, pull the weeds when the soil is slightly damp.
Landscape Fabric; a Physical Barrier
Sometimes when weeds have completely gotten the best of a landscape bed, putting down landscape fabric may be the answer. First remove all the plants both the weeds and the good plants. Spread the landscape fabric over the area, secure it with landscape staples and cover it with mulch. Keep it in place until you think that the weeds have been suppressed (this may be several months). Only replant the area after it seems that the weeds have been eradicated. Landscape fabric is also appropriate to use in planting beds with only shrubs and/or trees. It can be installed around the base of these plants, appropriately secured and mulch placed on top of it. Just make sure to apply mulch regularly so that the landscape fabric does not become visible.
Chemical Broad Spectrum Herbicides
Often herbicide use is the most effective way to kill weeds but there are several major concerns when using them. Herbicides, due to their nature, have the potential to kill anything on which they are applied. If applying an herbicide to kill weeds that are within an area that has good plants, be very careful. Read the directions carefully.It may take several days to a week to notice dieback after the chemical is applied. Also be careful to watch the weather forecast. Wind can carry a liquid herbicide potentially killing unintended plants. Typically, it takes at least two hours for an herbicide to dry. Make sure to allow plenty of time before rain is forecasted for an area.
Organic and Chemical Pre-emergent Herbicides
A pre-emergent herbicide suppresses future weed growth. Once all of the weeds are removed from your planting beds consider putting down a pre-emergent herbicide. Preen is one of the most popular granular pre-emergents. Corn gluten is an organic alternative and works very well.
Enlist the help of others
“Many hands make light work.” We can’t do it all. Know when to ask for help. Teenagers, family and even friends may appreciate spending some time with you knowing that they are helping you solve a problem. As simple as it sounds – know when to ask for help. Is baking your specialty? Perhaps trade a homemade cake for help in the garden for an hour.
Kathleen Carr is the owner of The Growing Scene, Inc., a garden center and landscaping company. She can be reached by calling 815-923-7322 or emailing her at Kathleen@thegrowingscene.com. Have a gardening question? Please contact her. She may address it in an upcoming column.
