After the drought last year, the rain this year has been a welcome relief. With the rain, though, has come a proliferation of weeds throughout planting beds and lawns. Although I don’t abide by the belief that a lawn has to be completely free of weeds, a well-kept lawn and maintained planting beds do enhance the look of a property and lead to more enjoyment from its owners.
There are no strict guidelines of what is a weed or what is an acceptable plant. A plant that is growing where it is not wanted is considered a weed. Weeds, when given the opportunity, multiply, often stealing nutrients and moisture from the soil, from other more desirable plants. They can crowd out good plants resulting in the stunted growth of the good plants.
Correctly identifying weeds can be very helpful to their eradication. Weeds can be divided into two different groups. They are broadleaf weeds and grass or grass like weeds. Dandelion, Japanese knotweed, plantain, bull thistle, purslane, clover and creeping Charlie are all examples of common broadleaf weeds. Examples of grass or grass-like weeds include crabgrass, nutsedge, tall fescue and quackgrass. Online searches, gardening books, area botanical garden help desks and even plant identification apps can assist you with the identification of weeds in your yard. Once they are identified, you can then determine the best way to remove the weeds in your lawn and planting beds.
Perhaps more important than the method of weed removal is the timing of it. It is important to tackle weed removal as early in the season as possible and then consistently after that. Although we all have a variety of household chores that need to be tackled on a weekly if not daily basis, this is one that should move up to the top of the list during the spring and summer. Many homeowners have found that keeping a bucket easily accessible in the garage and walking around the yard every other day removing small weeds actually makes the process much easier than waiting until the weeds are larger and more difficult to remove. Removing weeds before they go to seed dramatically reduces their propagation.
Removing weeds can be done through a variety of methods. Hand cultivation is one of the most popular methods. By simply using a hoe or your hands, remove as much of the root system of the weed as possible. Of course, this is much easier to accomplish when the soil is moist. Lightly raking or cultivating all of your flower beds each spring will act to disturb weed seeds and cut down on their germination. Organic and chemical herbicides are also available to assist in weed eradication and control. Pre-emergent herbicides suppress future weed growth. Selective herbicides are designed to kill a category of plants. Broad spectrum herbicides have the potential to kill anything on which they are applied. Examples of organic plant care products include Corn Gluten and Burnout II. Corn Gluten is an organic pre-emergent herbicide and BurnOut II is an organic broad-spectrum herbicide. Grass Beater II by Bonide is an example of an herbicide that will kill grass like weeds within a planting bed. The best way to reduce the amount of weeds in your lawn is to promote a thick, healthy lawn. A lush lawn will naturally shade out the weeds. IF you do want to try to kill dandelions or another broadleaf weed in your lawn, make sure to use a selective herbicide that only kills broadleaf weeds and won’t harm the grass. Ortho Weed Clear is an example of a liquid selective herbicide.
Landscape fabric, when used correctly, also aids in the minimization of weeds and will lower the maintenance of your planting beds. If sections of your planting beds are filled with more than 70% weeds you may want to remove all of the plants and install landscape fabric. This fabric can then be covered with mulch. It may be best to leave the fabric in place for a season only removing it when it seems that the invasive weeds have been suppressed. Landscape fabric can be used in select areas to suppress invasive plants such mint, ribbon grass or snow on the mountain.
When evaluating your planting beds, you may also want to look at shrubs to see if any volunteer shrubs or trees have managed to start growing undetected. Recently, we found a substantially sized mulberry tree growing within a hedge of lilacs. Birds often are the vectors for planting volunteer shrubs or trees.
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.
