Landscaping and Weed Plants
Weeds are a part of life, but having a good strategy makes them much easier to deal with. Most people don’t love to weed and procrastinate. Then, when their yard totally looks like it needs weeding it can take a long time to weed.
Best Strategy
The best strategy is to weed when they are young seedlings. You can use a hoe and with little effort eliminate the majority of the weeds. If you weed once a month, with a hoe, it will take very little time. The most important weeding is early spring when water is abundant and seedlings are just sprouting.
Weed Killer Applications
Again, small weeds are much easier to eradicate than large weeds. If you start out while weeds are small, you can kill them with one light application. Large weeds take much more poison and even several applications. The main purpose of weed control is that it takes less time than hand weeding. If you have a large pasture or field that has got out of hand, this may be the only viable option.
Most people have found Round Up to be very effective. It will kill any weeds and even grass. Other applications are for the lawn and only kill broadleaf plants; like dandelions. If you hire a lawn fertilization company like Chem Lawn, you can have them spray the weeds for you.
Large Gravel Lots – Ground Killers
There is a weed killer called Pramatol that you can get at Intermountain Farmers Association. It comes in a white granular form. You can put it on the ground and it will take care of all the weeds for one year. However, if you read the container it will make the ground sterile for up to three years. We have only seen it work for one year, but it works very well with only one application. This product must be used with caution.
Stubborn
Some weeds can be sprayed repeatedly and don’t die. In addition, you can pull them by hand and almost never get out the roots. One example of this is Morning Glory. What is a homeowner to do?
You can wait until they die back and next spring hit them hard while they are first sprouting. And, since most of you don’t like this answer, I will give you an option to immediately get rid of them. You can take concentrated weed killer and very carefully, with heavy duty rubber gloves and eye protection, you can put concentrated weed killer on the plants with a paintbrush or rag. The high concentration is sure to kill the weed. Don’t ever just dump it on the weed. This would be dangerous to humans and is in violation of Federal Law. The goal is to use as little as possible and get the job done.
Another option is to use a propane torch. You can buy specialized propane torches that are made just to burn out weeds. It’s an easy and quick method that works well.
In reality, you should stay away from poisons as much as possible. They aren’t good for humans or the environment.
Whacking
You may have the idea to just weed whack down everything. This will definitely give the property an overall uplift, but the weeds will come back soon. The best way is to spray the weeds first and wait a week or two; then weed whack. Not only does the poison work down to the roots better, but the added weed whacking will make it more difficult for the weeds to survive.
Fumigants
Fumigants kill the soil. They are used when the soil is contaminated in some way. For example, Fairy Ring in lawns. Fumigants are best left to professionals and are usually a last resort. In most cases, it’s better to replace the soil.
Why Do You Have Them?
Many people hate weeds and yard maintenance. They have a constant barrage of weeds every year. Usually, the problem is the yard plant design. A good design will produce few weeds. The biggest mistake is that people don’t plant enough plants in their yard. If flower beds are full of wanted plants, it’s difficult for the weeds to take root. The same concept goes for a lawn. Lawns that get a lot of weeds are those that aren’t cared for properly. Healthy thick grass makes it very difficult for weeds to become established.
Do you have weed barriers? Bark, wood chips, and compost make it more difficult for weeds to take root. In addition, there is weed mat that keeps out weeds. Make sure you have a high quality commercial grade weed mat. The most important barrier is curbing or metal edging between lawn and flower beds. It keeps grass from growing where you don’t want it.
Identification
There are lots and lots of varieties of weeds. Most people are familiar with that they have in their area. If you have question, take some of them to a local nursery for identification and recommendations.
Landscape author Kristy Snow recommends visiting Plant Life or Roach Killer to get unique landscape ideas.
