WEEDS!!!

“My back yard would be perfect except for the weeds.”

“Except for the need to do weeding, I could spend all my time in my yard.”

Sound familiar?

A bit of planning before doing your next landscaping project can dramatically cut down on weed problems.  Like with most things:  An ounce of prevention can bring a pound of cure.

Some tips we have learned in the business for the past 15 years:

1. Use ‘weed-seed free’ landscape materials.
2. Consider mixing in a pre-emergent to the soil when doing landscape projects.  Corn Gluten Meal is a safe pre-emergent weed preventer that can stop new weed growth without the dangers of many chemical preventer's.  (Concern Weed Prevention Plus or  PreMerge, Espoma Corn Gluten, Preen, etc.)
3. Use drip irrigation.  Most weeds need water, too.  When you drip irrigate, most water is available just to the plant you are trying to grow, not the nearby weeds.  If you broadcast water, you are helping the weeds as well.
4. Use weed barriers under paths and walks.  Whether your walkway is one quarter minus crushed rock or beautiful natural stone set in sand, it is easier to control weeds in the walk if you start with a layer of weed cloth underneath.
5. Mulch around plants.  If you add a thick layer of mulch (we use ‘bark dust’ in the Northwest) around each plant and drip irrigate the plant, you have the best of all worlds.  Potential weeds using the water intended for the plant are starved of light and rarely mature.
6. Once weeds appear, be sure to pull them before they go to seed or the battle is lost.
7. When pulling weeds, use a tool to make sure you get all the roots.  A flat blade screwdriver is still one of the best weeding tools.  Just be sure to use a well worn screwdriver that you will forever dedicate to weeding.  Spray paint it Yelleen™ so that no one will confuse it for a tool that can be used for its original purpose.
8. Your local Ag Extension Service will be able to get you in touch with the Master Gardeners in your area.  They are a wealth of local knowledge about  problems such as weeds.
9. If you plan to spray (Round-up, etc.) be sure to check first with neighbors to ensure you aren’t endangering new planting, etc.  Never spray when there is a wind.  First, the spray will be ineffective (a waste of your time and money) and second, spray drift can kill plants that you want to keep.

^{Any other tips on controlling weeds will be appreciated.}