Weed Treatment Starts With Weed Identification
Field madder [first picture], sticky chickweed [second picture], annual sowthistle [third picture] and cutleaf geranium [fourth picture]--weed names that are not well-known to many gardeners. Are these weeds rare, unusual and hard to find? Why, no--I plucked all four out of the planting beds along the front walkway just last week. The soil in those beds is usually cultivated with a wiggle hoe on a regular basis and is heavily planted with seasonal annuals and perennials. The beds are also covered with a 3-inch layer of mulch. However, the soil has not
been cultivated since I planted spring-blooming bulbs and annuals a few weeks ago, and there isn't a trace of last year's mulch left. With cooler temperatures and a little rain last week, the beds quickly filled in with a bright green cover crop of weeds.
Weed treatment begins with weed identification. I recognized sticky chickweed, a winter annual weed, but was unsure of the names and growth habit of the other three weeds. The Web site for University of California at Davis (www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/weeds_intro.html) provides an easily followed k
ey or chart for identifying weeds commonly found in California gardens and turfgrass. The illustrations in the key led me through leaf types, leaf positions and stem shapes to fin photos of weeds fitting the description.
So why spend time trying to identify the weeds in the garden? why not just spray the weeds with a glyphosate heribicide that kills all types of weeds and be done with them? Herbicides lose some of their effectiveness as temperatures cool below 60 degrees.
And, although, labels for some herbicides state that rainfall or irrigation will not effect their performance after 10 minutes, it's never a good idea to use herbicides when there is any chance of the chemical being washed into our water supply.
In areas that are heavily planted, such as my walkway beds, spray drift may damage or kill nearby plants and also damage bulb leaf tips that are just now sprouting through the soil surface.
Field madder [first picture], sticky chickweed [second picture], annual sowthistle [third picture] and cutleaf geranium [fourth picture]--weed names that are not well-known to many gardeners. Are these weeds rare, unusual and hard to find? Why, no--I plucked all four out of the planting beds along the front walkway just last week. The soil in those beds is usually cultivated with a wiggle hoe on a regular basis and is heavily planted with seasonal annuals and perennials. The beds are also covered with a 3-inch layer of mulch. However, the soil has not
been cultivated since I planted spring-blooming bulbs and annuals a few weeks ago, and there isn't a trace of last year's mulch left. With cooler temperatures and a little rain last week, the beds quickly filled in with a bright green cover crop of weeds.Weed treatment begins with weed identification. I recognized sticky chickweed, a winter annual weed, but was unsure of the names and growth habit of the other three weeds. The Web site for University of California at Davis (www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/weeds_intro.html) provides an easily followed k
ey or chart for identifying weeds commonly found in California gardens and turfgrass. The illustrations in the key led me through leaf types, leaf positions and stem shapes to fin photos of weeds fitting the description.So why spend time trying to identify the weeds in the garden? why not just spray the weeds with a glyphosate heribicide that kills all types of weeds and be done with them? Herbicides lose some of their effectiveness as temperatures cool below 60 degrees.
And, although, labels for some herbicides state that rainfall or irrigation will not effect their performance after 10 minutes, it's never a good idea to use herbicides when there is any chance of the chemical being washed into our water supply.
In areas that are heavily planted, such as my walkway beds, spray drift may damage or kill nearby plants and also damage bulb leaf tips that are just now sprouting through the soil surface.
if your readers are looking for more information on USDA plant hardiness zones, there is a detailed, interactive USDA plant hardiness zone map at http://www.plantmaps.com/usda_hardiness_zone_map.php
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter, that is a great resource!
ReplyDelete