Weeds and How to Manage Them

Benjamin Franklin said that nothing is certain except death and taxes. He obviously didn't garden, because a gardener would have added weeds to the list. No matter where you live or what you grow, weeding is a fact of gardening. So how can we manage them?

Regardless of the type of weeds you are working with, weeds need the same things any other plants do to grow and thrive. They need water, nutritious soil, and sunlight. An easy way to keep weeds down is to mow and/or use a weed whacker regularly. Keeping weeds short limits the sunlight they can access and continually cuts off the growing leaves, which is where photosynthesis occurs. Over time, this will eventually lead to the death of many species of weeds.

Unfortunately, some species are hardier and will not die from this. While they may become weaker, devoting fewer resources to root growth in an effort to continually regrow their leaves, you will have to continually mow to keep them controlled. This method can also be risky in tight spaces. You don't want to weed whack your irises, after all!

If manual control isn't your style, or if you need a little boost, chemical controls are also an option. Herbicides can be a good option for weed control. Applying herbicide is much easier on the back and the knees than weeding, or even mowing if you have an old push mower like I grew up with, and effectively deals with most species of weeds.

Downsides of herbicides start with the cost. Herbicides can be expensive, especially if you have a large garden. And you might worry about the effects of herbicides on pets or children in your home.

The two herbicides you are most likely to find in your local garden center are Roundup and some variety of 2,4-D.

Roundup, active ingredient - glyphosate - is a non-selective herbicide, which means it will kill almost any plant it comes into contact with. Roundup is absorbed through the foliage of a plant, so it does not need to be applied at the root and can be sprayed over the top of the plants you want to kill. This does mean that it can also kill plants you don't want dead, like your irises! You do not want to get Roundup on plants you don't want to kill.

2,4-D, usually sold in your general garden store as a 2,4-D amine, is a broadleaf herbicide, which means it focuses on broadleaf weeds. This herbicide is available in many forms, like ready to use liquid spray or granules. This herbicide is also absorbed through a plant's leaves, like Roundup, which makes it easy to apply. While it is more selective than Roundup, it is still a good idea to avoid spraying any plants you want to keep.

With any herbicide, it is important to use safe handling practices. Regardless of how low in toxicity an herbicide is advertised to be, you don't want these to stay on your skin, and you definitely don't want to inhale the fumes or ingest any! Always keep children and animals away from herbicides, don't let them play in freshly sprayed areas for at least 24 hours, and wash your hands and change out of your clothes after spraying.

Last, but certainly not least, the only for sure way to get rid of weeds is .... to weed them. Unfortunately, the only way to know that the weed is truly gone, is to pull it up by the root. We weed in early morning or evening to beat the heat, we water before or while weeding to soften the ground and make weeding easier, and when necessary, we use trowels, or in our case shovels, to make sure that we dig out under the root of the weeds and get the entire root out.

Every garden is different. Large gardens lend themselves to the use of herbicides and mowing, while a small container garden might simply need an easy weeding session once a week. In your garden, you may choose to employ one of these options or you may use a combination of all three. If you happen to find a fourth method that does magically eliminate all weeds quickly, safely, and easily, please message us.

At the end of the day, weeds are a certainty. Like death. And taxes.

But seriously, if you ever solve it, email us.

National Pesticide Information Center

Fact Sheet on Roundup - http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/glyphogen.html

Fact Sheet on 2,4-D - http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/24Dgen.html