Control Those Bleeping Weeds


Please note: Thank you for visiting my Cottage Garden topic and reading my columns, published here from February 1997 through spring 2003! This Cottage Garden column was written by Barbara M. Martin and is Copyrighted by Barbara M. Martin. It may not be altered or copied or published elsewhere in whole or in part without specific permission from the author. I regret I am no longer actively editing or contributing to this suite101.com topic as of mid-2003. Happy Gardening!

"Weeds can generate very quickly without assistance."

Ever noticed that?

Just a little insight from the Georgia Extension Teletips program and you'd better believe it whether you are gardening in Georgia or some place else.

Where do weeds come from?

Weeds come from The Soil Seedbank, that's where.

According to a recent Cornell University publication,

Supplemental hand weeding accounts for the majority of landscape bed maintenance costs. When used exclusively, it can cost 10 to 100 times as much as an effective herbicide or mulching program. However, many of the costly and unsightly weed problems can be avoided or at least minimized with a little planning.

Makes sense to me. Planning is good, so is smart planning and saving money. I like that part a lot, even though I don't get paid when I weed. Here's how to Plan Before You Plant: A Five-Step Process for Developing a Landscape Weed Management Plan. The plan is a bit cold-blooded for my taste, but I'll bet it works like a charm. You could follow it and never weed again, but what fun would that be?

On the other hand, you could spend half your remaining life fighting some of the worst types of weeds known to man. If you thought you had problems with pesky Dandelions, think again. Dandelions can be fixed!

Some weeds are a hopeless cause and they grow as big as trees, for good measure. If you have these, it's time to sell out and move.

Maybe you don't have the pernicious Knotweed, Sumac, Poison Ivy, You Name It: Vines and Woody Pests. Or maybe you do have a few of these and need to know when to bring out the big guns and use that glyphosate so it is most effective. Follow this link and scroll down for a nice informative application timing table. The timing may surprise you!

Maybe you just have garden variety, generic weeds and you're not quite clear on which one of those little bleeps is invading the lawn or spreading over the beds like all get out. That's okay, the common are famous, too. (I see many of them daily!)

The copyright of the article Control Those Bleeping Weeds in Cottage Garden is owned by Barbara M. Martin. Permission to republish Control Those Bleeping Weeds in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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