Just as I am about…
By Harvey Goodman
I am writing this column during our infamous March Snow storm … that either was or was not, depending on where you were. I can turn off the task of shoveling the crystallized water by visualizing the pleasantries of spring gardening.
Just as I am about to imagine a garden filled with beautiful foliage , a manicured lawn and fruit trees blossoming … an annual , unwanted visitor becomes very visible . The Weeds of the Season, not a Broadway play, are as predictable as warm weather in summer.
Long before our flowering plants, and desirable grass, begin their growth, our ever- resilient weeds start to grow.
Having survived the winter by sowing their seeds at the end of the summer, or for some perennials species, waiting patiently beneath the soil , these masters of survival begin their task of crowding out every other species, and driving the typical gardener to the brink of wanting to shovel snow .
Here are several tips that may be useful in helping you get ahead of these pesky plants:
• Wherever possible, pull weeds by hand or hand weedier. Always try to remove the crown and roots. An advantage to pulling these plants by hand is that you will be less likely to disturb the plant which can cause seeds to be dispersed and so spread the species.
• Regular mowing will keep the turf and the weeds at a point where neither will produce seed. A single weed can produce upwards of a million seeds in a single season. If the weed is an annual , it will not return next season because there will be no seeds to sprout.
• A heavy mulching on garden beds will prevent seeds from germinating.
• Mulching over weed seedlings in early spring often prevents them from reaching sunlight. Without sunlight, the food reserve in the weed seed will soon be depleted and the seedling will die.
• Composting has become popular. However, using weeds as part of your compost could present a problem. Most weed seeds are simply not destroyed during the composting process. The heat from the compost, while it will kill some of the seeds , probably will not get them all…and some species actually enjoy the warm temperatures.
• Maintaining a healthy , thick lawn with well-drained soil will resist the growth of weeds.
• Several garden-supply manufacturers produce a mixture of fertilizer and pre-emergence herbicide.
A gardening primer: annual weeds grow, produce seed and die in one season…some of these weeds are barnyard and blue grass, chickweed, crabgrass, foxtail grass, henbit, pigweed, knotweed, purslane and a number of different spurges.
Perennial weeds survive by means of underground roots and stems which act as food storage during the winter. Stems can spread underground and, without the aid of seeds, spread the plant species. Some common perennials in this area are: ground-elder, rosebay willowherb, creeping thistle, field horsetail, white-dead nettle, oxalis, greater plantain, buttercup, and dandelion.
Questions or comments on gardening and plant care can be addressed to: The Plant Doctor, c/o Queens Publishing Company, 41-02 Bell Blvd. Bayside, N.Y. 11361. Or e-mail: harvey.goodman@worldnet.att.net
