Gardeners and homeowners in general have a common nemesis – weeds.
In common usage, a weed is any plant growing where it is not wanted. What young child has not picked a
dandelion and given it as a floral gift to his or her mother? Even grass can be considered a weed if it
is growing up through your juniper or other ground cover.
Andrea Coe, landscape manager and designer with Mid-Wood Inc., has offered some information and tips for
dealing with weeds.
In landscape:
"You want to use a pre-emergent for landscaped areas," Coe said.
It normally is a granular product which can be applied before or after mulching. Preen is a common and
popular brand for this type of weed killer. Coe says however that Treflan is the active ingredient which
should be present in whatever is used. "It does not have to be the brand name."
No matter the product, Coe says it is important to check to see how long the product is good for with
some lasting three months while others might only be good for a couple of weeks or so.
When applying the granules it is important they get to the ground, if the product gets on the leaves of
an existing plant intended to survive, brush those leaves off immediately.
Coe said this type of product can do damage to certain plants, so it is important to read the label and
to know what you are looking to kill.
In vegetables:
Likely the best way to handle weeds in vegetable gardens is the use of manual labor.
"It is hard to deal with weeds in your garden," Coe said. "You just have to pull them
out."
She added there are some products which can be used for such things including one Preen variety marked
"garden;" however, again Coe stressed to read the label as use in the food gardens can be
fraught with danger.
Around flowers, shrubs:
"With weeds near flowers, you will likely need to ‘spot spray’ using Round Up or a similar
product," Coe said.
She clarified the exclusive rights for Round-Up have expired and bargain hunters can find equally good
products containing the active herbicide glyphosate without paying for the brand name product.
Coe added it is also important to consider weeding by hand to be safe.
These types of products can be used in a variety of areas as it is sprayed directly on the foliage and
then starves the root. Nothing remains in the soil.
"This will kill just about anything it touches, so it is very important to protect anything that
needs to be saved," she said.
Caution: this type of product should not be used on very hot or windy days as it is easily spread and
will kill anything to which it comes in contact.
On lawns:
With lawns and ground covers, you can use an "over the top" herbicide. Again caution for these
products on warm and windy days. Included in this group is 2, 4, D, products which can be used on broad
leaf weeds.
"This won’t kill lawns but does get into the soil. It is volatile and can drift. It can kill
something far away, even into a neighbor’s property. You can do some serious damage, especially on a hot
or windy day," Coe said.
Being proactive is the best way to fight weeds in lawns. Coe suggests a "weed and feed" product
to thicken the lawn and minimize the space in the yard for weeds to seed and grow. This will also
necessitate mowing the grass more often.
For more aggressive problems Coe said Spurge Power can attack such weeds. Like the previous products,
this is also potentially dangerous if it spreads to other areas including the neighbor’s property.
Apply or pull:
Many people want to focus on using less chemicals which means the need to manually remove the weeds.
When this is done it is important to use a tool to get deep enough to get the roots or by hand firmly
grasp and pull root and all.
Costs and cautions:
Products can run for as little as $5 for a small container of quick ready-to-apply products up to more
than $40 for a jug of concentrated herbicides.
Coe again reminded readers of the importance of reading the labels and taking care in applying the
products to only the areas needed.