Roundup is the number one weed killer sold. It was made for controlling grasses but it will kill many different kinds of plants so is considered a post emergent, non selective systemic weed killer. But it moves systemically maybe about 12 inches from where it was applied to plants. |
Farmers use mostly cultivation
and weed control chemicals. Basically, weed control chemicals save farmers
money they would otherwise spend on fuel and labor. Most of the time,
homeowners are better off controlling weeds using cultivation. Oftentimes this
is simply using a hoe. Make your landscape weed free without chemicals by hoeing
for 20 minutes or less, consistently, once a week.
To get good control, stay on top
of weeds and control them as soon as they start growing. That means getting rid
of weeds weekly, very soon after they are seen. Weeds are not like most insects
or diseases; when the weather changes their populations increase or decrease. When
temperatures get warmer, summer weeds grow faster and stronger.
Weeds love to invade disturbed
soils. That’s why during the first few months in new landscapes many weeds grow
near plants getting water, weed barriers or not. That’s normal.
Its normal to see weeds after a landscape or lawn is first planted. |
Get out your hoe. The first
weeds to grow are annual weeds. They grow quickly from seed and try to cover as
much soil as possible. Once they are removed when young, there are gone
forever. All annual weeds come from seed whether they appear in the spring
(summer annual weeds) or fall (winter annual weeds).
Wild mustard is a winter annual weed; the seed germinates in the fall, the weed grows during the winter or early spring and then flowers and produces seed in the spring ready for next fall. |
When preparing the soil for a
garden, the first plants seen are annual weeds, usually within one to three
days after cultivating and planting just before vegetables emerge from seed. In the spring this is spurge (wet areas), crabgrass, goosegrass. Russian thistle. chickweed. Most
of their energy forces new top growth of these weeds quickly. They want to grow quickly, become large
and cover as much of the soil as possible and of course flower and seed. This is how
they spread. These weeds are called “invaders”. You can use weed barriers, 3 to
4 inches of mulch on the soil surface, pre-emergent weed killers or you can use
a hoe or fire weeder. Your choice. Hoes are fast and easy when you do it weekly.
Weed barriers are woven or spun textiles (fabrics) that allow air and water through but not most annual weeds. |