By Wayne McLaurin
University of Georgia
Volume XXVIII
|
Annual weeds sprout, grow to maturity, go to seed and
die out in one year.
They’re relatively easy to pull up and don’t leave persistent
roots behind.
But they get even by scattering seeds for future plants.
Many bothersome weeds were introduced to North America as
food sources. It’s
possible to add young tender dandelions, chickweed, pepper
cress or shepherd’s
purse to salads.
Eating them, while interesting, doesn’t provide a reliable
way to control weeds.
Munching on them does have psychological and ecological value.
It reminds us
that every plant we eat or use was developed from a wild
plant.
All natural
No scientist has ever created a food plant in a lab. But many
have worked to
enhance the edible and useful characteristics of thousands of
wild plants. We
owe our lives to weeds.
Of course, that fact may not be very comforting when you’re
looking at an overgrown
garden.
Two problems confront gardeners when controlling annual
weeds. The seeds persist
for a long time in soil, and they come up at irregular
intervals. Both traits
make them hard to control.
Annual weeds grow seeds in prodigious quantities. Then the
wind, birds and
animals and the plant’s own ability to expel and propel the
seeds distributes
them everywhere. The scattered seeds will germinate and new
plants grow from
them whenever the soil is dug or disturbed.
Many gardeners have been frustrated by the flush of green
across a newly-raked
garden. Clean it off, turn the soil over, and within a week,
hundreds of weed
seeds will germinate.
Persistence and method together, though, will help control
annual weeds.
Meet the enemy face-to-face
The main enemy is the seed production — that’s the annual
weed’s primary weapon.
If you can keep it from producing seeds, by some method of
weed birth control,
you can reduce, if not eliminate, this continuing problem.
No, you’ll never really eliminate weeds. But all weeds, no
matter what their
life cycles, are easier to control as small, immature
plants.
The first key is mechanical scuffling of the soil to kill
newly-emerged plants.
To control weeds by some form of hoeing, you need to keep
watch and hoe as often
as needed to keep the emerging weeds down before they go to
seed.
A weekly “weed walk” through the garden with a scuffling tool
in hand can reduce
time and effort later. The old saying, “One year’s seeds,
seven years’ weeds,”
reflects the persistence of weed seeds.
Annual weeds — all weeds — tend to hide out under plants or
disguise themselves
as garden ornamentals. Lift plant edges and look closely for
sneaky seedlings.
Besides hoeing, another way to control weeds is to smother
them. This removes
chances for the hidden seeds to get to light and germinate.
Using ground-cover plants in a garden is a good way to reduce
weed problems.
A well-established stand of low perennial plants will shade
out weeds.
But ground covers must be weeded as they fill in, and it may
take three years
of persistent care before their branches offer substantial
weed protection.
Covering the ground with 2 to 3 inches of any organic mulch,
such as compost,
leaves, aged sawdust or commercial compost, will help keep
thousands of annual
weed seedlings from coming up.
It’s possible, too, to use one of the weed-prevention
geotextiles made of a
woven, synthetic fiber. These allow water and air to penetrate
but won’t allow
light to the weeds.
Put mulch on top of these textiles for best appearance. They
last for years
if not torn by careless digging.
These textiles work more to the advantage of ornamental
plants than solid black
plastic does. Black plastic doesn’t allow air or water to
penetrate. This can
damage the plant roots’ health.
