June showers bring July weeds; diligence will pay off
April showers may bring May flowers, but the record rainfall in June brought lots of weeds to our gardens in July. Weeds are opportunistic, taking advantage of any chance to sprout and spread robbing cherished perennials of water and light. There are several things gardeners can do to keep weeds from taking over their gardens.
Pull early and pull often. The smaller they are, the easier it is to convince their roots to let go of the soil.
Remove as much of the root as possible when weeding. This requires some weed identification since weeds may have taproots (roots that grow straight down into the soil), rhizomes (roots that travel under the surface of the soil), stolons (roots that travel on top of the soil) or fibrous root systems.
Weeds like dandelions have taproots. They grow deep into the soil and if their taproots are not pulled entirely, new plants will grow back in a week or two.
Weeds with traveling roots are the most difficult to eliminate. There are a number of these types of weeds in my garden - a type of thistle and grass are just a couple. It is impossible to remove all the roots when these are pulled, but I have found a way to eradicate (or nearly eradicate) them. The secret is to pull these weeds often. Every week or two, pull all the new shoots. This is not a quick or easy fix but over time, plants are drained of all their energy, as they continually are forced to produce new growth, and they die.
Weeds with fibrous root systems are the easiest to remove, especially if the soil is moist. A quick pull is all it takes. If the garden is dry, it saves time and energy to water the garden a few hours before weeding.
The mantra of weed control is to never let weeds go to seed. Even if there isn't time to pull them, prune or pinch off the flowers until there is time. Most weeds are prolific seeders, spreading hundreds if not thousands of seeds that keep gardeners weeding for years and years to come.
If weeds have taken over a large area, they can be smothered. There are several methods to accomplish this but the one I utilize in my landscape is laying several sheets of newspaper (not the glossy colored sale inserts), generously overlapping them, over the weedy area. I moisten them with water from the garden hose, and finish by topping with several inches of mulch. The area is ready to plant again the following year.
Once the weeds have been eliminated from the garden, reduce the chances they will return. Mulching or planting ground covers guards the bare soil weeds prefer to invade.
Mulch blocks sunlight from weed seeds while helping the soil retain moisture and maintain and even temperature, keeping annuals and perennials happy and healthy. I prefer using shredded bark but there are many options.
Ground covers also block sunlight from weed seeds by covering bare soil. A little research is required to be sure the ground cover chosen is appropriate for the site, whether it is sunny or shady or the soil is moist or dry. It is also important to choose a 'friendly' ground cover, one that will play nicely with other plants in the garden. An aggressive-growing ground cover may quickly become a weed of another sort.
If weeds are calling your garden home this summer, evict them in stages. Assess the landscape to determine which weeds are the worst. Pull those that spread quickly and any weeds with flowers, first. Next, attack the weeds in the areas closest the house and the ones most obvious when you look about the garden. Finally, fine tune the rest of the landscape, pulling the smaller weeds.
• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and speaker. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.