I did not intend to write a blog about weeds. Weeds, while one of my favorite TV shows, are not what I had in mind when I got into gardening. Alas, I am under attack. Here's the current round up (ha ha! Pun intended!):
1) Chickweed - at bay. It was 70 degrees and sunny a few weekends ago and I busted out the big gun - Monsanto's finest - and took care of all of it. For now. My hope is that two or fewer additional applications of this over the course of the summer will keep the chickweed level "weedable" for many years to come. And hopefully I can switch back to vinegar after this bottle is gone. So far, so good.
2) Blackberries - menacing. A couple of months ago I saw bright green leaves growing proudly out of the dead brown winter that was my yard. Like an alien to the mothership (I'm reading my first sci-fi novel, what can I say?) I walked to the yard only to find LARGE THORNS and a JAGGED STEM that could only be exotic blackberry. I did my best to yank it out. Lately I've seen a lot of berry plants popping out of the soil but I can't tell if they're raspberries (controllable) or blackberries (scary).
3) Morning Glory - code red! I had MG in my raspberry corral last summer which didn't bother me until I tasted my first raspberry (AMAZING) and realized that that MG was choking the life out of the raspberry stalks. Daunted by the prickly raspberries and general weediness of the corral, i just pulled the MG from the stems, not the roots. Clearly this wasn't going to solve my problem, and it caused great distruction to the raspberries. Last week I decided to go in, to take the bull by the horns, er, the MG by the roots. I got some good ones, 2' long roots and all, but suspect there's still a lot under there. I need to teach neighbor cat how to dig for morning glory.
2 comments:
Hey there, just found your blog. I too have chickweed (and popping weed) under control, am watching the blackberries battle back after an epic rip-fest, and am about to jump off a bridge due to the bindweed (morning glory). Once you have it, it seems it is here to stay. It can store food in any part for up to two years underground, and can reproduce from any part of the plant left behind. Scary! I feel like it is worse this year, is that the case for you? Maybe because it's been so sunny recently, more parts of the roots are sending up shoots? Anyway, good luck with that and hope to read more of your garden exploits soon!
On another subject, we have a fun little group of Seattle-area garden bloggers that gets together now and then (more in the non-gardening part of the year). Not sure if there will be a June meeting but the July one should be fun, out in Carnation at a member's place. If you are interested, let me know - we also have a listserv and a Facebook page and have had some fun meetings and plant/seed/supplies swaps. - Karen
Hi Greenwalks - thanks for your comment! I'm sad to hear that MG can store food for two years underground. It's still popping up and I'm still pulling it out so I'm not sure how much success I'm having. It's very satisfying to pull out a length of root from underground, though, so I'm not frustrated yet. Hang in there!
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