With the first real rains of the season, weeds are sprouting all over. Since Nature doesn’t like bare soil, weeds will fill in any available space including pots, raised beds, or anywhere space and soil are available. Prevent weeds by planning ahead for new planting areas and using a combination of competitive plants, mulches, and …
The main benefits a layer of mulch on your vegetable or flower beds include: Adding mulch is one easy way to keep soil cool, block light, and prevent weeds from growing. Not sure what to use? If possible, choose an organic material that adds nutrients to the soil as it breaks down. Check out this …
With abundant rains come bountiful weeds. Some of the most troublesome in early spring are common groundsel, oxalis, mallows, and nutsedges. Common groundsel produces many seeds and can rapidly infest landscape beds. It is best controlled before it flowers. Remove young plants with a hoe, and top soil with mulch. Mallows are annual weeds that …
The incredibly wet winter behind us, though you may now be dealing with some of its impacts. Time to get ahead of the curve with preventing pest problems:
A fast and easy way to get rid of weeds is to use one of the popular weed killers – just spray it on and the weeds die within days. But what if that same product contacts desirable plants, like your roses, vegetables, or fruit trees? You certainly don’t want them exposed. Herbicides, aka weed …
Winter rains are here, bringing with it a carpet of green blanketing our surroundings. Nature’s irrigation is encouraging many plants to grow, especially the ones you don’t want – the weeds in your garden. You know the saying – a weed is simply any plant in a place you don’t want it. Are you seeing …
Do you have a “let them be” approach to managing weeds? Why remove them when they’ll eventually die back? Time to reconsider. Some weeds are aggressive and invasive; tops may die down, but roots remain alive until conditions are right for them to grow. Many spread by seeds. That one little dandelion plant in your …
It may look like an ethereal puffball, really rather pretty, but don’t be fooled. Dandelions are tough weeds! Also known as lion’s tooth, blowball, and monk’s head, it can be a problem in gardens, lawns, pastures, and tree and vine crops. Introduced from Europe where it has been used as an herb and medicinal plant …
July is Smart Irrigation Month, an initiative kickstarted by the Irrigation Association to educate people about the benefits of smart irrigation technologies, products, and services. The campaign is focused on saving water, saving money on utility bills, nurturing green spaces, and protecting a community’s water supply. Why is this important? Because across the nation more …
Ever heard of kudzu vine? It’s often referred to as “the invasive vine that ate the south” and the “mile-a-minute” plant. Once established, kudzu grows at a rate of one foot per day with mature vines growing up to 100 feet long. We have a smaller, somewhat less aggressive type of weed – field bindweed. …
