Landscaping Tips

Staying Weed Free - Keeping your landscape plantings, flower beds, and nursery crops free of weeds is a battle, but if you approach it with a strategic plan, you will prevail. In order to develop a plan, you first must understand how weeds work, and what kind of weeds you are dealing with.

Basically weeds grow either from seed, or they reproduce from their roots. As the roots grow outward from the parent plant new plants sprout up from the lateral roots, creating more parent plants and the process continues and the weeds thrive. Weeds that tend to reproduce from the root are usually more difficult to control.

Weeds are plants, and they function just like the desirable plants in your yard. They need water, sunlight, and nutrition to survive. Of these three key survival needs, the easiest one for a gardener to eliminate is sunlight. Through proper mulching you can eliminate the sunlight.

But first, let’s look at the steps you should go through before you mulch. In order for your weed control efforts to be truly effective, you should do everything in your power to make your gardens as weed free as possible before you plant or mulch. There are two methods in weed control, either organically or with chemicals.

If you choose an organic garden, the first step is to remove all unwanted vegetation from your planting area. Using a hoe, spade or other digging device, undercut the roots and remove the undesirable plants, roots and all. Then, work the soil by rototilling or turning the soil by hand.

Once worked, let the soil sit for four days or so, and work it again. Keep doing this over and over as long as time permits. This process serves two purposes. It brings the roots that were left in the soil close to the surface so they can be dried by the sun, which will make them non viable, and it disturbs the weed seeds that have started to germinate, which makes them non viable as well. The longer you continue this process the more weeds you are eliminating from your garden.

With that process complete, go ahead and plant your garden. When you’re done planting you can either mulch the bed, or keep turning the soil on a weekly basis to keep it free of weeds. Most people opt to mulch. Not only does mulch help to control the weeds, but if you select a natural mulch it also adds organic matter to the soil which makes for better gardening results down the road.

Before mulching, lay weed barrier fabric over the soil and place the mulch or stone over top of that. The weed barrier will block the sunlight from reaching the surface of the soil and help to keep weed growth to a minimum. Weed barrier fabric also allows the soil to breath and keeps the soil cooler in the warmer weather.

Controlling weeds with chemicals is fairly easy, and very effective if done properly. There are two types of chemical weed controls, post-emergent, and pre-emergent. In a nutshell, a post-emergent herbicide kills weeds that are actively growing. A pre- emergent prevents weed seeds from germinating. Of the post-emergent herbicides there are both selective and non-selective herbicides. A selective herbicide is like the herbicides that are in weed and feed type lawn fertilizers. The herbicide will kill broad leaf weeds in your lawn, but it doesn’t harm the grass.

One of the most popular non-selective herbicides is Round-up, it pretty much kills any plant it touches. Rule number one. Read the labels and follow the safety precautions!!! Round-up is very effective if used properly, but first you must understand how it works. Round-up must be sprayed on the foliage of the plant, where it is absorbed, then translocated to the root system where it then kills the plant. It takes about 72 hours for the translocation process to completely take place, so you don’t want to disturb the plant at all for at least 72 hours after it has been sprayed.

After 72 hours you can dig, chop, rototill, and pretty much do as you please because the herbicide has been translocated through out the plant. The manufacture claims that Round-up does not have any residual effect, which means that you can safely plant in an area where Round-up has been used. However, I would not use it in vegetable garden without researching further.

No residual effect also means that Round-up has no effect whatsoever on weed seeds, so there is absolutely no benefit to spraying the soil. Only spray the foliage of the weeds you want to kill. Be careful of over spray drifting to your desirable plants. To prevent spray drift I adjust the nozzle of my sprayer so that the spray droplets are larger and heavier, and less likely to be carried by the wind.

Depending on the brand, some of them are applied over top of the mulch, and some are applied to the soil before the mulch is applied. A pre-emergent herbicide creates a vapor barrier at the soil level that stops weed seed germination, and can be very effective at keeping your gardens weed free. They usually only last about 3 or 4 months and need to be re-applied.

Whichever weed control method you prefer is really up to you. If you have any questions on weed control, visit a full service garden center and seek the advice of a qualified professional. And this year you too can stay weed free!

Water Works - Water is key for growth, an essential during every stage of a plants life cycle. Water feeds seedlings to they will germinate into strong plants and provide relief from summer heat. When and how much you water will determine a plant’s vitality. It’s amazing that such a simple process can be so effective.

Timing is everything! Ideally, you should water before dawn or after dusk. Midday is the least efficient time to water because the sun will capture moisture first. Sunlight causes water to evaporate faster, so roots work to take up moisture at a higher rate. You’ll waste water and force roots to work harder, potentially stressing out the plant. Generally, midday is also the windiest time of the day which will also increase the evaporation rate and waste water.

How much and how often to water depends on many different factors. The amount of rain fall is the most obvious factor. More rain = less water. The next factor is the type of soil. Sandy soils are more porous and allow water to seep through quickly. Clay soils retain water for longer periods of time, but the moisture takes longer to absorb. Another factor is the type of plant. Some plants are more drought tolerant than others. That information should be provided with the plant when buying landscape plants. One more important factor is the slope of the ground which the plant is on. Plants located on level ground or in a swale will retain more moisture then those located on a steep slope or on top of a mound.

Watering is most important for the first year of a plant’s life. Water is essential during the first growing season to establish a deep, extensive root system. Water can be reduced after the plant has become established. Follow these watering guidelines and you will be successful in maintaining a beautiful, healthy landscape.

Landscaping Tips