Winter Weeds

You may wonder about the appearance of new weeds in your gardens and lawns this time of the year.  These are winter annual weeds, which began germinating in the fall.  They are viable for the good part of a year (hence, their designation as ‘annuals’).  Their seeds began germinating in October, and they thrive from fall through early spring.  They die off by summer.  If you are ...

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Maryland’s New Lawn Fertilizer Law: It Affects You

lawn-fertilizer-spreaderWhether you tend to your own lawn or hire a professional to take care of it, you should become aware of Maryland’s new “Lawn Fertilizer Act” that goes into effect October 1st.  This new law was designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay and Maryland’s other waterways from excessive nutrients that flow into them from sources such as lawn fertilizers that contain nitrogen and phosphorus. Continue Reading→

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Featured Weed: Japanese Stiltgrass

Japanese Stiltgrass, an exotic invasive grass species introduced into the U.S. in Tennessee in 1919, has invaded our landscapes with a vengeance recently.  Since this annual grassy weed is well adapted to low sunlight, it will invade disturbed shaded areas near woods.  Deer avoid foraging on this species in the woodlands, thus hastening its spreadA single plant is able to produce 100-1000 seeds, which ...

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What to do about Weeds

The best thing you can do to lower garden maintenance is to get your weeds under control.  Correct weed removal is not an unskilled labor task.  Workers must be able to distinguish noxious weeds from often similar-looking desirable ornamentals.  If the entire weed is not dug out with a proper tool (many cannot just not be hand pulled), new growth will soon sprout.  Hand weeding is ...

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