Weeds Archives - Garden Makeover Company

Winter Weeds

conniebowers — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:09:19 +0000

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 on our year-long weed prevention plan, you know that we recommend applying weed preemergents several times during the year in order to address weeds that germinate during different seasons. The late summer, early fall application will prevent germination of weed seeds in the fall that produce the weeds that you see during the winter.

We’ve had many warm days this winter, and these are opportune occasions to go out and pull up these winter weeds. Otherwise, if left to mature, they will produce flowers that will bloom in the spring and produce seed pods that will broadcast and drop seeds and increase your weed problem manifold. Another imperative reason to remove these weeds is that many can harbor undesirable insects such as aphids that will attack your desirable herbaceous plantings or shrubs once they begin to sprout in the spring.

Some of the more common winter annual weeds include:

Bittercress

(1) Hairy Bittercress. The plant produces flowers in clusters at the end of stems, which will produce seeds that will spread many feet from the parent plant.

Deadnettle

(2) Purple Deadnettle. The bottom leaves are dark green, but the upper leaves appear purple or red, and whorls of purple flowers will develop in them. It will produce purple flowers in the upper leaves.

Creeping Charlie

(3) Creeping Charlie is a spreading weed that appears in shady as well as sunny areas and can easily overtake lawn and garden areas. It is extremely invasive and should be removed when apparent.

Since we seem to have a day or two of fairly warm weather each week, you’d be well served by using such days to go out and simply pull these winter annual weeds. Otherwise, if you wait until they flower and then explode in seed in the spring, your weed problem will increase dramatically. Removing the weeds now before they produce flowers (and in the future, applying weed preemergents seasonally — including in the fall) will reduce your weed maintenance needs in the future.

Photo credits: Bittercress and Deadnettle: Connie J. Bowers; Creeping Charlie: University of Georgia

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Maryland’s New Lawn Fertilizer Law: It Affects You

conniebowers — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 01:52:28 +0000

Whether 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 1^st. 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. These substances threaten underwater life (e.g., by robbing the water of oxygen) in many ways, particularly when they flow into rivers and streams when washed off of the land by rains.

IF YOU HIRE ANYONE TO APPLY FERTILIZER TO YOUR LAWN, THEY MUST BE CERTIFIED TO DO SO BY THE MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (PREVIOUSLY SUCH CERTIFICATION WAS REQUIRED ONLY FOR INDIVIDUALS OR FIRMS HIRED TO APPLY HERBICIDES (WEED CONTROL) OR PESTICIDES (INSECT OR DISEASE CONTROL) TO YOUR PROPRTY.) IF YOU TREAT YOUR OWN PROPERTY, YOU MUST ALSO COMPLY WITH NEW LEGAL REQUIRMENTS ON HOMEOWNERS CONCERNING FERTILIZER USE.

Maryland’s new law contains various requirements on products sold and distributed in Maryland, to foster the use of products that maintain healthy lawns without excess amounts of nitrogen and fertilizer. In addition, requirements are placed on lawn care professionals and homeowners who treat their lawns, beginning October 1^st.

Lawn Care Professionals. If you hire a professional to care for you lawn, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) must certify that person or company in order to apply fertilizer in Maryland. Certified applicators must be trained and pass an exam. Certified fertilizer applicators will be published on the MDA website, and homeowners should refrain from hiring businesses or individuals who are not certified. Businesses engaged in commercial fertilizer applications must be licensed. Previously, similar certification requirements applied to entities applying herbicides and pesticides to lawns and gardens. This law expands these requirements to the application of fertilizer on lawns.

Fertilizer Application Restrictions. The new law contains many restrictions for fertilizer application. Some of these would: (1) prohibit lawn fertilizer applications between December 1 and March 1 (and between November 15 and December 1, only water soluble nitrogen – no slow-release – may be applied to lawns at a maximum rate of ½ lb. per 1,000 square feet); (2) require professionals to use University of Maryland recommendations about fertilizer; (3) require soil tests every 3 years; (4) limit individual applications (e.g., 0.9 pound nitrogen per 1,000 square feet and 0.25 pound of phosphorus per 1,000 square feet – these are also subject to annual limits and conditional upon soil test results.)

Homeowners . The new law requires homeowners to meet mandatory restrictions similar to those imposed on lawn care professionals, when applying lawn fertilizer. Homeowners must: (1) follow University of Maryland fertilizer recommendations on applying nitrogen to lawns; (2) adhere to maximum allowable nitrogen per application (e.g., 0.9 pound total nitrogen per 1,000 square feet and 0.7 pound of soluble nitrogen per 1,000 square feet); (3) prevent nitrogen fertilizer from application on impervious surfaces (driveways, sidewalks); (4) prevent nitrogen applications within specific distances from waterways; (5) prevent fertilizer applications between November 15 and March 1, and when the ground is frozen; (6) prevent use of fertilizer if heavy rain is predicted; (7) prevent use of fertilizer to de-ice walkways and driveways; and (8) prohibit use of phosphorus on lawns unless specifically indicated by a soil test or if establishing, patching or renovating a lawn.

Keep in mind: it is important to be aware of and follow the new legal requirements and to make sure that any individual or firm you hire is certified and otherwise in compliance with the legal requirements governing land care. There are significant monetary penalties for violation of this law.

You can obtain more detailed information from the MDA website: http://mda.maryland.gov/Pages/fertilizer.aspx

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Featured Weed: Japanese Stiltgrass

conniebowers — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:24:32 +0000

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 spread. A single plant is able to produce 100-1000 seeds, which are viable in the soil for 3 years. Seeds can be carried by human and animal foot traffic, and they can be dispersed by runoff from rain. Stiltgrass germinates in spring and continues to do so through the growing season until first frost when the plant dies. The best control for such annual grassy weeds is the use of preemergent herbicide in spring. Once it takes over, this grass is very easily removed by hand because it is shallow rooted. If pervasive, a selected weed killer may be used (Bayer’s Advanced Crabgrass Control applied via hose sprayer is recommended). Proper identification is important because other species look similar. It has a characteristic pale stripe running vertically in the center of the leaf blade, and the plants form a 1-3 foot mat.

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What to do about Weeds

conniebowers — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:54:37 +0000

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 tedious and time-consuming, but necessary. To minimize that need, a regular regimen of pre-emergent weed treatment is the best defense. Use of Preen or a corn gluten product every 3-4 months will break the cycle of weed growth. Pre-emergents prevent weed seeds in the ground from germinating. Since different weeds germinate at different times of the year, it is imperative to apply the product regularly. (Pre-emergents will not kill existing weeds.) These are granular products that are spread through the garden (they will not affect non-weed plantings) and worked into the soil. They are best applied before mulching, but can be spread onto mulch if raked in a bit and watered well. It is preferable to use organic products that specifically pose no harm to pets or other plants. Sign up now for our year-long pre-emergent program to ensure appropriate applications.

You will never eliminate weeds entirely. But adherence to weed pre-emergents will gradually diminish the problem. If applied as directed, 4 to 6 applications will break the cycle of germination of weeds in your soil.

You will still get weeds from outside sources (friendly birds dropping seeds and those that are windborne), but it will become more manageable over time. If you have a lot of weeds and lack time to remove them all, at least try to focus on removing any when they are in flower. Once the flowers dry out, they will throw their seeds into adjacent soil and exacerbate the problem multi-fold.

Remove when in flower. Once they go to seed, they will multiply and appear everywhere.

Don't wait until this stage.

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