Nip weeds, errant grass in the bud
June is the month the gardens really come alive and put on a show for us. So have the weeds. Most you can pull and be done with them. A few, however, will come back time and again to haunt you.
Mouse-eared chickweed usually invades gardens and lawns as spreading masses of small, fuzzy leaves that resemble their namesake. It has a tiny white flower that is blooming now and will often climb other plants. In lawns it can form a thick mat of wiry stems that goes to seed under the mower blade.
Small, isolated clumps can be hand pulled and thrown in the trash; don’t put it in the Clean Green and give your problem to someone else. Good lawn care practices will help keep it from moving, but once it’s there and you can’t live with it, it’s time for the spray. Use Ortho Chickweed and Oxalis Killer mixed with a surfactant or wetting agent. The wetting agent helps break the surface tension of the spray water so it can get below the leaf fuzz. 2, 4-D (Weed B Gon) can also be added to the mix but won’t work by itself. Both herbicides are available at garden centers. Read the directions before using any herbicide.
Grass in flower and shrub beds can be annoying and choke out other plants if left unchecked. Mulching beds in the early spring helps keep grass from coming up and makes what does easier to pull. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to pull grasses out of dense perennials or spray it without damaging the plant. To get spray on the grass without damaging the plant, mix up some glyphosate (Round Up) in a small buckle. Put on a rubber glove and then a cotton garden glove. Dip your hand in the spray mixture and then carefully wipe down the grass blades in the perennial. Don’t drip the mixture on the plant, it will kill it. Within a week or so the grass will begin dying back. Another herbicide to try is Ornamec; it can be sprayed over grass and plants without damaging most plants (read the label). Be patient, though; it may take a month for it to work. Ornamec is available at Northwest Seed and Pet.
Horsetail or scouring rush is a curious plant. The plant grows from a deep root mass to about one to two feet tall with a stiff, hollow stem and whorls of thin horizontal “leaves.” It is a very ancient plant that doesn’t have a vascular system like modern plants do. As a result, herbicides can’t be moved around in the plant to do their damage. It usually hitchhikes into the garden in purchased soil.
Because herbicides don’t affect it, controlling it will be an exercise in persistence over several years. You have to starve the root system. Apply a pre-emergent weed control product to the area in early spring and then mulch with six to eight inches of bark or shredded needles. Patrol the area regularly and pull any shoots that appear. This removes the root’s food-making ability.