The Master Gardener: Still time to eradicate garden weeds

There’s an old bit of garden wisdom that goes like this – weed your whole garden once by the Fourth of July and you will have achieved garden nirvana (weed control).

I’m guessing that for most of us, however, it’s been less than heavenly with a long, hot summer of weeds, weeds, weeds, lots of weeding and, still, more weeds. So it’s too late to do anything about them – right? Wrong. Fall is a great, and in the case of perennials, critical time to getting the jump on next spring’s pesky crop.

Perennial weeds like dandelion, bindweed and quack grass are setting up house during the cooler fall days in preparation for a spring growth explosion. They are easily eradicated now. Pull them out and get as much of the root as possible (keep an eye out for any new growth and pull as needed) or apply a judicious shot of Roundup on a warm day. Killing them now means a lot less weeding next spring. A two-pronged approach is necessary for annual weeds like crabgrass, lamb’s quarter and pig weed.

First, eliminating the existing seed heads before the seeds mature is crucial. Pull the entire plant or clip off the seed heads and discard them in the garbage; do not compost them. If you are clipping as opposed to pulling, the plant may try to produce more seeds and if we have a warm spell it could succeed. So be vigilant. Crabgrass should always be pulled. Joints along the stem root where they contact soil and they produce seeds. Roundup doesn’t always work on annuals if the plant already has seed heads as they can continue to mature even if the plant dies. No matter how thorough you are, weed seeds are ever-present in the soil and number in the millions; just waiting for the right conditions to germinate. Preventing germination is going to save you hours of time next year.

Most weed seeds need light in order to germinate. Exclude the light and you’ve excluded the weeds. Avoid disturbing the soil and thus bringing weed seeds to the surface. Putting a two inch layer of composted mulch on your beds now will drastically reduce weed growth in the spring and as a bonus builds humus and feeds your prized plants. A few weed seeds might blow in on the wind over winter, but a few are easier to control than millions.

Spend a couple of hours on a cool, fall day preventing the establishment of next spring’s weeds and you’ll be a lot closer to a gardener’s idea of heaven: weed-free beds.